Bettyjo Update

Bettyjo just came from her ENT. He has recommended total esophageal reconstruction. There is a doctor at The James (OSU Cancer Clinic) that does this type of surgery, but Dr. Willet is not sure he will agree to do it since Bettyjo is not a cancer patient. The other option would be the Cleveland Clinic.

Bettyjo Update - Setback

Tuesday the ENT told Bettyjo that she could begin swallowing her spit. She had her 19th treatment yesterday, and late last night she noticed that her shirt was all wet. It appears that the esophagus is not healed and the fistula that was formed earlier is still pushing material to the exterior of her neck. We went to the ER last night and was met by the ENT. He took a CT scan and it appeared that the fluid was tracking to outside of the neck and was not pooling in the neck, and we are to keep the track open until he consults with our regular ENT on Monday.

Needless to say we are all very stunned by this. The wound on the outside looked good, and she was tolerating the Hyperbaric Chamber well. We really..........just don't know what to think or feel. I hate to say this...but my faith is really shaken. I don't know what possible reason God could have for allowing this to continue. I can say with all my being, we have had enough.

Bettyjo Update

Bettyjo completed her 11th hyperbaric oxygen treatment today. The wound to outside of her neck is almost completely healed. Bettyjo said that she feels a tightness in her neck. We are hopeful that the mussel in her neck is closing the esophagus. She has 9 more treatments and then a swallow test.

Thank you to all those that have been taking her to OSU East for treatment.

Please pray that she will be healed and that she will be able to swallow something for Christmas.

Bettyjo Update

Bettyjo has gone for two hyperbaric treatments, and is completing her third as I type. The external wound seems to be healing nicely. The real question is, with the esophagus and the mussel attached to it. Unfortunately, we will not know what is going on inside until this round of treatment is done, and a swallow test is given. I have attached a couple of photos of the actual chamber Bettyjo is using.

Thank you all for your continued support in meals, rides, dollars and prayers. It has made a tremendous impact on our entire family.

Bettyjo Update

Thanks to all of you for your continued support and prayers. Bettyjo went to church this past Sunday and did really well. She was very tired afterwards, but was glad she went.

We had some good news last week. Bettyjo was approved for the hyperbaric oxygen chamber. She will go to OSU on Wednesday for the final assessment and get her schedule and treatment plan. Thursday she will have her first treatment. There will be 20 treatments, five per week, for four weeks. Please pray that the treatments are successful.

Bettyjo Update

Bettyjo has been to the wound clinic for the second time on Monday. They think the external wound is healing, but we have had no word on the approval of the hyperbaric chamber. On Tuesday she went to the ENT who didn't exactly agree with what the wound clinic was doing. I suspected this would be the case, since the wound clinic did not agree with the packing the ENT prescribed. If Bettyjo does not get into the hyperbaric chamber she will discontinue going to the wound clinic. We both have much more faith in the ENT. Good news is that the open wound in her neck is getting much smaller, and the mussel that was placed in the esophagus is living and healthy.

Please continue to pray that this will work.

Bettyjo Update

Bettyjo went to the OSU Wound Care Clinic today. They will be assisting Dr. Willet with her healing. It is not certain that she will qualify for the Hyperbaric Chamber though. Dr. Kaide changed the type of packing and will see her once a week until it is healed. If she gets qualified for the hyperbaric chamber, she will go every week day, for four weeks. Each session will be two hours long.

Please pray that our health insurance will approve the treatment, and that it will work.

Bettyjo Update

The ENT came in last night and made an incision in Bettyjo's neck to allow for more drainage. He also wants her to begin treatments in a hyperbaric chamber that will cause the wound to heal more quickly and give the mussel that is plugging the hole in the esophagus more oxygen. There is still some infection in the wound as he did drain some additional puss from it last night as well. He has not given any indication as to just when she will get out or what the recovery time will be.

Please continue to pray for healing and restoration for Bettyjo.

Bettyjo Update

The past couple of days have been rough. She has been very sick to her stomach, needed a lot pain medication, and has slept most of the time. But, today......she seems to be getting some strength back, has stayed awake longer, has not needed as much pain medication, and has taken a couple of walks around the hospital floor.

It remains to been seen if the surgery was a success. The ENT has not been.........well enthusiastic about her healing. There is still fluid draining from the wound, and it is still cloudy meaning that most likely there is still some infection. She will remain in the hospital over the weekend, and our ENT is on call, so he will be checking on her. He has not given any indication as to when she might be discharged.

