Message from Lisa

[Lisa Salberg]

Hi everyone,
If I seem a bit distant this week there is good reason. Last Friday we got hit with our first snow storm of the season - which set everything off normal for the day. This followed by holiday shopping and decorating for the weekend. Monday was finally here and back to normal - or so I had hoped then the call from school - Becca is sick come get her - off to the doc- to be told 'it is going around' back home and 2 days later she is no better and in fact a bit worse. day 3 with a fever. I hope she the fever breaks today. In the mean time I am attempting to work from home - not all that simple with a sick child.

Lastly my week will end with my father getting his ICD replaced, this is normally a simple in out process....but then again this is my life so it is never so simple....or so it seems... Dad is pacer dependent thus he needs a temp pacer via a cath before they can touch the ICD and his ICD is not traditional. In 2001 we attempted to Bi-V pace him, which worked but he had to have a connector on the device to make it work the way we wanted, now the trick is to disconnect the connector and not damage the lead in the process. In the end we hope to be able to connect the 3 leads into their own ports and program them so that my fathers heart regains synchrony. Dad has 'burnt out' HCM and looks much like a DCM patient at this point. This all happens 11am Friday morning.

I hope that Becca is better by then - time will tell.

Take care everyone!
Lisa

[Abbygirl2]

Lisa,
I sure hope Becca gets feeling better real soon. Its great that you can be home with her.
Hope all goes well with your dads ICD replacement this Friday.
Take care and hugs to all.

Pam

[Eileen2345]

Hi Lisa,

I hope Becca feels much better soon. I know the feeling, my son has a really bad chest cold and Gina, my daughter just got over an awful bout of the stomach flu.

Ugh. It has been rough these past 5 days.

I am sorry to hear about your dad having 'burn out' HCM. I hope that all goes very smoothly with his new ICD and that it helps him feel well.

I will be praying for him.

Hugs,
Eve

[Linda]

Lisa, Thinking of you, praying for Becca, Dad, and the entire family - Linda

[shirleymahoney]

Lisa

As you have done for many of us I will keep your entire family in my prayers

Shirley

[angall]

Lisa

I'm sorry to read that you have so much on your plate.

Becca needs a lot of rest, fluid and love. I know you can fill her needs, but remember you are only one person. I know the holidays are approaching really fast, but first things first. Who cares if you have a little dust on your coffee table? Who cares if you don't make that special dish that you have been making every year for Christmas dinner? Noone but you. Take it easy.

Prayers for your Dad this Friday. Hopefully Becca will be feeling better soon.

Take care

[Midge Rollins]

Am sending prayers, your direction for Becca, your dad and you. You rest lady.

[Stuart Schwartz]

Lisa,

Our get well wishes to Becca.
Hope all goes well for dad.

Barbara & Stuart

[Laoshur]

Lisa,

Thanks for sharing your situation so we can pray and think about you and your family. I pray that tomorrow Becca's fever will be completely gone and that the ICD replacement for your dad will go much smoother than you can imagine.

Rhoda

[kerry]

I give thanks to God for all you do and ask for His strength to sustain you. I pray that Becca recovers swiftly and that everything goes smoothly for your Dad. Take care.

Kerry

[Linda]

Lisa - Can you give us an update? Linda

[Joyce Leinart]

Lisa,
How are Becca and your Dad doing?
I am sending well wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery for Becca and a successful procedure for you Dad..

Best wishes and a thank you for all of the time and hard work you put into this sight. For so many of us out here with HCM, you have been a life saver.

With deepest appreciation and gratitude,
Joyce

[Janet McClure]

Your life sounds like mine! James and I are in Boston and I can still see piles of snow everywhere. It is really cold here. We have to be at the hospital at 9:00 in the morning. Hope things get better for your dad and Becca really soon Lisa! Janet

[Lisa Salberg]

Hi everyone,

Here is the update:

Friday did not go as expected - but everything is fine. Dad had what is called a Y adapter on this leads which had enabled the device to bi-V pace - this was before real bi-V devices were on the market in 2001. When they disconnected the Y connector the leads looked fine - but when they tested them the defib lead was not good and they had to drop in a new lead. THEN... they were about to test the device and checked his blood thinner levels (remember dad is in chronic A-fib and pacer dependant) levels were too low and if they shocked him there was a change he could develop a clot and stroke - so they could not test the new defib lead. The procedure started at about 2pm and we were able to see him in recovery at about 5pm and as he had a new lead they kept him over night my mother and I left the hospital at about 9:00pm and dad had a sleepless night in the hospital.

Today dad is feeling well and just typically sore from the replacement.

The rest of the weekend was not as dramatic but really busy with the holiday rush upon us all! Not to mention we had a surprise party for my nieces husband who just completed his sherrifs training program so now we have a sherrif in the family! I am just glad he is out of Iraq and home - lets just hope it stays that way!

Yesterday I did a bunch of holiday cooking - I have reached the age where I find my freezer is my friend and makes things much easier when you want to enjoy the holidays!

As for Miss Becca - well she is really her mother daughter - we are heading back to the doctor this morning because she is has a cough that would knock an adult down and was up much of the evening with it. I have a lovely tale to share with you all about her GP or shall I say former GP and what happened last week - but I will save that for later.

So I have been away from the board all weekend being a regular person with a stressed out life!

Thank you all for the good wishes for my dad and Becca both are on the road to recovery...and I need some sleep :wink:

Best wishes to all,
Lisa

[Stuart Schwartz]

Lisa,

Hope Becca gets over things and dads recovery goes event free so all can enjoy the holidays & Lisa can relax.

There is less then 2 weeks left in the year.
Lets see if you can end this year uneventfully.

Merry Christmas
Stuart

[Lisa Salberg]

OK one more update:
Just got back from the Dr. with Becca - she has bronchitis - oh joy!
UFF DA!

Love,
Lisa

[Linda]

Lisa, Sleep when you can! My best to all - Linda

[Eileen2345]

Lisa,

I hope your dad has a very smooth recovery from his ICD replacement. And I hope he feels better very soon.

I know the feeling, Ryan has bronchitis, he is coughing so badly, it is unbelieveable. In 11+ years, I have never heard him cough like this.

My best well wishes to Becca. I hope she feels much better soon.


Hugs,
Eve