Kitty foster care

So, while we are thinking about it, does anyone know anyone who would want to be a foster family for Opie and Annie?

Tiff is voting REPUBLICAN!

It is official...although she will have to medicate if it is Sarah Palin, Tiff promised to vote republican in the next election. Don't worry, Dad, I have already contacted FOX news and they are planning to cover the story. Stay tuned...

Sorry I missed a post yesterday...I was out scoping what else we can do in this place.

Dad is really good! He has been off the ventilator for the last couple of days and even last night. We had to cancel the swallow study yesterday because a doc was in working with him but, although he is only allow ice chips right now, I can be pretty creative with ice chips. I had our

friends at Starbucks yesterday whip up a coffee frappe after he asked for coffee. Tiff is working on a Merlot granita. As far as physical therapy, Emril would say that they are really "kicking it up a notch." I had to come back in the room just now to watch these 2 huge guys from PT work with him (okay, actually, I just wanted to watch the 2 huge guys.) Thankfully Lonnie has taught me enough about football that I can hold my own during the bowl conversations. And, thanks to Urban Meyer and the Texas Tech coach, I have plenty to talk about.

Everything else is looking good. As of this moment, which may change in the next 10 minutes, it looks like Dad will be doing rehab at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. His cousin is the

medical director of the sports and spine rehab center and we know he will get excellent care there.

Dad is zonked out and if we are brave, we may try to change the channel. Who knows what will happen if Mediacom cancels it's agreement with Fox because not only will we miss the bowl game (go Hawks!) but Fox news will be unavailable.

thought we would post a picture of our new brother, Mark and his beautiful wife Kate

below is a pic of Mark and a little dude friend

Have a great day! Keep up the prayers and keep your fingers

crossed that Cass is not going comprendo!

suz

P.S. Happy belated birthday (yesterday) to Tiger Woods. I hear his wife is now at the top of the PGA winnings list!

Polly and Matt win the prize!

finally, a pic of the very first IV I hung...yep, a cigar ornament!

The days just keep getting better! Dad did great during his swallow test today and has been feasting on ice chips all day. I tried to get someone to agree to popsicles, but to no avail. Although it is unlike me to actually follow the rules all the time, I thought it best to keep the galley contraband items away for a day or two.

But the best news...Dad was off the ventilator for the entire day. He still has the trach in but the vent is on "standby." Yippee! The respiratory therapist was able to manipulate the tubes in such a way that Dad could talk...he told Mom "I love you." From a medical standpoint, all his numbers and system functions are good. The physical therapists were able to get more aggressive with his therapy and range of motion and even had him sitting on the edge of the bed today (with support.) He still does not have movement or feelings below his chest or in his hands but we know that nothing is impossible.

Kudos to Pat and Molly for taking things literally. They brought all the items Dad asked for last night...even down to authentic vaseline and not a generic brand! We know that Dad realizes how much he is loved by so many people.

Mom and I are getting pretty comfy here...thought I would take a cue from David Letterman so here is the

Top 10? 12? 14? who cares! (yep, i got carried away) Ways You Know You Have Been at the Hospital For Awhile

16. You know where the "call cancel" button is so when you accidently pull the "help cord" while getting into the shower, the nurses don't come in.

15. You have flipped the mattress on the cot.

14. You are wearing the hospital gowns as PJ's (hey, they are Karen Nueburger!)

13. You did your Christmas shopping at the gift shop (60% off...what a deal!)

12. Most of the nurses are now your Facebook friends.

11. You stop trying to type in the number of the TV channel on the remote because you now remember that you only have up and down arrows and have to go all the way around the stations before finding what you want.

10. The folks at Starbucks now consider you a regular and have your cup marked with your latte of choice before you are finished saying hello.

9. It takes longer to say hello to the Starbucks folks because we now know them by name. "Hi Mary. Hi Jeffery."

9. You are now looking on-line for the awesome mop the housekeepers use (Yes, we know it is Rubbermaid. We asked our housekeeper friends.)