Bettyjo Update

Monday they gave Bettyjo two units of blood. Both her white and red cell counts were down. That seemed to make her feel a little better. Her wound is draining quite a bit, so with all of this she will be in the hospital at least a few days longer.

Please continue to pray that she will have a complete healing........soon.

Bettyjo Update

The girls and I just came from the hospital, and Bettyjo is looking good. She does have some pain from the surgery, but other than that she is doing well. The Doctor seems pleased with the results so far. The real test will be if the surgery worked or not, and we will not really know for several weeks.

Please pray that it is successful, and that she will fully recover.

Bettyjo Update

Bettyjo came through surgery well. The ENT did have one complication that was a surprise to him. When he opened her wound in her neck up, he ran into a pocket of puss that was logged in her spine. He said that he is very surprised that she did not have spinal meningitis. Instead of taking a mussel from her chest and running it to her neck, he used a mussel in her neck. The reason was that if the esophagus leaked he did not want the mussel in her neck to form a resting place for infection.

A part of me all along thought that if the wound in her neck would heal, she would have a full recovery (back to normal) but the ENT stated that he wants her to at least be able to drink water and swallow her spit. This has me very concerned. We understood that nuts, popcorn etc. would be off limits, but it never dawned on us that Bettyjo may have many more restrictions.

Please continue to pray for her healing, and for the girls and I as we continue down this very difficult path.

Bettyjo Update

Well......the day of surgery is fast approaching. Bettyjo will have surgery this Friday at 2:30pm.

Please pray that all goes well with the surgery, and that recovery will be fast, and uneventful.

If anyone would like to send her a card while she is in the hospital, I know she would appreciate it. She will be in Riverside, most likely for three to four days.

Bettyjo Update

Bettyjo will have surgery on the wound on her neck next Friday October 12, 2007. The Dr. will take a mussel from her chest and run it up to her neck to form a flap over the hole in the esophagus.

She is having a bad day today, and is in a lot of pain. We are not really sure just why. Is it from the past surgeries, the RA, in activity, or possibly a virus.

We still have not heard anything from our Family Dr. regarding the blood tests she took last Tuesday. I am not sure what the hold up is, but the receptionist keeps telling us that they have the report and are waiting on Dr. Garwood to read it?? We are considering changing Family Doctors, so if any one has a recommendation it would be appreciated.

Bettyjo Update

It has been a tough week here. On Monday Bettyjo was in a lot of pain , felt very ill (flu like) and selpt. On Tuesday, she sneezed and air came out the wound in her neck. Her color was very bad and she still felt ill, so she went to our family Dr., and he ordered some blood work to see if she was getting all the nourishment she should be getting. I am not certain why, but as of today our family Dr. has not returned two calls to his office for the results! We'll try again on Monday.

Yesterday she went to see the ENT about the hole in her neck, and he is not hopeful it will heal on it's own. He told her to go back on 5mg of Prednizone and to get more fluid in her. He said we could do this at home using her feeding tube, or go to hospital ER and have an IV. We went to Riverside for the IV arriving at about 7:30pm. At 10pm Bettyjo still had not seen a doctor. I realize that to them an IV infusion is not high on the priority list, but she was in bad shape and the entire ER filled up and emptied with folks no worse off that she was. At 10:pm she could not set in the waiting room any longer so we left. I gave her a predinzone at home and will put some Gatorade as the ENT had suggested in her tube later this morning. This will take more time, but at least she is comfortable.

Bettyjo Update

Bettyjo had a rough day yesterday. Her arthritis was hitting her knees really hard, she was in quite a bit of pain, and slept all day. We are not sure why she was so tired yesterday. It might be that she needs more fluid, more nutrition, or that she was exhausted by her trip to church Sunday night, or some combination of the three. She is putting a call through to our Family Dr. to see what he thinks, and see if he will draw some blood to make sure she is getting all the nutrition she needs.

Yesterday she was to begin drinking some water with food coloring in it to detect leaks, but was not able because she slept most of the day. While the hole in her neck is healing, she seems much weaker and more frail. Please pray that she can begin eating soon, as I think it will help her to regain strength.

London Homecoming

The girls are attending the homecoming dance tonight. Bob's mom and dad came up last night and went the Varsity Football game, as Brenda cheered. They then went to the JV game on Saturday morning where Brenda cheered again. We played Jonathon Alder, and lets not say anymore about the games. UGH!! Bob's mom and dad then attend Emily's soccer game, as she is on the LHS Girls team. They won there game 3-1.

The girls are now at the dance, I hope they have a good time.

