Happy halloween!

Hello everyone! We went to the doctor today. We had a list of questions to ask and they all got answered. =) Rob has had high blood pressure and a high heart beat for the last four days. He is now on a higher dosage of his beta blocker medicine. We asked about sodium affecting Rob, but the doctor said that since Rob is not a heart failure patient, it shouldn't affect him.

Rob got his blood taken again today. He goes in again on thursday. Rob is very sensitive to coumiden, which is the medicine that keeps his inr levels in balance, so we do not want the inr to go too high because then it would be too thin. It's amazing what they can do with medicine. The doctor did say that you can hear a nice click from the mechanical valve, so that's good!

Rob has started to play gt4 again. That is the game that he has the whole chair set up and steering wheel that connects to the ps2. He says it's a good work out. So anything that gets him to work out! =)

We'll post pictures tomorrow of the enzo and of Rob playing gt. Thank you for your comments!

It's Rob saying hi.

Hello :)
Just saying Hi!
I'm sitting on the couch watching some tv... the usual.
Well, I found out my INR level is low (this is so my blood doesn't clot too easy) and now I have to give myself shots twice a day for two weeks to help get my INR back to the correct level :-(
I have been having trouble sleeping well. Maybe I need to make sure I tire myself out more durring the day.

On a positive note. I finished the Enzo Ferrari lego model that Dad gave me! It is awesome! Really big for a lego car, about 18" long! The doors open with the flick of a switch too!

http://shop.lego.com/product.asp?p=8653

Also, I got a motorcycle the other day. A remote control motorcycle :) It is so cool... I have wanted this one since I was like 12 years old! What's cool about it is that the rider on the bike leans when you turn/corner. It is a model, and I need to paint EVERYTHING! So I have a lot more work to do on it. I assembled it yesterday and today, so that's done. Now I will take it apart, and paint it. Oh, and put on the stickers. Then I just need to instal the electronic devices to control it, and it will be ready to go! I'm really excited!

http://www.kyosho.co.jp/web/products/car_bike/hangingonracer/hangingonracer/hang_on_series/hang_on-e.html
http://www.kyosho.co.jp/web/products/car_bike/hangingonracer/hangingonracer/lineup/lineup-e.html

Well, I'm pretty sleepy... so I'll write more later.

Rob

Sleepy

Hello everyone! These past few days have been ok. Rob seems to be having too high of a heart beat and too high blood pressure inbetween his medicine. We're going to call the doctor today about it. He hasn't been sleeping well, so we're just not sure. Hopefully we'll figure it out. Doctors are smart. =)

Rob has been sleeping well in the mornings. I put a blanket up on our window so it's very dark in there. I was confused when I woke up today.

The picture is of Rob starting his lego enzo car. He has gotten a little further. He'll probably work on it today.

Doing well!

Hello! Rob did really well today. It is great to see the little improvements everyday. He has been up and down the stairs a few times today. He is loving driving his little remote cars. We went to Buffalo and got his blood tested today. We don't know the results yet.

Thank you for all the movie suggestions! We loved all your ideas.

Also, we are wondering about the Bell family. We gave them this website and did not get any way to contact them. So we are wondering how Mr Bell is doing. Please leave a comment if you see this!

Chef Robbie

Hello Everyone! Rob helped me cook bacon last night. We had bacon, egg and cheese croissant sandwiches. Then we played Zarahelma. It's the mormon version of The settlers game.

Today has been going well. Rob and I went for a carride to the taco bell drivethru in Rogers. It was quite fun. Rob has been drawing designs for our backyard to turn into a mini z track.

We have been watching movies. Does anyone have any suggestions on movies?

Keeping warm

Hello! Today Rob is doing ok. He didn't sleep very well last night. But he did sleep in until 12. I gave him his medication at 9 and then he slept in.

The picture is of Rob drinking a misty slush from Dairy queen. He got so cold, he is sitting in front of the fire place. It is on, but you can't really see it in the picture. I just think it's funny because he just keeps drinking it, but he's freezing. We did dairy queen drive thru today. We love all places that have drive thru and take out.

Mini z's

Rob keeps getting stronger! He has walked up and down the stairs three times already today. We walked out to our backyard too. We're trying to find out how to put a track in our backyard. =) Rob has already gained some weight. He has been good about eating. He is loving getting breakfast in bed everyday. It makes it so he takes his medicine and eats and then falls back to sleep afterwards. He seems to sleep better in the morning. We have gotten oxygen for Rob at night. It took me forever to set it up one night... Then Rob gets up from bed and just looks at it and fixes it in a minute. But I now know how to set up it.