8. Rosa, the cashier in the cafeteria, knows your credit card number, including that 3 digit secret code on the back.

7. Some of the docs, those not in the know, are jealous of Dr. Rosenfeld's work ethic. After all, his car has not moved in 2 week.

6. You are now an official member of the "RedBox" movie rental box at McDonald's.

5. You have spent so much time on the maternity floor you start lactating.

4. Tim from Level A Salon gave you your last haircut.

3. Your hair looked rockin' after that haircut because you forgot and used your Olay facial moisturizer as mousse.

2. You hold the cup under the word "ice" instead of the actual spot the ice comes out.

1. You realize you are missing a pair of undies, only to have your mom say that she is wearing them. And for those of you who know Mom and me, I asked her if she had both legs through the same hole...good thing it wasn't the other way around or I would have a wedgie for the next 3 months!

love to y'all!

suz

Monday

Yeah! A good day!

It was very difficult to see Dad go back into surgery today but we are so glad he did! The docs put in a trach and a peg and Dad is so much more comfortable. Everything went smoothly and surprisingly, one doc even knew he could find us at Starbucks (in the hospital) to talk with us after.

It took about 47 seconds for Dad to get his bearings enough to pucker up and kiss Mom! It was pretty easy for me to read Dad's lips (i am guessing it was the 11 years in first grade trying to figure out what the kids were really calling me!) and no one won the pool. First thing he asked for...dominoes! The second thing...a glass of milk, a shower, a shave, and some vaseline for his lips. The glass of milk will have to wait until tomorrow after the swallowing test, but I really think he is cramming tonight to pass.

So, now after posting this good news, Mom and I are going to bed. Perhaps she can relax a little knowing he is so much more comfortable.

It really is amazing how one's perspectives change through something like this. Kiss your kids, turn off the computer, and go snuggle up with someone you love. Those are the doctor's daughter's orders!

suz

P.S. Andrew, have a safe and wonderful trip to Israel (he is taking his birthright trip.) You will have to compare your pics with Mom and Dad's when you get back! We love you!

Sunday (i think)

all's quiet on the mid-western front...

Today has been a quiet day and compared to others lately, that is awesome! Dad's numbers are getting better and he went 5 hours with the ventilator set on the CPAP setting. Although I don't remember what those letters stand for, I know it is a good thing.

Dad's days are quiet and he is sleepy a lot of the time due to the medicines he is on. As long as he has the remote by his hand (bowl games were on all day today) and his glasses are on his forehead, he looks just like he does in his chair at home. According to Loni, our nurse today (yes, i said "our"), Dad had the biggest reaction since he has been here when Mom went in and asked him if he wanted to make out. Loni said he nodded with great excitement!

Dad is scheduled to have the trach and peg put in tomorrow (although we still aren't sure of the time) and we are all anticipating huge gains. After all, they will be able to make out! (Seriously, who writes this blog...isn't that TMI...more information than anyone needs!)

I'll post tomorrow after the procedures and let you know how things are going. In the meantime, continue the prayers...they are working!

suz

P.S. thought i would paste a little funny below... it has absolutely nothing at all to do with Dad except that it is totally his sense of humor. For the record, i did not write this...i wish i could give credit to whoever did but it was one of those e-mail forwards.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHRISTMAS AND CHANUKAH

Now, if anyone asks you what the difference is between Christmas and Chanukah you will know what and how to answer!

1 Christmas is one day, same day every year, December 25. Jews also love December 25th. It's another paid day off work. We go to movies and out for Chinese food and Israeli dancing. Chanukah is 8 days. It starts the evening of the 24th of Kislev, whenever that falls. No one is ever sure. Jews never know until a non-Jewish friend asks when Chanukah starts, forcing us to consult a calendar so we don't look like idiots. We all have the same calendar, provided free with a donation from the World Jewish Congress, the kosher butcher, or the local Sinai Memorial Chapel (especially in Florida ) or other Jewish funeral homes.