Bettyjo Update

Bettyjo went to the ENT Friday, and as expected has taken a very very conservative approach to her care. He removed the small scab on her neck and used a silver nitrate stick (acid) to agitate the wound and cause it to heal together.

She will be allowed to drink small amounts of colored water on Monday. If that goes well, after one week she will be allowed to eat some applesauce. He does not want her to have any thing with refined sugar because if it does leak into her neck it could encourage an infection.

She has enjoyed driving again (she must wear the collar), and being free from the collar while in the house.

Please pray for continued progress.

Bettyjo Update

Bettyjo went to the Ortho today, and the gap between the two vertebra is filling as the Dr. expected. She is to see him again in three months. Until then she will need to wear the collar while in the car, but can take it off while she is at home. Hopefully, she will have the same encouraging news on Friday when she sees the ENT.

Bettyjo Update

We had a scare last night. Bettyjo's feeding tube popped out. She called the doctor and he told her to push it back in and see him in the morning. If she couldn't get it in, she would have to go the emergency room because the stomach would seal up and then he would have to surgically re-install it. Praise God that she was able to get it in and that the doctor was able to easily insert a new one this morning. She will be seeing the Ortho on Tuesday, and the ENT on Friday. Please pray that we will get good news from both appointments.

Bettyjo Update

Bettyjo's status has not changed much. She had a low grade fever yesterday, but the Tylenol she took seems to have done the trick. We are not sure if she had a virus, or if the fever is a result of her RA symptoms coming back. Good news is that the wound in her neck is getting smaller, and shallower. Hopefully when she goes back to the ENT on the 21st he will allow her to begin swallowing. I think that when she starts eating real food she will get some energy back. The liquid diet she is on now is only meant to keep her alive.

Bettyjo Update

Bettyjo went to the ENT today, and received some bad news. He wants her to continue not to eat or drink for another 3 weeks. This will allow time for her to be off the Predizone, along will additional packing of the wound, and possible healing. If this does not work, he is proposing another surgery, that will take mussel from her chest to graph to the wound in her neck. Neither of us are quite sure of the particulars of this, and we are hopeful that we will never know what they are.

Bettyjo Update

Bettyjo went to the Ortho today, and was told that the area between the disks is starting to fill in with bone, which is good. However, she will need to remain in the Miami J collar for another 3 weeks. Ironically, her next appointment with the Ortho is exactly 6 months from the date that she had the first surgery.

We have begun to reduce the predizone, 1 mg at a time. She is now down to 4mg and will go to 3mg on Thursday. The reason for the reduction is that the ENT feels that it is inhibiting the healing of the esophagus. This is allowing her Rheumatoid Arthritis to come back to full strength, and she is in a lot of pain as a result. Now, I am not sure if the pain medication she is taking, is more for the surgery related items, or for the arthritis. Either way it is not good.

Please pray that the pain will subside, and that the esophagus will finally heal, and that the disks will fuse properly.

Bettyjo Update

Bettyjo went to the ENT last Thursday, and he stated that he thought the predizone she is on is keeping the esophagus from healing. So....she will be stepping the predizone down for the next four weeks. After that it may be another 3 or 4 weeks to completely heal. We are looking at another 6 to 8 weeks on the feeding tube. Not exactly what we wanted to hear.

Maybe when she goes to the Ortho she can take the collar off.

Swallow Test Results

Bettyjo got a swallow test done Wednesday, and water came out the wound in her neck. She talked to the Doctor on Thursday, and he want to see her in two weeks. So.....we'll see what course of action we will take then.

Bettyjo is getting very discouraged.

Please pray for patience for all of us, and that she would be encouraged.

Bad News/Good News

Bettyjo had been eating some soft foods, and drinking some water. Earlier today she began leaking from her neck again. She will be having a swallow test tomorrow and will see the ENT later this week.

Bettyjo went to the Ortho today, and it appears that she may be out of the collar in 4 more weeks. Originally it was to be 8 more weeks.

Please pray for total healing, and mental strength, for all of us.

Good News

Bettyjo went to the ENT yesterday. He was very pleased with the healing that has taken place with the open neck wound. It is almost completely healed. He has allowed her to begin drinking water, and on Monday she can start eating some very soft foods. In two weeks she is to start eating ground meat etc. Please pray that the esophagus will not leak and that she will have an easy time getting back on food, and that she does not develop an infection.

She is still having pretty substantial pain from the rod in her neck, and will be going back to the Ortho next week, hopefully we will have good news from him as well.

