please continue to pray see DR tomorrow

[tiggerangelgirl]

just wanted to let you know who your talking to and wanted to share my beautiful nieces with you ,please pray for us that all things will work out and I'll be able to find someone to help me take care of these princesses and myself when i go through this,Im praying that the Docter can tell me that i dont have to wait because ireally feel like i cant the only thing that was holding me back before was Cayla 5 the oldest is starting her first season of soccer and i put her in ther and i dont want to dissapoint her by not being able to take her there but i know that if someone could drive us I'll try my hardest to be ther,and i know that after this surgery im hoping that i will feel so much better at least have more energy,right now i take two naps a day and still feel tired ecspecially with the girls and scchool ,they cant ride a bus so i have to take them and they go to different schools well im going to go to bed and remember if you dont hear from me im probaly up at Duke Hospital,i'll try to write inside there if i can

thanks for everything nicole ,cayla,cierra{sissy}

 

[Nancy]

Hi Nicole-

I love that picture! Such beautiful smiles, every one of you.

You will be in my thoughts and prayers tomorrow. If you can, please let us know what happens. I have a feeling that everything will work out for you, and those that are close to you will step up to the plate and do the right thing. I hope you have mentioned your plight to your fellow parishioners and your minister. I bet they will help too.

You take care, dear. God will be holding you in the palm of his hand. If surgery is imminent, you will be feeling better soon.

God bless.

 

[Ross]

I do a lot of praying for everyone here. You most certainly have your spot reserved. Nancy pretty much said it all. Please let us know when you can. I'll worry about you until we know for sure.

 

[LUVMyBirman]

Hi Nicole,

We will keep you in our prayers. Your angel babies will help you through. If it were not for my little one, things would not have been as bright for me. They give you the drive to move the earth!

Hang in there and please keep us posted.

Take care,

 

[JimChicago]

May the Lord give you and your Doctor widom in this matter and may the Lord give you strength for a quick recovery.

 

[hensylee]

Nicole - bless your heart. Those little ones look like twins. You are certainly in my prayers. Ann

 

[MelissaM]

Nicole,

You, Sissy and Cayla will be in my prayers. Keep the faith!

Melissa

 

[tiggerangelgirl]

thank you go to Duke on friday

thank you go to Duke on friday

thank you for all your prayers it feels great knowing that we are all connected like one big family.I took some of your advice and got aggressive today and called Duke to see if they could move my appt up and they told me that they were booked so i saw my cardio today and He got right on that phone and said if something happens to this girl it will be your fault ,pretty bold huh?well it got the job done i have an appt. at Dukes southpoint center for my bloodwork and workup for my surgery,I will make sure that I post when it is scheduale my Cardiologist is so awesome DR. John Adami here at the beach is so awesome he has fought for me since i got sick always making sure that the other drs did thier job,hes kinda like a father figure ,he calls me at home and on weekends when he knows im bad off,just to check on me ,hes came to my house and found many loopholes to slip me through just to get the medical care i needed and the best he could find so please if any of you are not comfratable with your dr. find one who will treat you like a family member.
all of you guys are great i hope one day i can meet some of you this post gives me something to look forward and friends to talk to that has been exactly where iam,thanks and may God continue to bless everyone whos on the post and all those who will find a friend right in the middle of thier crisis.
My doctor here said that Duke was going to try to fit my surgery in some time next week,im nervous a little bit only because of the pain,you all have given me some great advice keep it coming it feels great someone is thinking of us.Can anybody reccomend any sites i should visit to get more information on the procedures and what to expect and also one MORE thing how do they controll your pain? im so scared of pain because i face it everyday and i think its terrible and i dont want to imagine how bad its going to be. do you have to ask for it or do they come in and just keep giving it to you every four hours,has any of you had a pump so that you can give yourself the medication when you need it my tolerance is so high i already take diladid{hydromorphone}8mg three times a day and use a fentnyl patch50mg every day,will i wake up on a breathing machine? and how long do you stay on it? Iam already on O2 all day and have a paralyzed diaphramic nerve and im scared that the surgery will make me not be able to come off right away. have any of you had problems with this,? I guess i have alot of questions and i dont know anyone who has had this surgery,and its hard having friends because you never know if your going to a have a good day or bad one but thanks to all of you out there you made my week wonderfull I'll write and give you dates lots of love
I know God is in controll and we all have to remember that
GOD tells us:
"I MADE YOU AND I WILL CARE FOR YOU.......''
ISAIAH 46:4
I'AM THE LORD,THY GOD OF All Mankind
IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR ME?"
JEREMIAH 32:27
DOES ANYONE HAVE A SCRIPTURE OR A THOUGHT THAT YOU COULD SEND ME TO KEEP MY SPIRITS UP WHILE IN THE HOSPITIAL I'LL READ THEM TOMORROW NIGHT AND BRING THEM WITH ME ON FRIDAY ,ILL BE PACKED UP AND READY TO GO JUST INCASE THEY SAY LETS ADDMIT YOU TODAY AND IM READY TO FELL BETTER AND GET A DECENT BREATH OF AIR
LOTS OF LOVE GOD BLESS YA'LL

 

[MelissaM]

Hi Niccole -

Way to go on getting Duke to move!! You go girl! If you can handle what you've been through so far, you can handle the pain, no worries. Seriously. If the hospital you are at is worth its weight, there will be nurses in your room asking you what your pain level is and treating you accordingly with pain meds. Feel free to use your nurse CALL button liberally, if needed. Ask what meds the doctor has ordered for you. If the pain med you are on isn't working, ask if the doctor could order anything stronger. Remember: YOU are the patient; YOU are the one feeling the pain, and YOU know what you need in order for it to be abated.