Rob was able to play with his r/c mini z's today. He was excited to be able to play with them again. Rob received the enzo lego set yesterday. He started putting it together last night. It's a big set.

Thank you all for your comments. We still look forward to them. Rob stays home all day and watches the website for new comments. Thank you everyone!

Exercising Robbie

Today has been a good day for Rob. He has been up since 10:30. He slept ok last night. We now have oxygen for him at night. His head hurt all night, so that's why he didn't sleep well. He has been eating well today. He had little steak pieces with chips, cheese and sour creme for lunch. It was nice to see an empty plate when he was done!

Rob went downstairs today. This was the first time since we've been home. We found another shrubba down there. Which is cuter? =) He walked back up the stairs too. I counted them and we have 15 stairs. He did a good job. We also we able to walk down our road. It is nice to have Rob up and going. We found that one of our neighbors has a little railroad track and town in their backyard. It's so cute. It has mini trees and houses in it.

Rob ordered a new phone and it just arrived. So what do you think he'll do all day? =)

Doing well

Hello everyone! Today has been ok. We have started to record what Rob eats and drinks. He has already eaten more today than he did yesterday. So little baby steps are good.

I am posting two pictures. One is how Rob slept last night until two am. The other one is when we were leaving the hospital. I loved walking by these posters everyday. It says: "Our reputation isn't built by the people who come here. It's built by the people who leave." Everyday I would it would inspire me knowing Rob will leave sometime. My dream came true and now we're enjoying being home.

Flu shots!

Hello everyone! Rob is doing well. He likes to sleep a lot. We were able to walk to the mail box and back yesterday. He finds it hard to go up the stairs. Luckily there is only three of them. It has been very nice to be home and cook for Rob. He has been eating well. I found a smoothie online that has 640 calories in it. So I'm going to make him that often. =)

Today Mike, Denise and I went in for our flu shots. We are waiting for Rob to recover more because getting a flu shot and a pnemonia shot. I had to see a doctor for mine since I haven't been to that clinic. I miss all of Rob's doctors. They were all so nice.

Rob would love to see you all, but we will let you know when you can visit. We appreciate your patience.

Another day

Another day had gone by! We went to the doctors office yesterday to get blood tests. It was crazy to go over with the doctor all that has happened in the last two months. It was like..."this happened, and this, and this... oh yeah, and this. Oh, plus this too!" The list just went on and on... it was supprising to me, and I'm the one it happened too! I should get a call back today about my blood tests... I hope all is well. There are checking for the PT/INR level, which is for the proper anticoagulation levels. Meaning that my blood doesn't clot too quickly. That is so that it doesn't stick to my mechanical valve.

We also picked up all our mail. It was a full bin! A lot of mail!

Later in the evening we played a game, and then watched the episodes of Lost that we had recorded while gone.

I slept pretty well last night... I am getting much better at sleeping on my side. It is so nice to have some much room on such a comfortable bed! I still wake up a lot, but it is getting better slowly but surely.

When I got up, I was really hungery, and I wanted a Burger King bacon egg and cheese crossant. I had been wanting one for weeks and weeks! So my sweet heart Marla and I drove to the nearest BK, and that's what I got, plus an orange juice! It was great. It hit the spot!

That's about it for now.

Rob

Home sweet home

Hello everyone! Rob is laying down in the room, so I decided to write an update. We got up and went to the family doctor. He was amazed with all that happened. This doctor will be watching Rob's inr levels. Rob got his blood taken and we will find out the inr levels later today or tomorrow morning. I have an appointment to get a flu shot on wednesday. Rob will be getting one soon and a pneumonia vacinne, but he needs to get a little more strength.

So far being home has been great. I have noticed that just by sitting next to Rob, you can hear the mechanical valve. Rob says he can hear it consantly. So we always know Rob's heart is beating.

It has been weird to have just Rob and I. We miss the company we had in Texas, but it is nice to have some alone time.

We picked up our mail from the post office. More than half was junk mail. But we finally got the stylus I orderd for Rob's phone that I had lost in Texas. I have started doing laundry too. I did not have to insert $1 to get it to work. It has been very nice to have food that Denise picked up for us. Thank you.

We were glad to hear about the twins. That's great that they are both doing well. Thank you all for your comments. It is fun to see Rob open the computer and watch the website. He loves reading it.

