Joanne Heim

The Shower Bandits Strike Again! (Joanne)

To ad some adventure back into our adventure-less life Toben and I have created a secret gang. We call ourselves the Shower Bandits-a crack b/e team. Well no b/e really. So far we have been invited because our shower is upstairs and we can't get there my option for a shower is Gran and Papa's house. So when they are not home we creep into the driveway, let ourselves in to the garage. glance around furtively and if the coast is clear Toben runs out the front door , sets up the wheelchair lickity-split, dumps me in it and sneaks me into the house. We gather all available towels, turn on the hot water and grab a quick shower. We're in and out and back home in less than an hour. No one is the wiser. We laugh and wonder what the neighbors think.

We always clean up after ourselves.

I am discouraged, disoriented and unsettled. I know that surgery was the right decision but it feels like we have gone backwards several months. Not being able to even hobble around with a cain is difficult. My secret hope is for a walking cast on Tuesday when I go back to the doctor. I don't think it will happen but a girl can dream. The thought of having my stitches removed makes my tummy hurt.

Joanne

Smooshed Up Life (Toben)

We are experiencing a weird phenomenon--days are drifting into nights and then back in to days but it all seems very smooshed together. We are living in one room of the house; the living room. We hang out, surf the interwebs, watch Netflix, sleep and hang out with friends and family all in this room. There are occasional trips to the dining room and the bathroom but for the most part we are here. When we slept in our room upstairs coming downstairs represented a change in activity. We were up and ready to switch gears and face the day. But now we wake up in the same room we will be in for the whole day. It feels weird.

And the days have little to mark themselves. Each day feels a lot like the last. We are experiencing an utter lack of adventure. Today's big events might include going to the mall or grabbing Chik-fil-a for lunch. Maybe we'll head over to Gran and Pap's house so Joanne can grab a shower. The sad thing is that if we were to do these things it would feel like we had a really full day! Pretty weird when a trip to the mall, a chicken sandwich and a shower feels like a big day.

Tonight Bethany flies home from college. Nana and Papa are going to bring the girls up from the Springs and Joanne and I will pick up Beth at the airpoirt and we should theoretically all end up back here at the house for chicken noodle soup. It'll be good to have the girls back home. It feels better to have all of us under one roof.

I can't remember the last time we had Thanksgiving with my folks. We have either been out of town or at Gran and Papa's house. It will be so good to be with them and the Thanksgiving meal is my favorite of the year. In fact it might even be my favorite holiday. Christmas is great but any holiday whose focus is food and family and thinking about what I am grateful for is a pretty good.

Having family around is a blessing. Gran and Papa are headed to Winter Park with Wade and Kristen. I hope they have a blast! They have been more than faithful to our little family and we couldn't have gone through this season without them. I don't think I'll ever be able to express my gratitude for all they have done. They have definitely gone above and beyond.

Anyhow, I guess that's about it. Looking forward to some out-of-the-usual activities coming to our home. I am going to eat turkey till it comes out my ears.

Prayer requests:

1. Sleeping on couches is not the same as sleeping in a luxurious king-sized bed. Please pray that Joanne will be able to get some solid rest at night. Her sleep is very fitful.

2. On that same note, Joanne has slept some better than she did the first few nights. That is such a blessing! Definitely worthy of praise!

3. Please pray for safety for Gran, Papa, Wade, Kristen and the kids will have a great, safe time in Winter Park. They need a time of refreshment!

Toben

Things We Know and Things We Don't Know (Joanne)

Things we know:

I've been in this cast for six days out of the 14 I have to my next appointment. At that point the surgeon will cut it off, remove my stitches and give me a new one exactly like this one. I will weat that cast for four more weeks with no mobility. At that time I will get a walking cast.

The surgeon said the surgery went really well but we also know it's going to be weeks and weeks before we see any results of that. I will be in the walking cast up to another couple of months. After that, hopefully, I will be back in normal shoes.

Though we know it's not true it feels like I have gone back four months in my recovery. Not being able to get around the house is very difficult. It also feels like I will never sleep again. I have never been so tired. I am running on complete empty.

Today I get to take a shower! Mom and Dad have a main floor bathroom that I Can use to take a shower and get my hair washed. I feel very ready for that.

Being an invalid is hard work!

I love Toben. In the past there have been times when I have doubted Toben's love for me but never again. He has gone above and beyond in taking care of me. He makes me feel safe and protected.

I am worried about Toben. Her gives everything he has to take care of me and the girls and my not sleeping means no sleep for him. Please pray for extra rest for him.