2. Christmas is a major holiday. Chanukah is a minor holiday with the same theme as most Jewish holidays. They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat.

3. Christians get wonderful presents such as jewelry, perfume, stereos... Jews get practical presents such as underwear, socks, or the collected works of the Rambam, which looks impressive on the bookshelf.

4. There is only one way to spell Christmas. No one can decide how to spell Chanukah, Chanukkah, Chanukka, Channukah, Hanukah, Hannukah, etc.

5. Christmas is a time of great pressure for husbands and boyfriends. Their partners expect special gifts. Jewish men are relieved of that burden. No one expects a diamond ring on Chanukah.

6. Christmas brings enormous electric bills. Candles are used for Chanukah. Not only are we spared enormous electric bills, but we get to feel good about not contributing to the energy crisis.

7. Christmas carols are beautiful...Silent Night, Come All Ye Faithful.... Chanukah songs are about dreidels made from clay or having a party and dancing the hora. Of course, we are secretly pleased that many of the beautiful carols were composed and written by our tribal brethren. And don't Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond sing them beautifully?

8. A home preparing for Christmas smells wonderful. The sweet smell of cookies and cakes baking. Happy people are gathered around in festive moods. A home preparing for Chanukah smells of oil, potatoes, and onions. The home, as always, is full of loud people all talking at once.

9. Christian women have fun baking Christmas cookies. Jewish women burn their eyes and cut their hands grating potatoes and onions for latkas on Chanukah. Another reminder of our suffering through the ages.

10. Parents deliver to their children during Christmas. Jewish parents have no qualms about withholding a gift on any of the eight nights.


11. The players in the Christmas story have easy to pronounce names such as Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. The players in the Chanukah story are Antiochus , Judah Maccabee, and Matta whatever. No one can spell it or pronounce it. On the plus side, we can tell our friends anything and they believe we are wonderfully versed in our history.

12. Many Christians believe in the virgin birth. Jews think, "Yossela, Bubela, snap out of it. Your woman is pregnant, you didn't sleep with her, and now you want to blame G-d? Here's the number of my shrink".

13. In recent years, Christmas has become more and more commercialized. The same holds true for Chanukah, even though it is a minor holiday. It makes sense. How could we market a major holiday such as Yom Kippur? Forget about celebrating. Think observing. Come to synagogue, starve yourself for 27 hours, become one with your dehydrated soul, beat your chest, confess your sins, a guaranteed good time for you and your family. Tickets a mere $200 per person. Better stick with Chanukah!

HAPPY CHANUKAH - MERRY CHRISTMAS! (a few days late!)

Kwanzaa

It seems as if some of the medical issues are beginning to clear up. Dad had some gunk in his left lung yesterday and they did a bedside procedure to get it all out. After looking at the second chest x-ray, the nurse said there was a big difference and Dawn was even able to hear some breath sounds last night. His blood sugars are good and some of the other numbers that were high are coming down and those that are low are going up (how's that for great medical information.)

The plan is still to put a trach in place on Monday and they will also put a peg into his stomach at the same time; why sedate twice? The peg at first sounded a little drastic (Mom said she envisioned a steak knife in his stomach) but after hearing about how small it really is, it just made sense. It will also eliminate a tube down Dad's throat...that is a plus.

Dad did great on some breathing tests today so it seems to be the general consensus that the trach and stomach peg will be temporary. As soon as they get the cumbersome tubing replaced by the trach, we are expecting that things will be easier. They can be more aggressive with the therapy and he can have a say in what happens next (at least more of a say than a nod of his head.)

Again, thank you to all for the support you have given to both Mom and Dad. Although there are times she doesn't answer the phone, know that she is not ignoring you but that I have commandeered the phone so she can get some rest. I guess we can add Nurse Ratchett to the list of what people call me.

Also, thank you to all our helpers (nurses, docs, PT's, PA's, respiratory therapists, and others...you know who you are!) in the ICU...we love you and on behalf of Mom and Dad, welcome to the family!