Exhausted

Well, that about sums me up. The day has been long. Traveling has been tiresome. Now we are home!

Started the day by waking up; well, I woke up quite a few times during the night, as usual, needing pain killers, and just not being able to sleep. Ate breakfast, as I was getting a head ache. Then took a long warm shower as Marla and Nicole packed. It was very nice not having to worry about the packing… my sweet Marla took care of it all! I just sat on the couch and watched TV waiting for more of my pain killers to kick in and rid me of my head ache.

Next we packed up the truck, and drove over to the hospital to pay a final visit to the CVICU where I spent the majority of my time in recovery to say a final “Good bye” to all my great nurses! It was great to see them, and I could tell that it made their day too to see me, able to stand and all! They said it is so nice to actually see one of there patients recover and come back looking normal! As most of the time they just have the patients move to another area of the hospital and they don’t hear from them again.

When we left, we drove to Sonic for lunch. After that we headed out to the airport, which took some time because the traffic was really bad!

Got to the airport, grabbed a wheel chair, and carted over to the terminal. Marla and I were fortunate enough to have first class seats! It was great! All I can say is that it’s going to be hard to go back to couch after being in first class. Oh well…

Back in Minnesota! We got our baggage and hopped on a shuttle bus to our off site parking lot. It is colder here than in Houston, and I love it! Houston is way too stinkin’ hot! And I do mean stinkin’! It smells bad there.

We drove Nicole back to her home, and dropped her off. The trip from Roseville to Saint Michael was great… I had my chair reclined a little, and just relaxed the whole way.

Now we are home, and it feels great! Love to be home! Will post more later!

Rob

From Rob

It’s me! Rob! Posting from the hotel room!

Well, it is Saturday Morning and I am sitting here at the computer. I had a reasonable night sleep… slept from 11pm till about 3am. Then I was up till about 5 then slept till 6. I then got restless and got up to take a long long shower… felt nice. Had a lot of Honey-Comb cereal for breakfast. I need to change all my bandages. Especially for my trache opening. That has been the cause of the most concern… as it is still open… and the doctors made it sound like it would close up right away. Although I don’t see how it would… it is a hole in my throat! I would post a picture of it, but it might frighten women and small children too!

Yesterday was nice, spent all day awake! We dropped the ladies off at the mall, and the guys (Dad, Bri, and myself) drove around looking at exotic cars and very nice houses! The houses were amazing, and the cars were great too! I need to get some of the photos of the cars off of dad’s camera to post. Also ate a lot of food yesterday! It was great to have a nice stake!!! It is very nice to have my appetite coming back! I need it! I lost about 12 pounds while in the hospital! That is over 10% of my body weight!

In the evening we watched a movie at the hotel, The Bourne Identity. Jen and Landon came over too! It is great to see them! I really like to see my sister and I love hanging out with Landon too. He was really great to have around at the hospital… I was so impressed with how many times he came to visit me. It was almost like “how come you are coming so much, we don’t really know each other that well” but now I am really thankful that he did come, I fell like he is a brother now, and I like it. He is a great guy.

Don’t know what we are going to do today, but I’m sure it will be entertaining! It is great just to be out of the hospital! I really enjoy being on the computer here at the hotel! I also actually enjoy using the PSP now too! I didn’t like using it at the hospital for some reason. I do enjoy it now though! I can’t wait to get home and relax and just enjoy being home! I’m kinda bummed out that I’m not supposed to have visitors for a while… the Infectious Disease doctor was a little concerned about my immune system being messed up because of the large amounts of antibiotics running through my body for so long. He also said I’m supposed to avoid public places for a few months too! I’m not even supposed to go to church for a long time. I need to get the sacrament brought to me… it has been far too long.

I know my post is very broken and probably even a little incoherent, but that is fitting. My mind is still coming back to normal. I remember in the hospital as I was just beginning to be able to write notes to people on paper or the magna-doodle that it was very difficult to write what I thought, and a lot of times my spelling was so messed up it would nearly be a different word even. It was a little frightening at first thinking, maybe I have some brain damage or something! But with time and effort I was able to correct myself and get my point across.

I will post more later… maybe not until tomorrow. I LOVE to hear all your comments! Please post comments, doesn’t matter what they are or who they are from, I love to read them!

I am so blessed to be here today, and I still can’t come close to even comprehend how serious this all has been, and how many close calls there have been. I can truly say that is because of all the prayers that I have been able to get through this! Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers!