While I wish I could say that lying ont he couch and watching Netflix for the rest of the day sounds like fun, I have to say that it is not. The shower is calling.

Joanne

 

Pain in the Foot! (Toben)

OK, so Joanne had ankle surgery on Tuesday at a very nice, new facility in downtown Denver. We got the kids off to school, came home and packed an overnight (or over-two-night) bag and headed to pre-op at 10. I thought it seemed awfully early to head to the hospital for a 12:45 surgery but that's what they told us to do. And I'm glad because it takes a lot of time to get prepped for surgery! They mush have asked Joanne 100 questions about her stroke, her health, her diet, etc. She answered them all. My favorite was when she was asked, "What side effects have you experienced due to your stroke." Umm...you know she's in here for surgery right? I got a chuckle out of a number of the questions--the answers were so obvious! "When was the last time you drank anything." Answer: five minutes ago when you brought me some pills to take and gave me water to take them with.  Not the answer they were apparently looking for. Anyhow...

At 12:45 on the button she was wheeled back to surgery and Gran, Papa and I started "The Long Wait." They have this cool monitor int he waiting room that shows the patients progression through the process. There is one color for pre-op, one for in-procedure, one for recovery, and one for completed, so we could track along with what was going on. After about an hour and a half the surgeon came out and told us things had gone well. He said that instead of three small incisions, which he had hoped to make, he ended up needing to do one 6 inch incision from her heel up her ankle. We waited (impatiently) for another hour or so before they told us where we could see her.

The time actually passed pretty quickly. Jaime and Kristin came to sit with us and that helped a lot. They have been such faithful friends and we have all spent too much time together in hospital waiting rooms. 

Joanne was up in her room when we got to see her. She was...how do I say this...completely stoned. The anesthesia was lingering and she kept saying, "I feel funny." She was also pretty hungry since she hadn't been allowed to eat for a 18 hours before the surgery. So her "reward" for all this was a grilled cheese sandwich and some tomato soup. She polished that off and was shortly after off to sleep. Sister Kristen came for a visit around 7 and Joanne was awake for about five minutes of that. 

Sleeping in the hospital is the pits! I stayed down with her and they had this chair that turned into a "bed." Not so much. It was more like a sheet of plywood with a scratchy, non-breathable fabric cover. I got a pillow and some blankets and tried to make the most of it. But anyone who has stayed int he hospital knows, the nurses are ever present. They came in almost hourly throughout the night to do this, that and the other. They changedIVs, took blood, took vitals, etc. All in all it was a long night, but Joanne remained pain free. 

Wednesday was a day of waiting. We waited for PT to come show us what we needed to know about doing life with an almost knee-high, non weight bearing, non waterproof cast. We did some transfers and they were convinced that we weren't going to endanger Joanne. So that went in the report. Then we waited for the surgeon to come in and check on things and clear us to check out. We waited almost all day. He made it to her room at 4, told us she was cleared to go home and that was that. It took another hour and a half to get her released but by 5:30 we were on our way and we pulled into our driveway by 6:15. 

Nana had dinner ready for us and for the girls. She had come up and spent time with the girls while the rest of us were with Joanne. Anyhow, we had a great dinner and the girls were very happy to have us all back together under one roof. 

Joanne had a long night. We made a great bed up for her on our over sized living room couch but she was cold, dealing with leg pain, trying to figure out were to put her large cast, etc. But she made it through.

Today we figured out how to do life. We have eating, sleeping and bath needs all taken care of! This is a huge deal as we all dealt with some fear and anxiety about how we were going to take care of all these things. But we did it! So now we know roughly our plan of attack for the next 6 weeks until she gets her walking cast.

Joanne is very relieved and had her smile back today now that this surgery is behind her. I think we are all feeling relieved. Joanne did two rounds of PT in the garage/gym today. Her dad took her for a nice walk/roll around the neighborhood. She planned some menuswith her mom for the next week. We had chicken sandwiches with Wade the boys too. Now at last she is on the couch/bed in front of a roaring fire with her iPhone in hand--the perfect picture of rest and contentment. Love it when that happens. 

Tonight we'll have great grilled cheese and tomato soup--a favorite of ours and then maybe watch a movie or something with the girls. Then sleep. I hope. 

Prayer requests:

1. Sleep and rest for Joanne. The day goes much better after a good night's sleep.

2. Please pray for the girls. I think all of the events of the last few days (and the last 10 months) have been harder on them than they let on. Please pray for their hearts that they will be able to survive this season and come out better for it on the other side. 

