Hazy Shade of WINTER!

SNOW FALLS IN BOSTON

Last night it began to snow here. The Boys, Kerry, Julie and Lauren left just in time to avoid the bad weather. It snowed, then rained very hard, then snowed a little bit more. I guess from what everyone told us there is a lot more snow back home. Joe and Lauren shoveled the driveways and our neighbor Kevin was nice enough to snow blow our driveway for us! Thanks Kevin!

When we woke up, the houses and hill were dusted with snow

Dad had an o.k. night. I say ok because he did not sleep well in anticipation of being shocked again. He had a few more episodes of v-tach ( the arrhythmia that can lead to a shock if not corrected by his pacemaker ) He had one early this morning and a few more today. Mom sat up with him until he fell asleep the first time from 1:00-3:30 then I sat up with him from 4:30 to 6 when we both fell asleep, he in the bed me in the rolling chair ( I moved back to the couch when the chair rolled and dumped me out! ) 

Although Dad was exhausted, he could not sleep. He was getting pretty anxious so they started him on Attavan to relax him and reduce the anxiety. He can feel when his heart is being paced out of v-tach and he was just waiting to be shocked, which thankfully, never had to happen. The pacemaker did it's job and paced him back into a normal rhythm. 

Now the questions we are asking are why is he having these episodes, and do we have to do another intervention procedure to stop them? The doctor was in and out today a few times. At one point we had three doctors but only one head Doc, Dr. Lewis, who has been calling the shots. Right now we still have no answers, just a plan to get him into the lab tomorrow to figure out what is going on with his internal defib and make sure it is working properly. We have learned that one of the leads he has, has an advisory or a recall on it. They explained that they don't go in and take it out if it is damaged they will simply add another lead. They also said they would not do anything to it if it is functioning properly and not broken down. 

It stinks that it is a holiday weekend. Now in addition to there being a slower schedule on the weekend we now have the holiday to contend with too :(

Joe and Lauren drove in this morning after taking care of "Biggie"... their dog,  and feeding "Cleveland" ... my fish. They took care of everything at the house before they came which was a big relief to us. Joe also brought me up some clothes and supplies. We left in quite a rush at 1:50 in the morning Saturday to get back here I didn't have a lot of clothes packed up. I also have been wearing winter boots which didn't bother me too much. The boots are quite comfy, but, when I talked to Brendan he asked if I told Joe to bring me some normal shoes...I guess he doesn't like my boots :)... and Joe brought my sneakers.

Auntie Janet, Auntie Peggy and Stephen came to visit today and we hung out with Dad while "The Aunts" (this includes my Mom) went to lunch together for some much needed R and R and the obligatory glass of wine! I was very happy Mom was able to get out of here for a while for a change of scenery. 

I went to Au Bon Pain for lunch to grab my soup de jour. I love the soups there. they have some I can eat which is great. I don't know if any of you watch the show "Modern Family" or if you have ever heard of it. The cashier that works at Au Bon Pain looks like the Character "Alex" on the show. Alex is played by actress Ariel Winter. She agreed to let me take her photo for my blog She said I made her day! I said I can't believe she is hiding out in an Au Bon Pain in Boston! She was a good sport and said she had at least 6 people tell her she looked like Alex today :)

Dad was awake early this evening and we were able to FaceTime with the "girls" Lilly was wearing her new nightgown that Auntie Phyllis Ann sent her for Christmas. After we all said our "goodbyes" and "see you soons", she was a little upset that we didn't say goodbye to Mr. Elephant. She called us back and said someone forgot to say goodbye. So we all went around the room to say goodbye and goodnight to Mr. Elephant too. We miss them and can't wait to see their little smiling faces soon.

Dad had to have some stuff done so Mom and I took a walk to then end of the hall. I noticed that a truck had made a heart in the snow in the lot below. Pretty appropriate!

The snow was capping each letter on the Shapiro Center today. It was pretty since it was just a light dusting. 

We were hoping to not ring in the new year here at the Brigham, but, Dad's heart has other plan's. We will celebrate with our ICU family here. A few of the nurses mentioned that we may be able to see fireworks from the window. That will be nice. At least it will be something to look forward to. 

We are hoping the test tomorrow morning will solve a few more mysteries and we can then move to the next step in the plan. They are talking about a cardiac ablation: 

Catheter-Based Ablation

Some patients with heart rhythm disturbances do not respond adequately to treatment with medication, and for other arrhythmia patients, therapy with medications is not as safe or appropriate as more definitive treatment. Catheter ablation is a procedure used to selectively eliminate (damage or get rid of) the heart cells causing the arrhythmia.

If he has to have a procedure done, we are hoping it will be this type of ablation, via catheter. This is minimal anesthesia and it is the easiest on the patient.

His numbers have improved as far as blood count. We were at 24 last night and it dropped to 22 this morning. It is back up to 24! We just need it to come up a little bit more. They are just happy it is not falling. His BP is normal and a little high for him only after he gets up and moves about. They would rather keep the BP on the slightly elevated than too low due to the awful low blood pressure he had for the few days.

Thank You all again for everything you have done and continue to do for Dad and the rest of us. The road is long, but we are lucky to be carried by so many wonderful friends and family members. You give us hope and your heartfelt prayers are incredibly appreciated. 

Until tomorrow,

Goodnight from Gotham City 

Laurie