Rob

Another New Day

Yesterday was a great day. Rob woke up without a head ache or upset stomach. He only used the O2 for about an hour during the night. He said he felt tired but happy to be out of the hospital. His neck wound from the trache is very slow to heal and it is a bother to bandage well. It is funny to hear air leaking out while Rob breathes. He still needs to put his thumb or finger over the bandage covering the hole so he can talk well and especially when he needs to cough. His blood pressure and heart rate are remaining under control and the Vicoden seems to take care of the pain. He is happy and smiling.

We all decided to go out driving to see some of the sites of Houston. Brian, Rob and I drove Marla and Nicole to the Galleria, a nice shopping mall, and we were able to give them time to shop. They also went ice skating on the indoor rink that is a center point of the mall. Us men went to see the sights. What that means is we went driving by the local car dealerships of interest to us. We saw some awesome Ferraries, Porsches, Lotus, Mercedes, Corvettes, and some specialized vehicles called T-Rex. The T-Rex is a three wheeled auto with a motorcycle engine that looks futuristic, even though it has a prehistoric name. I will attach some pictures, if Brian will show me how. Rob thought it was great to just drive around. We also looked at some very upscale neighborhoods. Incredible landscaping and beautiful, huge homes. We all wondered where all the money came from and we started to feel poor - so we left that area.

Rob ate like a man who had not eatten good food for months. ( I guess he has not!) He had a nice breakfast in his room. ( Fruit Loops and juice.) We ate lunch at Taco Bell and he had a burrito and a taco and finished them both. He had lemonaid to drink too. We then had an early supper - take out from a very nice place. Rob had been hungry for a good steak so he got one! It was great. He ate most of it and the garlic mashed potatos and a raspberry lemonaid. We then picked up Marla and Nicole at the Galleria and we headed back to the hotel. We stopped for some first aid supplies and groceries. While Marla and Nicole were in the grocery store, Rob saw a Smoothie King store and asked for a strawberry smoothie. I was so excited to see him so hungry, and able to eat. He got his smoothie and slurpped it right up. Back at the hotel he snacked and watched a movie with Landon, Jen, Brian, Marla, and Nicole. What a great group of wonderful young people. I felt too old to hang with such a cool group so I was in my room talking to Denise. I sure miss her.

I don't mean to make such a big deal of what Rob eats but he has only eatten well( a reasonable quantity) the last 36 hours. It is so important for him to get his strength back. He lost a lot of weight while in the hospital and he did not have much reserve to begin with. Rob went the whole day without a nap. He was tired but he said he needed to stay awake so he could sleep better at night.

I do not know of any plans for today. It is difficult to do too much since Rob cannot be around other people for awhile. As he gains back his strength and his own immune system recovers he will be able to do more things. I think his biggest desire is to go to restaurants. We can get take out for most all of them so it is not a problem.

Our plans are to fly home Sunday night. We are all excited about the prospect of getting back to cold Minnesota. Upon Robs return he will not be allowed to have any visitors for a period of time. I am sure he and Marla will enjoy the peace and quiet of their home as they both recover from this ordeal.

We have a wheelchair to help Rob get around and Brian has gotten good at sitting in it and balancing on just the two main wheels. He would keep falling backwards in the begining so he would do it by the bed so he would fall back against the bed and not get hurt. He has gotten good at it and said his muscles were sore from all the effort. As we were watching him begin to practice Rob was laughing so hard at his goofy brother that it was making us all crack up. It is great to have Brian, Nicole, Jennifer and Landon with us to keep us all laughing. Landon has so many stories from his experiences at medical rotations that he keeps us entertained. It was so nice to have Nicole here to let Marla enjoy herself skating. They said the ice rink was OK but the skates were very stinky. Brian asked if they were stinky before or AFTER they used them.

Thank you all again for all your thoughts and prayers. If we do not update as often, it is because all is going great and we are busy arranging things to get home. In the mean time, I would love to hear how the little twins are doing. Our prayers are with all of you.

Love, Mike

First Day Out of the Hospital

Rob is at the hotel now and had a reasonable night sleep. He ate very well last night. The most he has eaten in almost eight weeks. Marla is making sure he takes his medications and gets his rest. How blessed Rob is to have such a loving wife and friend. She has been an example of strength and kindness throughout the entire time Rob was in the hospital. She has been the one person who has been with him each and every day. She is the one that Rob asks for and longs to be with. She is truly the “best medicine in the world.”

Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts and comments. They have made us feel like a part of a large family of loved ones as we have been away from so many of you. As I heard the doctor tell us that Rob looked like he would be released a few days ago, I was nervous at the fragile state he was still in. As the next day or two passed, we could see him getting strength and having various medical support lines taken away. As he improved he felt excited to leave the hospital. Yesterday when he finally got out - he was soooo ready to leave. Before we left he had various nurses come and visit him from the ICU. They were very attached and so excited to see his great progress. They were happy for him and were excited that he could go home. The night we left -he enjoyed our little ride to Sonic, for a foot long chili dog, fries, and a smoothie. He ate ninety percent of the chili dog. I was amazed. He slept only one half hour during the day yesterday, compared to a typical day of six to ten hours of resting each day in bed.

We were kept at the hospital because the echocardiogram taken yesterday morning showed a couple items of concern. They wanted various doctors to review the film. We were told to follow up with another echo in six weeks and it is their hope that the main item of concern will take care of itself. He also had a CT scan that showed an ongoing collection of fluid in the upper right chest area, which they hope will dissipate over the next few months also. Rob says that he feels like he can breathe better now than prior to his surgery. He says it is hard to get his chest muscles back for breathing since he slept for so many weeks sitting up and hunched over. He has been trying to stretch the chest area. He feels that will help him keep his O2 levels up when he lays down.

We picked up Robs detail billing from the hospital and his surgical reports relating to the main procedures he has had down here. He truly is a million dollar man and a miracle of modern medicine. During his first surgery on the 23rd of August the surgeons had so much trouble controlling the bleeding that they called in additional specialists. The reports show that he had 87 different units of blood products during just that procedure before they got his blood levels stabilized. One of the doctors later told us how one of the intern doctors was crying because she did not think Rob was going to make it. They told us that for the first three days, none of them knew if he would make it through. We thank the doctors, staff and each of you for all your prayers. You really find that we are not in control in this life. It is such learning experience to try to do all you can and then put the rest in the loving hands of our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for the gift of health and strength that Rob is now experiencing.

As we reviewed the other surgical reports it was amazing to us to see how many times the medical expertise and all our prayers helped bring Rob back to health. During this past couple months it has been difficult to be at peace and know that what ever happens will be able to be dealt with wisely. I often remember the statement that C. S. Lewis made when someone told him that “The Lord heard your prayers!” , intimating that the prayers had changed the mind of the Lord. He responded, “I pray to change me, not the Lord.” I pray that my heart and mind can be changed to be in line with the Lord’s.

The great escape!

Guess who is in our hotel room right now? ROBBIE! Today was eventful. He had an echocardiogram this morning. They took out his pic line also. That was soo long coming out. We're thinking about 2 feet. So that was nice to come out. Then Robbie took a nice shower. He is getting stronger.

But here is the important news. We're out! We left around 7:45 tonight. He is doing so well. We do have oxygen here at the hotel in case he needs it. He has been holding is 02 stats well though. It is so wonderful to have him here!

We went to Sonic right after we left the hospital. Rob was one hungry boy. So we were able to sit in the car and enjoy a meal.

We are hoping to fly in sunday night. Doctor's orders has Rob not being able to see visitors for 2 or more weeks. Since Rob went through a lot, the doctors do not any chances of illness. Although he looks great, his immune system is still down.

A wheelchair ride!

Hello! Rob was able to get out of his room today. He liked being wheeled around. We were able to bring a basket to 7a cooley where he stayed for over a month. They were so happy to see Rob. We also ran into the Bell family and they were so excited to see Rob. They wished him luck and have this website to see the updates! Mr Bell is still the same. We told them he is still in our prayers.

We were also able to wheel Rob down to the train set in the Childrens hospital. It is such a neat display. They have little buttons that you push to get different things going. We have wanted to bring him down here since the first time we saw it. He liked it.

Rob was able to shower today. He finally got over his fear of the shower being scary. It isn't the most pleasant bathroom, but he was so happy to have showered. We were too =)

Mike and I delivered a basket to the first recovery room Rob was in. Dr Coselli suggested to bring one down there. While down there, it was hard to see all the patients who just got out of surgery or have to be in that intensive care. I just thought back to 7 weeks ago, that was us looking at Rob wondering what was going to happen. We are blessed to have Rob recover and be able to go home soon.