Thursday

(you can move the pictures in the slideshow by clicking the right and left arrows at the top)

The doc just came in and the plan (yeah, right, like we can make a plan) is to keep Dad on the ventilator but move it to a trach on Monday. They will have an ENT do this just to make sure there are no issues with his other throat incisions. This is a step forward as it will help him to breathe easier and it is easier to wean off a trach than all the other tubes. Plus, this will allow him to start some therapy and be a lot more comfortable. This is a good thing!

He is resting comfortably now and we were finally able to find FOX news. Perhaps it is a good thing the senate passed the health care plan while Dad is out of commission for a bit. We are going to start a pool to see what his first words will be after the vent is out.

Until next time....keep up those prayers. We know we have angels watching over us.

We love you all....suz

P.S. David, the swirl is coming along quite nicely!

Christmas Eve Eve

wrote this last night but just getting it posted today...

The last couple of days haven't been great. I am beginning to think that this whole process is like the story of the frog in the bucket of milk...he struggled and struggled to get out of the bucket, seeming having more problems than solutions and taking steps back for every step forward. However, during all the struggling, the little frog was actually churning the milk into butter until he could just step out. That is what we are waiting for...Dad will step out and we will have a lot of toast!

There have been some other medical issues lately, some due to Dad's diabetes. He had his pic line moved from one arm to the other and the pulmonologist is hoping his blood gases and strength improves in order to take out the vent early next week.

His cigar club friends (Mom calls them his adult day care buddies) have been loyal visitors and stop by often. It has been difficult to keep track of everyone when Mom is not here (except Derrick, who I always recognize) but we try. As much as James, Mark, Mike, Ben, Phil, Rob, Aaron, Tom, Don, Kye, Jerry and the other young men (sorry if I forgot anyone) want to turn on MSNBC or CNN, they know that Dad still gets the final call. I also learned that the although both shows are only initials, CSI is not an option (NCIS all the way!)

As for Mom, we cannot say thank you enough to her friends. Between Alice, Suzann, Marcia, LeAnna, Cantor Debbie, and the rabbi, they are making sure she eats and takes care of herself. Add to that her new Starbucks friends, she is ordering her venti skinny lattes with 2 sweet 'n low's like a pro! Elena still does not have a GPS but now that Phil is home, she will kiss him instead of her hospital husband, do some laundry, and clean the counters. We love you Elena!

Lonnie and I got back in town this evening. He is going back to Mom and Dad's to be the cat whisperer and I will stay here with Mom. The kids are going to celebrate Christmas with Grandma back in Kalona and those of us in Des Moines are keeping our fingers crossed for a Christmas miracle for another little Jewish boy.

Tuesday

Hope you all are staying warm and safe. The weather in Iowa is typical but it looks like a white Hanukah!

Today is more of the same report...slow but forward progress. He still has the ventilator in and we will just wait and go day by day. Mark (the nurse) is back on today so Mom is able to rest some more without worrying. I am keeping my fingers crossed that in the next few days have more to report...

until then, enjoy the new pictures.

suz

Monday

The update today is starting to sound repetitive...slow but forward. Dad had a good night. He is gaining more strength in his arms and hands and doing better on the ventilator. His blood gases are still a little off and so they are keeping the vent in. Again, everyone wants to be absolutely sure things are good so there is no risk of having to put it back in. I guess conservative is the word, which makes sense considering who we are talking about.

The care the nurses have given Dad has been great. Last week we really bonded with one nurse, Mark. Mom and Dad enjoyed talking to him and he and I had a good time comparing tattoos! :) Anyway, today is Mark's day off and he came in with his wife simply to visit. I guess G-d really does give us the angels we need when we need them.

Again, on behalf of all us Rosenfelds, thank you for your prayers, thoughts, and caring.

Suz

P.S. Cass, thanks for the surgical cap...he looks great! However, to all of you who keep coming in and cracking Obama and universal health care jokes while Dad can't talk, he did let me know last night that paybacks are a bitch!