3. Praise, praise, praise that Joanne's surgery went well, that we were only one night in the hospital and that we have things well in hand here at home. God is so faithful!

Toben

Need for Prayer (Toben)

Joanne is going to have surgery on the 15th. Initially we were told that it would be an out-patient surgery but we found out today that she will be admitted to the hospital for at least the first night and maybe more. Joanne is very concerned. She has spent so much time in the hospital this year and going back in, even for a night or two feels like a real setback to her. I honestly think its for the best and that they will be able to keep her comfortable and pain-free in  the 24 hours after the surgery, but my heart hurts for Joanne as she has such sadness and worry about this.

Obviously Joanne will have Gran or Papa or I (and maybe all three of us!) by her side 24 hours a day while she is in the hospital and my mom is going to come to our house for a few days to take care of the girls. So we have good support.

But I am writing this post mainly to ask for prayer for Joanne. She is at a very low point, and very anxious.

Specifically:

1. That a wave of peace that surpasses understanding will wash over her.

2. That the surgery will go as planned and that there wouldn't be any complications that would keep her in the hospital for more than a day or two.

3. That we will be able to figure out how to do life once Joanne gets back home. She will be in a splint for two weeks before her cast goes on and she won't be able to put any weight on it. This presents obvious challenges and we need very practical wisdom to figure out how to accomplish even the most simple tasks.

Toben

 

General Update (Toben)

Seems like we are in a holding pattern. It is only another 10 days until Joanne's achilles surgery so we are trying to figure out the logistics of all that. We are asking the surgeon if there is a way to get an in-home consult from a therapist to help us figure out how Joanne will get around during the 5-6 weeks she will be in her cast. But my guess is that we will be figuring it out on our own and as we go. The thing I remind myself every day is that the surgery is going ot give her a great shot at walking normally and is necessary if she is ever going to walk without a cane. I tell you what, the day we put that cane away will be a sweet one!

The great thing about having met our deductible for this year is that we have no expenses or co-pays right now when we use medical services or see doctors. That being the case we are off to see Dr. Vandeloo on Monday to check out a few things. One is that Joanne's depression meds don't seem to be working very well and the other is to consult with her about the small hole in Joanne's heart and what next steps we can take to figure out if that was the cause of the stroke. Everyone we have consulted has said that that would be a very unlikely cause but it's all we have at this point. Dr. Vandeloo is pretty awesome and she seems to be the gateway for most of the other Kaiser docs.

The bad thing about our deductible is that we will have to start all over on January 1. Darn.

We had a great meal last night. A friend of Kristen's brought this amazing soup of which I have no idea what it was. It was sort of like potato soup but it was so much better then that. Could have been a squash soup. Who knows. Totally a weird experience not knowing what we were eating but loving it all the same. She also brought amazing grilled cheese with apple and prosciutto. And she brought cookies...and muffins for breakfast! What a treat! So many people have brought us meals and we deeply appreciate every one of them.

Last Christmas Gran and Papa gave us half a cord of firewood. We have it all stacked neatly in the garage and now that the weather is turning we are making fires all the time. It warms much of the house, smells so good, is mesmerizing to watch and sounds like, well, like fire. I have a feeling we'll make it through our half cord this winter no problem. We are spending a lot of time in the living room because Joanne's favorite chair is in here and it is right next to the fireplace. Not too bad a place to hang out.

At some point I need to write a blog post about Joanne and technology. She is totally attached to her iPhone (she got an iPhone 4 while still in the hospital) and she has used it to communicate with friends and stay in touch with the world. She also loves her Kindle. It is much more manageable one-handed than a regular book. Thanks to Sarah for hooking her up. One of these days she is going to tackle the one-handed typing tutorial that she got. Then she'll be able to blog again on her own, which I am really excited about.

Acupuncture...where to start. There is definitely a lot of "puncture" in acupuncture. Joanne pretty much hates it but we are seeing some results. It is reminding her brain that her left arm and leg still exist and it is supposed to stimulate the neural pathways back and forth between the brain and the left side of her body. She has a few sessions left and then will be off for six weeks while she recovers from surgery. I don't think she'll mind the break.

I guess that's about it. Oh: Joanne is sleeping a little better and waking up less. She is on a couple of medications that are really working for her pain. I can't imagine being in the pain that she is in every day. It is a constant thing. Or at least it has been until we got these meds going.

BTW, Joanne will be watching a LOT of movies while recovering, so if you have suggestions, please send them her way.

Prayer requests:

Please pray that the surgery goes well and that we can figure out how to manage around the house.

Toben