Doing Well

Nicole and I flew in last night. The airplane was the smallest thing I've ever been in before (well, the airplane Rob and I flew with Paul in was smaller).

It's 1:30pm and we've been hanging out with Rob since morning. He's been good, but has been bothered with an upset stomach. He did eat a soft taco or two from Chipotle at lunch time and now at 1:30pm he's been pretty talkative and has been making some pretty funny jokes.

He's oxygen level has been good. Marla helped him rebandage his throat opening. Someone had originally told the family that his opening should close up and heal within 48 hours. A lady came in today that seemed to know her stuff a little better and she said it would take about a month - which makes more sense since it's a pretty large hole. Marla says it looks like a bullet hole - and I agree (it's kind of cool). Speaking of cool, his scar on his back is awesome! It took 30 staples to seal - so it's pretty big.

Rob and Marla are gonna go on a little walk in just a few minutes.

Rob's beard is sweet!

A day of scans

Rob is doing much better now. He hasn't thrown up since this morning. He is now on vicodine for pain. That seems to be working well. He was able to sleep part of the day. He hasn't been able to go for a walk yet, but soon I hope.

Rob went down for a ct scan and an xray. The ct scan took an hour and half. They were having problems with the machine, not Rob. So we waited for him. Rob did not like the dye that they had to shoot in his viens to have contrast for his scan. He was very thirsy afterwards. It has been nice that they can transport him in a wheelchair now and not a bed.

Denise and Diane made it home safely. They are missed already. Bri and Nini should be in around 10 tonight though. That will be nice.

While the moms are away....

us kids will play! Diane and Denise are leaving for the airport soon. Jen and I are going in to the hospital soon. My sister Nicole and Brian are coming down tonight. I'm excited about that.

Rob is doing well. He had to have morphine this morning. He seems to be having problems with his pain medication. He threw up twice last night. So we'll see about getting another medicine. He is taking zofran to help with nausea.

He is also having to use oxygen. We're thinking as his hole in his neck heals, he won't need the oxygen. They said it would take 48 hours for it to close.

Thank you for all your prayers and comments. We've been here over 7 weeks now. It has been great to have this website. We watch it everyday to see the comments. Thank you

No more trache!

Rob has had an eventful morning. Mike, my mom and I were all here to see the metal trache being taken out. Then they pinched the skin together and put bandaids on his neck. Dr Lea came in and decided to put on another bandaid because you could actually see a little bit of the hole when Rob talked. But so far so good without the trache in. Rob has to hold his neck when he talks, but he is talking really well.

He has had occupational therapy and physical therapy. Occupational therapy told us he is doing well and she gave us a sheet of exercises for him to do. Physical therapy should be back tomorrow. It's nice to see him up and about!

My mom and I walked to Cooley (where Rob was) to see how all the other families are doing. Mr Bell is doing about the same. It is amazing that he lived and is doing as well as he is. He went in for a trache today. It is so nice to relate with people that are going through some of the same things we did. His family thanks everyone for the prayers.

Eating well

Rob has had a nice quiet day. He ate very well at lunch. We found a restaurant called La madaline which is fantastic. We brought it to Rob today and he ate a lot. He had some potato soup, a little pasta salad, bread, hashbrown potatoes, fruit and a fresh squeezed lemonade. He also ate part of a cookie and a chocolate croissant. Yum!

Rob's stats are looking well. He hasn't walked yet. He has been watching animal planet and hgtv all day. He's a funny guy.

Another day goes by!

Hey everyone! Sorry for not updating until now. I forgot the computer this afternoon. Also... you'll see in the picture that I'm holding it this morning... we could have updated then. I'm sorry. =) Rob is doing really well. Rob was able to walk around the floor twice. Once in the morning, once in the evening. The first time we went around too fast and he was in some pain when we got back. They are starting to get him off morphine. So he tried some different ones to control the pain today.

Rob was able to eat Burger king and Mcdonalds today... So we'll go more healthy tomorrow. He is loving eating food.

It is so different in Rob's new room. Rob is walking around his room, cleaning up, walking to the bathroom... It's nice to see him so mobile. But he still gets tired fast. I beat him at Haunted Mansion Clue today. I never win against him. So far all the nurses are really nice. We do miss the other nurses though. But Rob is healing more and more everyday. Soon we'll be home!

A new room!