Sunday

Not a lot of new information to post today. Dad is still on the ventilator but they have changed the settings so it is now more of a backup. If he does not take enough breaths on his own with sufficient volume it will kick in. Otherwise it just kinda hums along next to him. Once his ph is better balanced, we will try again to get it out. Little by little, more feeling and sensations are coming back.

He is in good spirits and resting between visits. He can feel when Mom holds his hand and, even with the tube, puckers up to kiss her back.

I'll let you all know more when we know more. Until then, keep up the prayers!

suz

It seems like Dad has enough friends and family calling to keep Verizon in business! It finally dawned on me that technology has progressed further than i have and perhaps this is the most efficient way to keep everyone updated.

So...back to the beginning...

On Tuesday, December 14, Dad arrived at the hospital for his scheduled aortic valve replacement surgery. After about 8 hours, the surgeon let us know that even for a "re-do", the surgery went well, his heart was working great, and he was being moved to the ICU.

They got him settled and at about 6:00 pm, took away the sedatives and took the first steps to wean him off the ventilator. This did not go as quickly as planned and it became clear that he was not moving as expected. The docs figured this was simply because the paralytic drugs and sedatives were taking a while to work out of his system. They put the ventilator back on full strength and we all thought he would just rest for the night and try again in the morning.

By Wednesday morning, there was still no progress. Dr. Friedgood was concerned and ordered a CT scan of his head/brain (an MRI was out of the question because of his pacemaker.) The scan was normal. It was clear he had not had a stroke as both sides of his body were effected. The docs then all took the role of Dr. Gregory House to try to determine what was going on. Through this all, his heart was working perfectly.

Thursday morning Dr. Friedgood (or Dr. Feelgood as Dad says), not giving up, ordered another CT, this time scanning his spine as well. A large bulge was evident and, after clearance from the heart surgeon, Dad's brother from another mother, Dr. Igram took him in for spine surgery. They went in through the side of his neck/throat and discovered a ruptured disc at C 4/5 which was pressing on his spinal cord. After removing the disc and it's fragments (what the doc described as the double stuff of an oreo), the spinal cord was decompressed and went back into place.

The kicker, though, is that the cord was compressed for some time. This is the reason Dad could not move anything lower than his arms and why it was difficult for him to breath on his own.

So, where are we now? His heart is great (but we all knew that already, right!) and everything associated with the first surgery has been taken care of. All the chest tubes are out and this afternoon they took out the jumbo mainline IV in his neck. He still has an IV of the typical fluid solution everyone has and also a special one I hang, compliments of Rob Tully. (I'll try to get a picture of that one up.)

The pulmonologist is very optimistic but also very conservative in getting Dad off the ventilator. He wants to be certain that he can handle the breathing on his own so there is no chance of having to put it back in.

As far as his movement, he is getting stronger in lifting his arms and is getting more and more sensation in his hands. It is slow but forward progress....the forward progress is what is the most important. As soon as the ventilator is out, he will be the one to explain everything to the rest of us. He is in good spirits...when someone asks, "How are you?", he rolls his eyes and shrugs his shoulders a bit. I suppose it is fair to say he must be thinking, "Well, I've been better." When he can talk, I'll post his exact words!

Mom is scared but strong. As long as the progress is forward, we can take slow. As long as he can kiss her good night and good morning, she's good. Elana Schneider has been her angel but we think we need to get her a GPS so she can find a closer Starbucks.

So, that is what we know now. I'll keep up the posts and also work to teach Mom how to do this so she can fill you in when I go home. Or, perhaps it is just easier to have her call me everyday and dictate what the latest is. Until then, David Wiggins has me practicing my ice cream swirl for my summer job.

We Rosenfeld's are all firm believers in the power of prayer and positive thoughts...please keep us in yours.

xxxooo etc. Suzanne

P.S. Feel free to share this information and blog address with others who care.