Every Day Brings us Closer to Home

I was just to tired last night to give a final update for the day. Jeanne is making progress. She was told that she can leave the hospital when she can walk down the hall. Physical therapy worked with her late in the afternoon but she was unsteady. She has the determination so she will get there.

Neurologically everything looks good. She was able to do all of the coordination tests. Her brain just needs to recalibrate for balance. Since she has been in bed for most of the last week and flat on her back for 4 of those days it is no surprise that she is a little wobbly on her feet.

Skip

One More Day?

Jeanne will not be released today. We are in the two steps forward and one step back mode. The ear is a little better and the headache is a little better, but she is very dizzy. There is no way I can handle her at the motel and no way she can take a long ride.

I am dissappointed and relieved at the same time.

Keep us in your prayers.

Wednesday Morning and Maybe Today

Jeanne was moved from CCU to Progressive care last night so we are a step closer to the door. Leaving the support system of monitors and medical professionals will have a scary side to it but it also means we are one day closer to home.

Again thanks for your prayers and comments.

More news this evening.

Skip

I Guess Not Today

It has been determined that we will be here one more day. Head Doc and Heart Doc are fine with her progress and will move her from CCU today. They want 24 hours of observation and some activity before they give her care to me. I think that is okay.

Jeanne still has a plugged up feeling in the left ear. They have decided to have the ENT Doc come and take a look to see if there is anything he can do to give her some relief.

Today we pray for relief from the preassure on the ear.

Again thanks for your prayers and comments. Jeanne asks me everyday if there were any new comments. She wants to get to a computer so she can read them all.

Thanks Skip

Maybe Today

I am about to leave the motel to go see Jeanne. Please pray there are no surprises and I can bring her back to the motel with me. If she is released tody we will stay here in Denver for a couple of days while she gains her strength back. I am sure that days of laying on her back will leave her a little weak.

I will update this blog later today.

Pacemaker is Working

Jeanne just came out of  "pacemaker surgery". Everything went as expected and she is resting. She is just wiped out after 5 days of this stuff. You never get any rest in CCU because they wake you up every 15 min to an hour to make sure everything is okay. If the staff is not waking you then a monitor goes off someplace.

Thank God for the staff and the monitor alarms.

Because Jeanne would not be here today without all three!

The Cardio team said they will release her tomorrow. I think the neuro team is also leaning toward a release tomorrow. We will see what happens.

Thanks for the prayers

Skip

Nothing Has Been Easy BUT Praise God

Last night when I wrote I thought that Jeanne could have come back to the motel with me. Praise God that she was not released! Around 6 AM this morning she had her heart stop. Thanks to the quick work of the CCU staff she came back. I would have never been good enough to handle the situation if we had been in the motel.

We have spent the better part of the day dealing with the heart issue. The cardiologists decided that the slow heart rate is “Long Q T Syndrome”. Basically it takes the heart too long to recharge and fire off another shot of electrical energy. So what does that mean? Well this afternoon they did a Angiogram to make sure that there were no blockage issues and there were not. While they were in the heart they pulled a wire for a temporary pacemaker. She will be on the temporary for the night. Sometime tomorrow she will get a pacemaker installed. They will do the combo pacemaker/defibrillator so she will be protected should this happen again. Her heart rate is now at 60 BPM rather than the 33 to 40 we have been watching for the past few days.

 Praise God we were in the right place!

Jeanne and I thank you for your comments and prayers. As soon as she is up to it she will be posting something thanking everyone.

The original issue with the Dural AVM has taken a back seat today. Her head still feels like it is "full" and the headache still persists. The Docs continue to tell her it was expected and it will get better.

Saturday News

Jeanne is spending one more night in the hospital. Last night her heart rate dropped to 33 beats per min. so there has been some concern about that and everyone felt that another night of observation would be good.

She is feeling a little better today but still has a headach. We are told that is expected and it could take several days to clear itself.

I do believe she will be released tomorrow. We will spend a couple of days just resting before trying the trip home.

Again thanks for the prayers.

Nightly Update

10:15 PM and I am back at the motel. Jeanne is doing better today but she is still very tired and light headed. She was sitting up in a chair having diner when we got there about 6:30. We planned to stay for an hour but she was doing good so we stayed until 8:00 PM.

