Hubs in the hospital...

[HappyChristian]

I would appreciate prayer for my husband, Randy.  I will try to sum up what seems to me a long story...but this is going to be long. I'm sorry about that!

Thursday morning while Randy was at a client's home, he went out to shovel. In these parts, black ice is a real and present danger during the winter. Well, he fell on black ice. His right leg went under him, and his left leg hyper-extended. He managed to get up (he was right by the van's bumper) but fell again right away. He rolled to the pavement, where there was no ice. Got up and began going back to the house, and fell in the snow.  Three falls within a matter of minutes. Someone with Factor V Leiden's isn't supposed to be doing those shenanigans.

So he came home. How he got into the van, drove, and got up the steps into the house is beyond me - other than God helped him greatly. Because he could hardly walk at all. He got into a chair and I got the heating pad, etc. He thought it was a badly pulled muscle. By now it was almost 11 am.  I knew he was in agony, because he would never, ever leave work for just a little bit of pain. He has a very high pain tolerance (many times I will notice him favoring something and will ask how he's doing - he always answers that he's fine...).

So about 12:30 he said he thought I might need to call the ambulance. He didn't think he would be able to get down the stairs, down the icy hill, into the van with only my help (to take him to the emergency room). I let our son know, and he said he was getting off work to come help. By 1, Randy was certain he needed an ambulance. So I called them. They got there pretty quickly, thankfully. They were great. They couldn't bring in the stretcher because our ramp was too slick, so they used a blanket to carry him outside. As they rolled him, he hollered out in pain. We have been married almost 33 years, and he has gone through a lot of physically painful  things. But I have NEVER heard him holler like that. Never. That was about my undoing.

Our son had gotten here by then, but was waiting on the road by our driveway (due to the snow, there was nowhere for him to park if he came up the driveway, and he would have been in the way of the ambulance). He came into the house and headed straight for me to wrap me in a tight hug. That was absolutely what I needed at that moment. I was never more thankful that God moved him up here.

So Josh drove me to the hospital. We were in the emergency room for hours as they tested him. (it seemed like years...especially when we saw the date the nurse had written on the white board: Feb 14, 2014. LOL)   They found a DVT that was already on its way down his leg - it stretched from his groin to his knee (two years ago it went from his groin to his foot). Doctors have concluded that it is a result of his accident - physical trauma to someone with Factor V can quickly cause clots...and I guess he has to do even that all the way, with major clots  LOL).

They tried to have him stand. He almost passed out, so the doc laid him back down quickly. And he just laid there with a blank stare for about a minute. Scared me so very badly.  So they brought in some pain meds and muscle relaxers, thinking that it might be a pulled muscle. An hour later, they wanted to try and have him stand again (they wanted to send him home, but they couldn't until they knew he could walk). He couldn't even sit with his legs over the bed (he was holding his left leg up so it wouldn't touch the bed and was still in so much pain). 

So they decided to admit him.  He got to his room about 11:30 pm (and we time traveled from 2-14-2014 to 2-15-2019 LOL). We left the hospital about 12:30 and got back to our road a little after 1. Well, as I said, our private road doesn't get plowed. And nobody that lives on the road believes in shoveling, I guess. (Randy would have done some once we were plowed out had he had a chance). So great big piles of slushy frozen snow met us. With one set of tracks.   Josh headed up the hill, got about halfway and started spinning. So he backed up - the snow pulled him over one of the frozen piles and we got stuck. Josh got out to check and we were good and stuck. He started doing what he could. As I sat there, I was a bit overwhelmed. So I began to pray. While I was praying, I reminded the Lord about how quickly He helped Peter when Peter cried "Lord, save me!". I told the Lord we needed immediate help.

I kid yo not...within minutes (could have been seconds) I saw car lights coming down the road. Now, understand this is 1:30 in the morning, in a super-rural area. Folks are just not out and about during that time. ESPECIALLY in this weather (which is so unusual for this area). The man pulled up immediately and got out of his car. He looked things over, and then said he had a shovel. Now, we have a snow shovel that Josh could have walked up to the house and gotten, but he didn't want to leave me with the van sticking out onto the main road, and neither of us was crazy about the thought of me walking up the road.

But our snow shovel is a regular, hard-plastic, wide shovel. His was not. His was metal. Smaller. With kind of pointed parts. The kind perfect for scraping away at ice. And the size just right for fitting in an area a regular snow shovel would have a problem with. You know, almost as if God knew something...

He and Josh took turns using the shovel - he even got down on the ground to work at it. This complete stranger, whom I'd never seen before (and who actually didn't speak to me except to tell me to push on the gas slowly as they pushed the van).  It took about half an hour, but we were unstuck!  He told us we should get a hotel, but I couldn't leave my mom alone up there (and, to add to it - our furnace had gone out, but had just been fixed that day).

So we tried it again, and got stuck again. The man was gone by now, but we weren't stuck so badly and it just took Josh a few minutes to free us. We parked the van on the main road, and he walked me up to the house. He had been going to stay the night, but we couldn't leave the van on the road all night. So he decided to go home and come back in the morning to take me back to the hospital. He got home, but couldn't get up his road - it was ice. So the poor guy had to go get a hotel after all (something the man kept saying we should do). Neither of us got much sleep that night. LOL  But God is so good!

So we visited Randy yesterday, but didn't stay long because we didn't want to be home to either of our places after dark.  I can't go see Randy today, but I've talked to him on the phone (and Josh is going to see him on his lunch break). 