As for the breathing tube. . .I think there are a few posts (some recent) on this experience. Maybe on of my esteemed VR.com family members will have that link handy. I think Ross is our breathing machine champ and can fill you in on what its like to be on for an extended time. My general impression is very Zen - 'don't fight it. . .go with the flow'. Nice in theory, more difficult to do in reality! You'll do fine.

Remember, you aren't going in to the operating room alone - your VR.com family will be with you every step along the way!

Keep us posted - Melissa

 

[Ross]

You won't be with it enough to remember most of the things like the breathing tube and such. They will keep you well sedated and will make sure your not in pain. Beleive it or not, the pain for this surgery isn't nearly as bad as you would think. My hip replacement and lung surgeries were more painful. As for coming off of the vent, They will get you off of it as soon as possible. You might have a longer period on it because of the diaphragm deal, but it's a must as you know. We will all be there with you in spirit. We follow everyone into the OR and wait like nervous parents until we know your alright afterwards. In other words, we go through it with you too.

Hopefully find someone to post to us on your behalf and let us know how it's going. Keep in touch until then.

 

[nadi]

Up coming surgery

Up coming surgery

Nicole,

I have added you and your girls to my prayer list.

I personally do not remember the vent, I am very thankful for that but I was prepared to not fight it thanks to the posts here.
As for the pain meds my nurses asked me if I wanted to be on a schedule or if I wanted to just ask for them. Being the baby I am I asked to be on a schedule.

Do you have anyone that can post for you? As it has been said we worry around here.

Take care,

 

[bvdr]

Hi Nicole,

For pain control at Duke it seems they will use IV medications while in CCU and then oral medications when in the cardiac step-down unit. I had no problem at all getting pain medications and very promptly too. They will ask you to rate your pain level on a 1 to 10 and medicate accordingly. For me, I had oxycontin 5mg tablets ordered and could have from 1 to 3 of them as needed. I never had a pain level higher than 5 and only took 3 tablets once and that was just as we left for home on discharge.

Duke has a rather large cardiac area. There is one CCU (the 3200s) and two nearly identical step downs(the3100s and 3300). Some patients don't come out of anesthesia very quietly. I guess I was rather rowdy so I had to be kept pretty sedated at first. Fine by me....all I remember about being intubated is being yelled at to hold still and keep my hands down if I wanted the tube in my throat out. Somewhere it clicked in my head that yes, having that tube out was a good thing and I settled down and they finished extubating me. That was about 9 PM and I moved out of CCU the next morning about 10:30 AM.

My chest tubes were taken out and I also had a follow-up chest x-ray shortly before I left CCU.

I don't know how your long term dependence on pain medications and your past medical history and current condition will affect you treatment course but I feel sure that they will. I will be praying for your speedy recovery, Nicole.

 

[Gisele]

Nicole,

Nicole,

Just to let you know we are all thinking of you and wishing you the best of luck. It sounds like you have a good doc and I am sure that everything will work out just fine.

Keep us posted on your schedule so that we can "be there with you".

Good luck, Gisele

 

[Jean]

God bless

God bless

Nicole,

You have prayers from all of us for you and your girls.

I wish I lived closer and I'd whiz over and pick up your girls and keep them until you were back on your feet. I hope someone comes to your rescue.

Keep us posted, because we sure are thinking of you.

 

[bvdr]

How are the arrangements for taking care of your girls going?
I am holding you guys up in prayer.

 

[tiggerangelgirl]

thanks guys

thanks guys

thanks everyone,i know that you all really care I guess when you go through something like this everyone is scared and then you get over on the other side and will be able to share my expierence and encourage others alo.I don't have any situation set up for my girls but,God will step in and hey! if anything thier parents can step in,because it might just be so sudden because i dont know whats going to happen on friday ,they told me to come early to have mt bloodwork done and another echo,so i really dont know if they reccomend for me to stay in the hospitial or not i hope if so i can come back on monday and have the weekend to make arrangments.

 

[Creed3]

Nicole,
I am so glad to hear that things have been moved up to a sooner date for you. You and your girls are in my prayers. There is nothing wrong with feeling scared right now. We all know exactly what you are feeling. Just remember, we are a family here and we are all here for you. Please keep us posted on how you and the girls are doing.

Take Care!
Gail

 

[Johnny Stephens]

Nicole, there's lots of positive thoughts and hopes heading your way. You seem to have your priorities in place - things will work out, I just know it!

Johnny

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi nicole!
just wanted to let you know that you will be in our thoughts and prayers. i hope someone will post for you so that we may know how you are.
wishing you all the best, sylvia

 

[Georgia]

You're in my prayers

You're in my prayers

Nicole, I know you'll do well. First, I think that although this is massive, tough surgery, you'll be rather pleasantly surprised that it's not the most painful thing you've been through. It will take you quite a while to recover - and be prepared to be quite tired for a long time (4-6 months). But you keep improving by dribs and drabs; and with the girls in school you'll have time to truly rest (and don't let the schools con you into doing room mother duties this year - you need to conserve your energy, or those girls will be putting YOU to bed at night )

But I digress . . .

When post-surgical pain is usually the worst (and I must admit I don't speak from experience; I never had internal surgery until this one) - the first couple days - they keep you really doped up because you need to get on your feet and walking and breathing deeply. So PLEASE don't worry about that part. And since you now don't have to worry about the pain because I've reassured you just like everyone else and you've survived such misery before, you'll really do fine. Just be sure you have all the help you need for the first 2 weeks minimum (I'd say 4 weeks, because that's the very earliest they'll let you drive, but you'll at least be able to microwave a cup of coffee after two weeks).

My dear, you have so many souls accompanying you to your surgery, and you have the great advantage of going to a great hospital, and you have so much to live for - I'm confident that you'll do fine.