Two nights ago was a horrible night for mom. I got a phone call at 2:30 AM from her asking for us to come and get her. Her story is this: "All I wanted was another blanket." "Those people keep squeezing my arm". Here is what really happened...She became restless and asked for bug spray. She was told that she didn't need any bug spray because there were no bugs in the room. The nurse came in to giver her the meds. Mom took the meds and threw them across the room. She wanted to sit in the chair, she wanted to sit in the bed. She wanted to walk the hall. Finally she fell asleep only to awaken a couple hours later. At his point, she became combative to the point of the nursing staff having to call security to help her calm down. When we got to the hospital later that morning, I could tell she was having a not so good day. She was extremely grumpy.
The reason why she said that the staff was squeezing her arm is because she has edema in her arm (no lie, her arm is as big as my thigh). Because of the edema, blisters formed and popped prematurely. Her arm is oozing and is raw and painful.
Yesterday, mom had to get a heart catheterization to check and see if everything was still intact from her initial triple heart bypass after having to do CPR. During the surgery, they doctors had to put in 2 stents to keep her veins open. After the procedure, she was taken to ICU where she had to lay without moving her legs for 4 hours. At 7:30 last night, the nurses asked me if I could spend the night in ICU with her due to her combative episodes. Needless to say, I am very tired. I only got at the most 1 1/2 hours of sleep. I left the hospital at 7 AM this morning, went to dad's house and slept for 2 more hours. When I woke up today, I spent the entire day cleaning and organizing their house. As I was growing up, I was a pack rat and was very messy. My parents are still that way. Thankfully I married Alan and now am very organized.
Tomorrow she is having a pacemaker and another device used to shock the heart when it stops put in. She is to remain in ICU until that procedure is finished.
No word yet on when she will get discharged. I am still fighting for her to go to a rehab before she comes home. I don't think my dad will be able to handle her by himself is she were to come right home.
Thanks guys for praying. I can tell I am being covered.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
FL Life
You know you are in St. Petersburg, FL (the retirement capital of the world) when you see an older gentleman riding his bike while carrying his potty chair. What I would have given to have my video camera at that moment! At least I had a good laugh!
Here's the latest on mom. She was taken off of oxygen today. That's a great sign. She is still very confused. She was convinced that she lives in my hometown. She didn't believe me when I told her she was in FL. Some of the things she knew yesterday, she had no idea about today. (She had a great day yesterday with very little confusion, etc.) She still doesn't have the best balance when she stands. She will be working with PT for that. Another good thing that happened today was that she had a speech eval and she was taken off of thickened liquids. She isn't too happy that she still has to eat pureed food.
Tomorrow she goes in for a heart catheterization so they can be sure everything is still where it is supposed to be due to her having CPR.
My hopes now that she is starting to get better is that they will discharge her to the rehab facility while I am still down here. That way, I will know her status before coming home.
I have been trying to talk my dad into moving into a retirement facility because he is so far away from family. Those chats are not going well. He understands that I only want them to be somewhere safe and somewhere that they will have medical care at a moments notice, but he doesn't agree with me. He thinks they are fine where they are at. Who knows, maybe they are. Only time will tell.
That's it for now. I'll update again later. Thanks for all of your prayers. I definitely am feeling them.
Here's the latest on mom. She was taken off of oxygen today. That's a great sign. She is still very confused. She was convinced that she lives in my hometown. She didn't believe me when I told her she was in FL. Some of the things she knew yesterday, she had no idea about today. (She had a great day yesterday with very little confusion, etc.) She still doesn't have the best balance when she stands. She will be working with PT for that. Another good thing that happened today was that she had a speech eval and she was taken off of thickened liquids. She isn't too happy that she still has to eat pureed food.
Tomorrow she goes in for a heart catheterization so they can be sure everything is still where it is supposed to be due to her having CPR.
My hopes now that she is starting to get better is that they will discharge her to the rehab facility while I am still down here. That way, I will know her status before coming home.
I have been trying to talk my dad into moving into a retirement facility because he is so far away from family. Those chats are not going well. He understands that I only want them to be somewhere safe and somewhere that they will have medical care at a moments notice, but he doesn't agree with me. He thinks they are fine where they are at. Who knows, maybe they are. Only time will tell.
That's it for now. I'll update again later. Thanks for all of your prayers. I definitely am feeling them.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Update
I can't sleep so I thought I would post and update. We got a call about an hour ago from the hospital saying that mom was very upset and wanted to go home. She was breathing very heavily and wheezing. She was refusing to take her meds because she thinks they are hurting her. She keeps trying to get out of bed. I talked with her for awhile and tried to calm her down. I have no idea if she really thougth it was me or not. I asked her if I could pray for her and she told me no because it wouldn't do any good. I did it anyway because the Spirit has more authority than the brain. When I was finished, she was still very upset but a tiny bit calmer.
My dad is taking this episode very hard. He wanted to go right over there but I convinced him that if she sees him, it would probably make the situation worse.