Hello everyone! Rob is now in a new room. The pictures are of Rob leaving his old room. Then when we were leaving tonight, I took another picture of sleepy Rob. It is weird because the nurses all have carts with computers on them. Rob does not have a monitor in his room. Everything is transmitted to the nurses computer. He has a little device hooked up to him.

So far Rob is doing well breathing on his own. We are a little nervous not being able to see his stats constantly. But we're very excited for Rob to keep moving forward.

A pretty silver trache

Here is my mom. She really is down here. She's been here over a month. Isn't she a great mother and mother in law? Also, notice Rob's trache. it is white.

Next picture. Here is Rob talking to Denise. Isn't she a great mother and mother in law? This was his first phone conversation in almost 7 weeks. Notice the silver trache.

The doctor in around 3. Dr Casar took out his plastic trache and then put in the smaller metal trache. This is a step down. He put the little stopper on the trache and said ok we're done! Rob has had oxygen to his trache this whole time. Now he has no oxygen and is breathing on his own. We were a little surprised. We thought he would still have oxygen. He is doing well with breathing without oxygen. They will let Rob's skin heal around this trache, then put in a smaller trache and keep doing that until the whole is closed. Rob is doing great!

Rob will be transfered in a few hours. The room is all packed up. We're sad to leave all the nice nurses there, but ready to move on.

Hello

Rob is doing well. We're waiting to be transfered to the tenth floor. The order has been written. He should have the smaller trache put in soon. We have been waiting for the doctors all day. Rob took two laps today in physical therapy. That's 480 feet! He ate Mcdonalds for lunch. =) He thought it was funny that they had Mcdonalds in the middle of a heart hospital. He has been napping most of the afternoon.

An end in sight

Rob is doing well today. He was out of bed this morning. He ate Chipotle for lunch and seemed to enjoy it greatly. Dr Casar came in and said they were going to move him to the 10th floor. We asked him to give an estimate for how much longer Rob will be here. He said he should be home by Halloween. Rob thinks he can be home before then. They need to close the whole where the trache is. The way they do that is to keep putting in smaller tubes, so the skin can close around them. That also makes it so he breathes from his nose and mouth more than his throat. They haven't started that yet. They also need to wean him off oxygen. He is at 40%. I told him I always wanted to spend Halloween in Texas, so however long it takes, I'll be here. They are still working on his blood levels as well (having it thin enough, but not too thin.) They don't want his mechanical valve to work harder than it should. His energy level is higher, but he becomes tired so fast.

We started watching Cinderella. I got it for Rob and he was excited. Rob is looking really good. I keep having to remind myself that although he looks great, he still has a ways to go. The doctor reminded Rob about how much he has been through, although he can't remember. He said they want to take it very slow.

Tessie to the rescue!

Today we decided to wash Rob's hair again. While starting to wash it, Tessie came in. Tessie is the nurse that saved Rob's life twice. She has tried to stay away from Rob since she thinks she is bad luck. But today she came right in and had fun. She was just so funny. So now Rob is all clean.

Rob ate the whole subway sandwich. Good for him!

Hello everyone! Rob is doing so well. Mike and Denise went and got Rob some Subway for lunch. Hospital food isn't the greatest. But he did get switched to a normal food diet, so we're happy about that.

They told us today he won't need to go to the rehab specialty hospital, he will go to another floor in the same hospital (a regular room.) That is very exciting. He should be transfered soon, we don't know when.

He did physical therapy today. He walked 240 feet again. He also did exercises with his legs and arms. He sat in the chair for about an hour. He is also trying to go longer in between his pain medication.

We spoke to the infectious disease doctor today. Dr Lea told us Rob will need to limit his contact with people. He has been on three very strong antibiotics over this time frame and as they back off from them, it leaves him very suseptible to germs and infections.

Rob is excited thinking about getting home to his own bed. It is great to see him recover to the point to now feel confident to go home.

GREAT NEWS!!

Look what my sweetheart gave me! He also got me a cute bear that says I love you and it hangs from the window. =) He had help picking them out and delivering them to me from Mike. =)

Rob got his chest tube pulled out this morning. He wasn't allowed to do physical therapy today because the doctors did not want him to move around too much. We just got news that the x ray came back saying no pneumothorax! That's really great news. They are going to xray it tomorrow to see if it will stay the same. He is looking fantastic. This is one step closer to go to rehab. We're thinking in the next few days he'll be transfered. It will be sad to leave the nurses, but nice to be one step closer to home!

