Ah! Sorry!

I'm sorry I did not update last night. I totally forgot! It's been a long week.

Yes, Brent did make it home yesterday afternoon. Thankfully. The PICC line took awhile but they finally got one in. We were so glad to leave.

He is doing well at home. He has IV antibiotics three times a day,  and can finally get his TPN routine back in check. He really is feeling so much better. We still marvel at how quickly he can crash, but then how quickly he can bounce back also. He was saying he might go to church tomorrow, and I told him he can't because everyone will think I was lying about how bad he was just a week ago. Ha. He goes from critical and in the ICU, to wondering what he can do today because he actually feels good. Crazy.

We are so thankful, though, that once again he has defied the odds. We often wonder how many lives he actually has. How many more miracles are in store for us? We often feel unworthy or undeserving of the many miracles that we have witnessed. We are always humbled and amazed at the outpouring of love, service, prayers, and good vibes that come our way. We have the best friends, family and neighbors. Thank you, once again, from the bottom of our hearts.

Going home . . . Maybe

well, we are hopefully going home today. Hospital time is not normal time. He had 48 hours of clean blood cultures, and a PICC line was inserted just now. Just waiting for the results of the X-ray to make sure the PICC is good to go. He's fed up with the hospital and I'm fed up with the drive, so it's definitely time to go home. Wish us luck!

Sprung from ICU

So today Brent was moved out of the ICU to a normal room. Woo hoo! He will just chill here for a few days while they watch his blood levels. They need 48 hours of negative bacteria growth so they can put a PICC line in. He has to have either a PICC or a Hickman before he goes home so he can have his TPN. He is feeling better, but not perfect.

We still stress the 'no visitor' status at this time. He is way too suceptible to germs. Obviously, since that's why he is here in the first place.

We are grateful that he once again survived sepsis. We appreciate the continued good thoughts and prayers sent our way.

Much love

After three days of being at the hospital with little sleep, I came home. When I left, Brent was doing ok. They removed his Hickman IV this morning, and he had his TEE this afternoon. The preliminary results of the TEE were good. The Dr didn't think there was any infection in or on the heart valve. That was welcomed news. He also has maintained a normal temperature and blood pressure today. Yay!

We appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers. We know they help. We are buoyed up by your strength.

For now he will remain in the ICU.

Thanks for checking in.

😅

Brent's fever broke at 5:30 this morning. Thank you everyone.

Annnnd . . .we're back.

It's with much hesitation and regret that I am reactivating the blog tonight. As much as I truly appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers, I am having a hard time answering everyone's texts.

So, here's the scoop.

Saturday Brent started running low grade fevers, which we thought were associated with his bimonthly stelara shot, which tends to make him a little sick and feverish. By Sunday morning he was shaking uncontrollably and spiked a fever of 104.4.  After a blessing by awesome neighbors, always ready to drop everything to come over, we rushed to the ER in Murray. Most of you know why we go the extra distance to Murray, even though there is a hospital less than a mile away. For those who don't, suffice it to say that they tried their hardest to kill him about eleven years ago, and the stigma remains. Also, Brent's entire medical and nutritional team is now up here.

When we got to the ER, Brent was already septic. They started fluids, IV antibiotics and a unit of blood. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly he can crash. Because of the sepsis and the dangerously low blood pressure, he earned a trip to the ICU.

The cultures they took have all come back positive for bacteria of some kind. Both lines of the IV and the peripherals they drew all came back positive. He's been bouncing all over with his fevers and counts. He was pretty stable today and they were ready to transfer him to a normal floor. At 6:30 they hooked up his TPN ( his IV nutrition that he gets every night at home.)  Well, that was a dumb idea. Especially hooking it up in his Hickman, which already came back positive for bacteria. I must be off my game, because I didn't question it. Within an hour, and while the Dr and all his minions (aka residents) were in the room, he went into full blown rigor (severe uncontrollable shaking) and spiked a fever of 105+. Probably the most scariest thing I've seen. Well, probably not, but it was scary. After they figured out it was most likely because of the TPN going in through the compromised line, they immediately unhooked the TPN, gave him a ton of demoral and waited. So, that was fun. It's now 11:00 and after the meds and a blessing from Joseph and his father in law, he has finally come back to the semi-normal ranges.

Needless to say, he won't be leaving the ICU anytime soon. They have a TEE (transesophageal echocardiagram) scheduled for the morning to check his heart valve to make sure no infection has settled there. They will also need to pull the Hickman and put in a PICC. Not fun.

You know how much I hate the ICU, but the nurses this time have been phenomenal. (Minus the little incident with the TPN that could have been deadly, but, hey, we're a forgiving kind of people.)

We appreciate everyone's offers of help, but seriously, the only thing right now is your good thoughts and fervent prayers. We have no kids at home to feed, even though I'm sure joseph and Erin would love it. Ha. Thanks for your texts and prayers. I'm not saying don't text me, I just can't answer everyone. Hence the blog again. If you desire to pray for something specific, please pray that the antibiotics do their job, the fevers go away, and that the Dr.'s and nurses are guided to know what to do. Thanks so much.

Well,  to say that we have had an eventful summer is a huge understatement. We are exhausted! Here are a few pictures to sum it up . . .                                                                                                               



Tina graduated form Utah State University in May, and will begin teaching English in the Granite School District in a few short weeks. It was so great to have family and friends in Logan to celebrate Tina.

 Michelle and Kristina moved into an apartment in Murray and are both much closer to their work. So glad Michelle doesn't have to do the commute anymore. They are having fun(?) being roommates and being crazy.

 David graduated from Provo High School and already has plans to attend Utah State University when he returns from his two year mission to Durban South Africa. He earned a four year full tuition and fees scholarship, and a research fellowship, that will both be waiting for him when he returns.

 The huge event of the summer was Joseph and Erin's wedding in June. Everything was beautiful and they are blissfully living here in Provo. Thank you to everyone for your love and support of these two.

 We had the one hospital stay of the summer on July 17-19. Brent's Hickman Tunnel IV line became infected. The big worry was that the heart would be infected like it was before his open heart valve replacement. After many tests, an ECHO and a TEE, the heart showed no infection. The bug that cultered was unidentifiable, so they started him on three different broad spectrum IV antibiotics. They also had to remove his IV lines and put in a PICC line. Brent makes fun of me when I turn on my Momma Bear roll, but I had told the Dr.'s from the get go that Brent would be at church at 1:00 on Sunday, and it wasn't an option. David's missionary farewell talk was that day, and he was not going to miss it. So many of David's events (birthdays, etc) have been ruined because of hospital stays. They discharged Brent from IHC in Murray at 11:00 on Sunday. :)  He made it home in time to shower and get to the church. He is still on the three IV antibiotics, and is hooked up to his IV six different times throughout the day, plus his TPN for 11 hours. Hopefully this won't have to last long.

So, yesterday morning we took David to the airport and said our good-byes for two years. He and other Elders left on their journey. This morning, 21 hours later, they arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, which was actually about 4:30pm there. Hopefully they can get some rest before officially reporting to the Missionary Training Center tomorrow morning. Though our hearts are heavy and we have shed many tears at his departure, we have much joy and comfort knowing that he is doing what he wants to do, and that he is where he should be right now at this point in his life. He was so very excited to finally be going and he is excited to begin teaching the people about their Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. We look forward to his letters and emails.

That is our summer. We haven't really had any time for normal summer fun, like camping, or Dennis and Jan's cabin, or fishing, but our summer has definitely been full of meaningful family events. We have drawn closer as a family and realize that that is what it's all about. Building relationships and memories. Thanks for being a part of it.