Andrea and Nathan fly home in the morning. They both want to stay but they have family and work obligations. I sure have needed and enjoyed their support. Jeanne and I will miss them both. Sister Joy will be here for another day and then she will go back to Montana. Joy is planning to come to South Dakota when we go home just to be support until Jeanne is back to her self.

I will continue to update daily until we leave Denver.

Thanks again for all of the prayers.

Doctors Report

We spoke with the doctor this morning. His report is good and he is confortable that he has eliminated all of the dangers associated with the AV Fistula. There is one small area that he did not try to shut off the flow of blood to because it is too close to the nerve bundle that controls the face, vocal chords, shoulder movement Etc. He is hopeful that it will correct itself. The plan as of this morning is that he wants to see her in three months for a follow up. He will know then if there is something else he should do.

I don't believe she will be released today. The Vertigo and nausia are still bothering her. The six hour procedure has left her tired so the Doc is thinking about keeping her one more night. Andrea and Nathan leave for home tomorrow (Saturday). They have been a great comfort for both Jeanne and I. Sister Joy will probably be here for another day and then get ready to come to our house for a few days while Jeanne gets back to full strength.

We are looking at staying here in Denver until Monday to give Jeanne time to get past the sea sick feeling. A six hour ride would not be good in the current condition.

Again thanks for your prayers.

Skip

Awake

Mom is awake and eating breakfast. She still has a headache and a little vertigo but she's holding up very well. The day shift nurses are not nearly as nice as the night shift. They are only letting two of us in at a time. So dad and Andrea are taking the first shift. They tell us the doctor will be around about 11:30. Will let you know more after that.

Good morning

We went in to see mom in the ICU around 8:30 last night. She was very out of it and her head was in a lot of pain. But this was to be expected. Fortunatly we had a very wonderful. nurse who was willing to let us stay past visiting hours. We were there until Around 12:45 last night waiting to make sure mom was out of most of the after effects. She was very lucid but still had a splitting head ache. And of course they had to keep waking her up every 20/30 minutes to make sure she was ok. We have a meeting with the doctor sometime after 8:30 and he will let us know if we can take her home or not. It all depends on if she can handle the head pain without IV drugs.
Will update more after we hear from the doctor.
Nathan and the family

Thank You

Thank you for all of your prayers. Jeanne did well yesterday. It was a long day for everyone. We started at 9:00 AM with all of the check in and pre op stuff. We left Jeanne in the operating room about 1PM and started our long wait. They worked on her for about  hours. We finally got to see her in CCU about 9PM.. Abou t 12;30 AM she was doing well. and we returned to the motel for a little sleep.I t is 7AM now and we will be heading back to meet the doctor. I will give everyone more details later today. God is Good! Thank you for the prayers and the comments.

Skip

Recovery

About 20 minutes after our last post the doctor found us. Mom is in recovery, she is coherent and can follow commands. She does have a very bad headache which is to be expected considering how long they were working on her. The doc says they got 95%+ of it. And believes the rest will take care of itself. We are now waiting in a different waiting room before we go see mom in ICU where she will be staying the night. Will update more later this evening after seeing mom

Love the Kronemeyer clan

The long wait

Hello everyone. I know you've been praying and we appreciate it! Unfortunatly we don't have much news. We got a small update around 4 and they told us all was well but they were in the middle of the procedure. It's now 630 local time and unfortunately we have no news to share other than the fact that we are all getting restless. There aren't any fears that something has gone wrong. Just that it becomes a very long day staring at the same four walls without any idea whatsnreally going on. We are hopeful that well get some news in the next hour or so. As soon as I know something we will update you all through the blog. So hopefully well have something for you in an hour. Again thank you all for your prayers and concern. We can defenitly feel gods presence keeping us clam, though slightly restless.

Nathan and the rest of the family.

The day of.

