It Was Not Planned

I think all of our blog readers know that we had to make an emergency trip to Indiana about a month ago, but I thought a recap of the events for the blog would be a good idea, so here you go!

Here is Suzanne, Andy's mom, with the kids in our driveway during their Christmas visit

On Saturday afternoon, May 22, Andy got a phone call from his dad saying that he had taken Andy's mom to the ER in Angola because of unrelenting nausea, bronchitis symptoms that would not go away and shortness of breath. Once she was admitted to the ER, the doctors confirmed that she needed her gall bladder out (this was planned anyway), but also noted that her heart was racing and therefore sent her by ambulance to Fort Wayne (about 45 miles south).

After hearing this news, we decided to make a quick trip to Fort Wayne to make sure everything went okay. We were thinking that something minor (like medication) could be given to stabilize her heart and that her gall bladder would be taken out and she would be able to completely recover from the bronchitis, under close supervision in the hospital for a few days. Since Andy is an only child, we thought it would be good for us to be there for moral support. I packed our bags with about 3 days worth of clothes while Andy finished up some preparations for Sunday and made phone calls. We left on Sunday morning at 4am and drove all the way to Fort Wayne.

When we arrived at the hospital, Suzanne looked tired and uncomfortable, but she was able to talk to us and enjoy visiting with the kids. She was scheduled to see a cardiologist before her gall bladder was removed and after seeing one on Sunday night, a heart catheterization was scheduled for Monday morning to make sure her heart was strong enough for the surgery. We spent the night at the farm in Angola and visited her again before the catheterization the next morning. That was the last time we talked to her for 2 weeks.

The catheterization showed her arteries to be clear, so gall bladder surgery was scheduled for Tuesday. Suzanne rested Monday afternoon and visited with two of her sisters that evening. Denny and Andy came home when she was asleep and on pain medicine and were playing with the kids around the farm when a chaplain from the hospital called to say that Suzanne was being resuscitated.

They rushed to the hospital to find her in ICU, barely stable. Late that night, two cardiologists inserted an aortic balloon pump that helped her heart keep pumping. Andy's aunt, Barb (who lives next door) offered to stay with our sleeping kids, while his Uncle Craig (Denny's brother) drove me to the hospital at 11:30pm while Suzanne was in surgery. Suzanne's three sisters and both of her parents waited with Denny, Craig, Andy and me for the surgery to be complete. When the doctors came out to talk to us, they said her condition was extremely critical and they couldn't promise anything. They told us she had viral cardiomyopathy--a virus had attacked her heart and basically damaged it so severely that it had stopped pumping for a short time. Once that happened, her other organs began shutting down and her chances of survival were remote.

The next few days were extremely hard and the worst was on Wednesday when the neurologist told us that her brain should be responding and wasn't. She was likely brain dead. We were devastated and began grieving. After not eating for much of the day, a group of us decided to go to Pizza Hut for dinner. Andy's cousin's wife, Tammy, went to speak to the waitress (maybe to explain why we were so gloomy and some of us crying) and the waitress returned, quieted the restaurant and placed her hand on Andy's shoulder. She prayed loudly for God to have mercy on us and to uphold us during this hard trial while we wait for His will to be done. Within minutes, Andy received a phone call from his dad saying that Suzanne was responding to voices. She was opening her eyes and raising her eyebrows!

We were in complete shock and rushed to the hospital to see for ourselves. Sure enough, she could even barely squeeze our hands. The next two and a half weeks were spent watching her body gradually strengthen. Andy and his dad were with her most of the time, eventually taking turns with each other to be the one to spend the night. We prayed and waited while she was weaned off of the heart pump, began kidney dialysis and came off of it after about a week.

During all that time, I kept the kids occupied with water play, farm fun, sidewalk chalk, sightseeing, park visiting, baking & best of all, cousin play time! After we had been in Angola for 2 weeks and Suzanne was at her most stable thus far, I took the kids to visit Bridges (about 3 hours south) for the weekend. It was during that visit that I got to talk to Suzanne on the phone since her ventilator had just been removed!

We stayed for another week for her gall bladder surgery and rejoiced at God's goodness as the number of IVs in her body began diminishing. She was able to talk to us for short visits and even ate some of a piece of birthday cake (Benjamin turned 4 during this eventful trip)!

Suzanne is still in the hospital, but now she is no longer in ICU. Last week, she was moved to a larger room where she is undergoing physical therapy. We don't know exactly how strong her heart is at this point, but it's possible that she may be able to go home in a couple of weeks. The doctors are still weighing options for her future treatment and have thankfully moved away from the idea of a heart transplant for now.

Here is a story that Clara wrote while we were there to explain the adventure:

"It Was Not Planned"

I was at home and we had to leave.

But we decided to wait for the next morning.

At 4 am! it was dark.

No one was awake.

But we were awake, but we were awake.

We got there after 12 hours in the car for an emergency in Indiana.

We thought we would stay for a few days.

But we stayed for a few weeks.

The End