Randy had a rough night last night from the pain - even with the meds. So the doctor said they were missing something and sent him to have a CAT scan of his leg. They found a hematoma. Not something to normally worry about, but with someone on anti-coagulants it is a concern. The doc called the hematologist who worked with Randy two years ago and they agreed to take him off one of his blood thinners while he was in hospital (they had him on his regular Warfarin, but put him on Lovenox as well). They are keeping him on the Lovenox for now and so he has to remain in hospital longer so they can monitor the hematoma. Randy said something about the muscle as well, but he had gotten his pain meds by the time I'd talked to him, and coupled with the sleepless night was pretty drowsy.

Anyway...would greatly appreciate prayer. Thank you for reading this mini book. 

[Salyan]

He's on our prayer list. :)

 

[Jim_Alaska]

I hope there is someone to fill in for him at church. He probably won't be up and around for some time.

[HappyChristian]

2 hours ago, Jim_Alaska said:

I hope there is someone to fill in for him at church. He probably won't be up and around for some time.

We have a guest speaker set for tomorrow morning. Thankfully, the pastor of the church that started this one will send men as needed, and on a week-by-week basis.

[Jim_Alaska]

That is a wonderful resource LuAnne. Thanks for posting it, i was worried. Tell Randy I hope he heals quickly. I hope the fall didn't damage his knees, they can keep you down for some time. I had a fall last summer and fell again on the same knee this winter. It took extensive rehab to get back to where I am now, which isn't great, but a lot better than it was for months.

[DaveW]

Praying.

[HappyChristian]

1 hour ago, Jim_Alaska said:

That is a wonderful resource LuAnne. Thanks for posting it, i was worried. Tell Randy I hope he heals quickly. I hope the fall didn't damage his knees, they can keep you down for some time. I had a fall last summer and fell again on the same knee this winter. It took extensive rehab to get back to where I am now, which isn't great, but a lot better than it was for months.

Thank you so much for the concern! I will pass it on to Randy. He didn't fall on his knees, thankfully. I'm glad you are doing better.

[Pastor Matt]

I'll be praying for Randy. 

[1Timothy115]

I'll be praying for Randy and you too.

[HappyChristian]

After I visited Randy today (I still can't stay long with him because our road is still icky, even though beginning to melt. We still slip and slide...), the doctor called me. I had just missed him. He wanted to let me know a few things...

First, they have taken Randy off all blood thinners for right now because of the hematoma. It is still bleeding, and they have to bring it under control. The day doctor and the night doctor have both consulted with the Seattle hematologist who worked with Randy 2 years ago, and the day doctor also consulted with another hematologist. They are all in agreement about this: Randy needs to get back on a blood thinner because of Factor V, and his DVT. But the anti-coagulants that self-administer stay in the system a while, so if there is a bleed they can't do anything til it's out of the system. The doc told me that the best one for this situation is IV heparin, because they can stop it quickly. So...

He is ordering a CAT scan for tomorrow, to see if the bleed is stopping and the hematoma is shrinking. If it is, his order is to administer IV heparin.

He does have injury to the muscle where the hematoma is located, as well.

The doctor told me he's lost so much blood that he is now anemic. His count was a bit lower today than yesterday, and if it goes much lower he will need a transfusion. The doc was not majorly worried about that (or at least he was downplaying it for me LOL).

He was more concerned with the elevation of the CK enzyme (creatine kinase) due to the muscle damage. Too high a level can cause damage to the kidneys, so he is having that watched closely, and has Randy on IV liquids to help lower it.

So, while the DVT is a concern, it is necessarily taking a back seat to these other issues for the moment.

[Jim_Alaska]

Thank you for the update LuAnne. Although this sounds very serious it seems like the doctors are doing all they can and also seem competent. I will continue n prayer for Randy. Please try to keep us updated as you are able

[1Timothy115]

I'm continuing to pray for you both and of course the doctors to have wisdom as they administer treatment.. 

[Pastor Matt]

Thank you. Please continue to keep us updated so we can keep praying for Randy. I'm not sure what I can do, but if we can do something, please let me know.

[HappyChristian]

@Matt Souza - thank you. Prayer is the best thing all around right now!  I so appreciate it, and your offer.

I visited Randy a bit today. There were a couple of men from our church there, which was nice. After they left, we talked for a few minutes, but he got really sleepy. He had a rough night, so he went to sleep. I read for a while, waiting for him to wake up.

They took him down this morning for a CAT scan on his leg. We were waiting for the results. The doc never came in, but the nurse told me the results. The hematoma is still bleeding. It has not gotten any worse, praise the Lord, but it hasn't gotten any better. They took him off all his blood-thinners and are giving him Vit. K to try and get it to stop bleeding. He can't have the IV heparin until the bleeding stops, so the hematoma and the DVT have no chance to even begin dissolving.

His CK count is down a bit, but still almost 17x too high. He is still anemic, and will remain so until the bleeding stops (he might need a transfusion as well). And now they are giving him insulin, so apparently his blood sugar has gone wonky.

Happily, he was able to take 3 walks today - from the bed to the door, so not very far. But it's progress. After the last one, his pain level was at 7, so he was happy to get the pain medicine.

I thank you for the prayer. I am so thankful that there are people all over the world praying for him. He's only been in the hospital for 4 days, but this house is sure lonely without him. God is most definitely helping me to deal with this, although I am a bit weepy.  I have to admit that I'm scared. I know God is in control, though, and am thankful for that.

It's supposed to sleet here tomorrow, so I don't know if I'll get to go visit him.

[Jim_Alaska]

Hang in there HC, you are right, God is in control and does answer prayer. With the weather the way it is please don't push yourself. It does Randy no good if you have an accident or medical problem also.

Prayers still coming your way.