I want to thank you all for remembering Rob in your prayers. It is so great to have everyone watching this website. It has been great inspiration to us with all your comments. Thank you.

Doctor Rob...?

Here is a picture of Dr Lea and Rob. He is my favorite doctor here. He is the infectious disease doctor. He comes in and talks to us everyday. Everything he leaves, he makes sure to ask everyone in the room, "is there anything I can do for you?" He gave us a recipe for a banana pudding. It has more calories in it than a cheese cake. He told me to make it for Rob when we get home. He gave us a whole bunch of information for what to do with Rob when we get home.

Rob has eaten more today than he has in a long time. He actually ate two breakfasts and then a milk shake. It is nice to see he has an appetite. Rob has me pick out what to eat everyday. I like to surprise him.

Rob did some physical therapy today. He got to walk again. This time the walker had red tennis balls. It was cool. He got to sit in the chair for about an hour. So far no tube pulling. We got to talk to Casar, his lung doctor and he is unsure when today it will happen.

The doctor that is scheduled to pull his tube is actually operating on the man we told you about yesterday (our first post) They are operating on Mr Bell's lungs because of a blood clot. We were wrong about the brain blood clot, it was the lungs. We talked to Mr Bell's family and we are only too glad to wait for the surgeon. We like to share.

Walking =)

Rob was able to walk 240 feet today. He did a little circle around the unit. It is great to see him up and about. I've noticed that everyday he gets up from the bed easier and easier.

Thank you for all your comments and prayers. We look forward to them everyday.

What's different about Robbie?

Doesn't he look great? Kristin is his nurse in one of the pictures with him. She was the nurse that helped when Rob had that weekend where he had his bleeding problems and surgery.

Rob is doing well. It's nice to hear him joke around now. Everyday he becomes stronger and stronger. Rob sat in his chair for about an hour and a half. It is great to see him stand up so easily.

Feeding Tube Out!

Marla just called from Rob's room and said the doctor okayed the removal Rob's feeding tube. That was the tube going into his nose and down his throat to his stomach. He is so glad to have it out and we are thrilled for him. Can you imagine trying to swallow or enjoy food with a tube down your throat even if it's about 1/4" in diameter? He's had it in for the two weeks since the lung surgery when he requested to have it put into his nose instead of directly into his mouth which he had disliked even more from before. They fed him through the night again last night (through the tube) a high calorie liquid but now he's got to show them he can eat more himself otherwise the tube goes back in. Three times a day, starting yesterday, they bring him a chocolate milk shake for a snack to get more calories in. Now he can drink more and enjoy them too.

He was sitting up in the chair eating some breakfast when Marla called. He's also been going about 4 hours between pain medication. That is great because he needed it every two hours for quite some time. He says his left lung hurts a little less now. We are grateful for that.

The doctors today said they will take out the chest tube tomorrow. Please, please remember him in your prayers--he's had several serious complications with this procedure before. We are praying that the things they've done this time around to prepare for the chest tube removal will work perfectly. His last two lung x-rays have been good so that's very encouraging.

We are so thankful for each step he's making toward recovery. It's been such a long haul for him--Rob is so amazing to us. We know the Lord has been helping Rob (and all of us) to endure. We have so many things to be thankful for.

Diane spoke with a family again this a.m. whose dad (down the hall from Rob), a 77 year man, is having a lot of difficulties. When hurricane Rita was starting up last week, this man, John Norman Bell, was out helping his neighbor get his generator started since they had lost power in their neighborhood. John's neighbor's wife is on oxygen and needed the power on to help her breathe. While the men were attempting to get the generator working, a huge oak tree fell on John, breaking vertebrae in his neck and causing other broken bones, contusions and lung problems. Now he has a blood clot in his brain and they may have to operate. Diane asked if we could pray for him and his daughter said, "Yes, please do--that's all we have." John lost his wife just two months ago and the rest of the family all lost their homes from the hurricanes. You just wouldn't believe the suffering that so many people are going through down here from the storms. We felt strongly that we should pass this request on to you in behalf of John and his family. Denise

So Sleepy...

Today has been uneventful so far. Rob has been sleeping all morning. The nurses came in around 11:30 and transported him to get a CT scan done. We were a little nervous for him, but he did really well. He was able to be on his trache collar while getting the ct scan done. Then they transported him back up. One of the hallways is at a slant and Rob enjoyed the ride. The nurses said they liked how light Rob was. =) Rob was able to eat some lunch. Part of a turkey sandwich and sliced pears.