Good afternoon,
This day started around 8:30 as we rolled out of the hotel and headed to the hospital. Our first stop was the admin desk where they checked us in and honestly our clerk was not the nicest we've ever met but fortunately only had to deal with her for a short time.
After that we were moved up to the ambulatory care unit where they did the usual blood pressure and IV routine. We waited a coupler hours and met the nursing staff the sleep drug doctor and the doctor whose doing the procedure. All of them were wonderfully friendly and informative. At around 12:30 they moved mom to the surgical floor where we said our goodbyes and prayed together and left her in the capable hands of the doctors.
We are sitting across the street now grabbing some lunch and will be updating this blog as we have more information.

Thank you all for your prayers this week and especially today. It will be a long day and procedure. Please keep it coming. There will be more updates after lunch.
Thank you
Nathan and the rest of the family.

Today is the day

We have lots of support here for Jeanne. Andrea, Nathan, sister Joy, and cousin Ellen, Oh yes and me. We will be meeting with the doctor in about an hour and a half. I will update everyone before the procedure this afternoon. Set your alarm for 1PM mountain time, and keep Jeanne in your prayers.

Safely in Denver

Tomorrow is the day!  I am supposed to be at the hospital at 9AM to meet with the doctor, have the "pre-procedure" check up and the procedure is scheduled for 1PM.  I talked with the Dr's office on Tuesday and I was told that they would re-do the angiogram  (ugh) before they make the determination that the Embalization is the right way to go.   I am glad they are being cautious!    It is so comforting knowing that there are so many people praying!  God's greatness and Goodness will be known!
Blessings to all,
Jeanne

Eldest children arrive.

Andrea and I have safely arrived in Denver today. Mom and dad picked us up at the airport. Hopefully this will give us all a chance to relax before tomorrows long day of procedures. We are slated to arrive at the hospital at 9:00 for the consultation.
Be proud of Andrea she made the entire flight from Chicago to Denver without a single tear or histeric outburst! And only three Xanax. We are very proud of her.

Thank You all!

As a Christian I know that God loves me, cares for me and holds me in His Hands.  How often that is done through caring, concerned friends and family!  All of you have lifted me up with your loving concern for me and for my family.  I am strengthened knowing so many of you are lifting (me) us up in prayer to our Gracious Heavenly Father!  He is indeed answering those prayers.  He is Great and He is Good!

Jeanne's post

When I was a child I learned a simple meal time prayer that started with "God is Great, God is Good" and as I reflect on this I realize that this is one of the greatest statements a Christian can make.Though things are uncertain at this time, though I face a "risky" procedure, I can trust God in all things.  He is Great and He is Good.  

I had an angiogram last Wednesday (my dear sister Joy was with me) that confirmed that I indeed had a Dural AV Fistula.  I have had symptons for many months but none of the doctors connected the dots until recently.  The dizziness and headaches have increased so I am happy to know what I am dealing with.  However, I know this is no surprise to God.  I look to Him for my strength through His grace. 

Skip and I will be leaving for Denver on Wednesday to be ready for the procedure on Thursday afternoon.  Andrea and Nathan will be there too!! Please pray for the Doctors, staff, my family and me.  Is. 65:24 "Before they call I will answer, while they are still speaking I will hear."

God is indeed Great and God is indeed Good.

Jeanne

The Answer to Dural What

Overview

Dural arteriovenous fistulas (abnormal passageways between arteries and veins) may occur anywhere in the body. Dural arteriovenous fistulas occur in the dura mater, the tough fibrous membrane that envelops the brain and spinal cord outside the arachnoid and the pia mater (the other layers of membrane that protect the brain and spine.)

Diagnosis

Some patients with dural arteriovenous fistulas hear noises that have no origin, their ears ring, or they have headaches or strokelike symptoms or seizures. Others have no symptoms.

Treatment

Large dural arteriovenous fistulas usually require treatment, which may include endovascular embolization (closure of the fistula from inside the blood vessel) or surgery to block the abnormal channel.

The Time and Place

Hello All,
Mom has scheduled her surgery for Thursday September 23rd at Swedish Medical center in Denver Colorado. Her procedure is scheduled 1pm. Andrea and I are planning on flying out there to be with dad and mom during the procedure and recovery. Dad will be posting some information about what the procedure is and what it is exactly mom is dealing with.

Thank you for your wishes
Love
Nathan and The Kronemeyer Family

The first time

This blog will be here to update family and friends about our mothers condition surgery etc. It will be updated by myself, sister, brother, father, and probably mom too.