Updates

Bettyjo is still in considerable pain as a result of the rod being placed in her neck. The good news is that her incisions are healing well and with out infection. Se will be going to the ENT next Friday, so please pray that she will be able to swallow something (even water would be progress) after that visit.

Please pray for my dad who had rotator surgery this week. The damage was more extensive than originally expected, and he is in considerable pain. The worst thing is that he is not supposed to drive for two weeks and will be stuck at home while my mom works. However, I expect he will be driving before then.

Lastly, please pray for my grandmother as she has had some serious vision problems, and will be having an MRI and CT scan to diagnose the problem.

Bettyjo Status

Bettyjo went to the Ortho today, and received some disappointing news. He wants her to stay in the hard collier for 10 more weeks, till around September 19th. The staples came out today, and the Xray shows the rod going from c4 to t2.

Bettyjo Status

Bettyjo received a call this morning that Dr. Miley was ill and would not be able to keep his appointment with her today. It is rescheduled for Wednesday.

Dr. Willet (ENT) saw her today and was very impressed at how well the open wound in her neck is healing. He changed the way, and packing material type. We will see him again in two weeks. He said that it appears that the original bone graph was what was keeping the wound from healing the first time around.

Bettyjo Status

She is in a fair amount of pain yet from the surgery. The incisions themselves look good, and we have been keeping up on the prescribed antibiotic. She will be going to both the ENT and Othro doctors on Tuesday. I hope to be posting good news to this blog site then.

Bettyjo Status

Bettyjo and I enjoyed the Choctaw fireworks Tuesday night from our front yard. The walk to our front yard and back was exhausting for her, so I am certainly glad we did not try to go anywhere.

Bettyjo is tired but I think doing better. Home health care is scheduled to come to our home and change her dressing twice a day, and she has a appointment to see Dr. Willet on Tues., so the wound care will most likely change.

Bettyjo Status

Well.........she came home today. Our trip home was much less eventful than the one we took in March (we came home in a freak snow storm in rush hour traffic, she was very sick and we didn't know how to hook her feeding tube up........and my nerves were shot). Other than the pain from the surgery, she is doing very well. I was able to watch the nurse change the dressing on the open wound on her neck, and I think I can do it if Aetna won't allow the home health nurse to come out twice a day as she is now scheduled. That wound is starting to close, and is about 1" smaller than it was last Thursday, and it did not seep any blood.

Thank you all for your prayers and support, it is greatly appreciated.

Bettyjo Status

Bettyjo was unplugged from all machines today. No IV, no pain machine, no oxygen. However, she does still have a feeding tube, but at least that is where she was at when she went into the hospital last week. The doctor would like to see her come home Wednesday, so......we'll see. With her pain level tolerable she would like to come home. I am a little nervous caring for the large open wound in the front of her neck, although the nurse has said that it is healing well.

Bettyjo Status 7-1-07

The girls and I visited Bettyjo this afternoon. Thanks to the narcotics her pain has diminished, but they have left her a little nauseous. The surgical incisions are healing fine. Please pray that she is healing as well below the surface. It looks as if she will be coming home Tuesday or Wednesday, barring any further complications. However, I am pushing for Thursday or Friday, as I am a little worried about caring for the open wound on the front of her neck because it is deep, and about 3" long.

Bettyjo Status Report

Bettyjo was in a tremendous amount of pain over the last few days. Yesterday afternoon they gave her a pain pump that puts a continuous amount of pain meds into her, and then if she pushes a button an additional amount will go into her. She can deliver the pain meds to herself every 10 min. This seems to make her much more comfortable. When I arrived at the hospital this afternoon, she was very alert and talkative. This is the best I have seen her since the surgery.

Monday Brenda will leave for Myrtle Beach with a friend, and Tuesday Emily will leave for Lexington with a friend. Hopefully, keeping them busy will reduce the impact of Bettyjo's hospitalization and recovery. And, the summer will go by much faster for them.

Bettyjo Surgery Update

Bettyjo has come out surgery and recovery and is doing as well as expected. The ENT reopened the front incision, the Ortho retrieved the stray bone from the first surgery, and then the ENT created a new fistula. The wound will remain open and will need to heal from the inside out. The surgery team flipped her over and then the Ortho placed a rod in her neck that spans the entire C level vertebra. He said that her range of motion should be good. He did not indicate how long she will be in the hospital, or how long the recovery will take. I am guessing that she will be in the hospital 5-7 days. I am sure she would appreciate calls and visits beginning Friday.

Please pray that her recovery is full and short