What an emotional roller coaster I am on! It's hard being strong all the time. But, that said, I know that His strength is perfect when my strength is gone.
You know, the saddest part of this whole episode is that she won't remember any part of it when she wakes up tomorrow. In that light I am trying not to let this episode bother me too much but it's hard.
My dad is taking this episode very hard. He wanted to go right over there but I convinced him that if she sees him, it would probably make the situation worse.
What an emotional roller coaster I am on! It's hard being strong all the time. But, that said, I know that His strength is perfect when my strength is gone.
You know, the saddest part of this whole episode is that she won't remember any part of it when she wakes up tomorrow. In that light I am trying not to let this episode bother me too much but it's hard.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Update
Hey everyone,
I made it safe and sound. My trip was uneventful which I am thankful for.
Upon arriving, I went straight to the hospital to see mom. She got all teary eyed when I walked in the door. She is struggling with confusion and memory loss. When asked what year it is she keeps saying 2006. Something significant must have happened during that year but we can't figure it out. She also thought she was in the town where I grew up. She didn't remember that she was in FL. She keeps trying to get up and leave. When she stands up, she has gait problems but doesn't know that she has trouble walking so she falls. The nursing staff has to restrain her because she was convinced it was time to leave. When we left the hospital tonight at 6, she had a "sitter" (a person employed by the hospital to babysit patients). I felt better about leaving since she was going to be watched.
The nurse went over some of her lab results with me. Her electrolyte were at dangerous levels when this whole thing started. They are thinking that is what caused her heart to stop. Somehow they think she got severely dehydrated.
I met with the cardiologist and was told that her heart is beating normally.
I seems like she does much better in the morning and is much more cognitively with it. As she tires throughout the day, she gets more and more memory loss.
As usual, you guys rock! I'll update more when I get a chance. As for me, I'm going to bed. I am emotionally drained.
I made it safe and sound. My trip was uneventful which I am thankful for.
Upon arriving, I went straight to the hospital to see mom. She got all teary eyed when I walked in the door. She is struggling with confusion and memory loss. When asked what year it is she keeps saying 2006. Something significant must have happened during that year but we can't figure it out. She also thought she was in the town where I grew up. She didn't remember that she was in FL. She keeps trying to get up and leave. When she stands up, she has gait problems but doesn't know that she has trouble walking so she falls. The nursing staff has to restrain her because she was convinced it was time to leave. When we left the hospital tonight at 6, she had a "sitter" (a person employed by the hospital to babysit patients). I felt better about leaving since she was going to be watched.
The nurse went over some of her lab results with me. Her electrolyte were at dangerous levels when this whole thing started. They are thinking that is what caused her heart to stop. Somehow they think she got severely dehydrated.
I met with the cardiologist and was told that her heart is beating normally.
I seems like she does much better in the morning and is much more cognitively with it. As she tires throughout the day, she gets more and more memory loss.
As usual, you guys rock! I'll update more when I get a chance. As for me, I'm going to bed. I am emotionally drained.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Update
I really don't know what to say except that the prayers of the righteous avail much.
My mom has been taken off of the ventilator and is responding appropriately to questions. She seems to have some short term memory loss. Her kidney function is improving and her blood sugar is almost to normal limits. She is by no means out of the woods yet, but she is significantly improved.
Thanks so much for praying. I know that is why she is still with us. I am looking forward to finding out what Jesus did while she was not coherent.
I leave tomorrow morning for 12 days in FL. Please pray much grace over me. In the past, my mom has not been the nicest person to me. She spoke her mind and didn't care who she hurt in the process. I am expecting the Lord to have changed her heart but I am still a little nervous. Please pray protections ever my mind, emotions, and spirit.
You guys rock!!
My mom has been taken off of the ventilator and is responding appropriately to questions. She seems to have some short term memory loss. Her kidney function is improving and her blood sugar is almost to normal limits. She is by no means out of the woods yet, but she is significantly improved.
Thanks so much for praying. I know that is why she is still with us. I am looking forward to finding out what Jesus did while she was not coherent.
I leave tomorrow morning for 12 days in FL. Please pray much grace over me. In the past, my mom has not been the nicest person to me. She spoke her mind and didn't care who she hurt in the process. I am expecting the Lord to have changed her heart but I am still a little nervous. Please pray protections ever my mind, emotions, and spirit.
You guys rock!!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Update
Hey Guys.
The latest on my mom is that she is still on a ventilator. We are waiting for the neuologist to do some testing to see if she has any brain function. We won't know the results of that until at least Thursday/Friday. Her blood sugar is around 300. Normal is 110. This needs to come down. Her organs are not responding to the things the doctors are trying to do to stablize her. Her kidneys are decreasing in function compared to what they were doing on Saturday night. That's not a good thing.
The doctors now think that it was caused by a condition where your heart stops beating and instead it just quivers. They won't know for sure though until they so more tests.
The doctors were saying originally that she was in a coma. Now they are saying she is in shock. The difference being that she has been moving her fingers and opening her eyes. Not on command, but she has been doing that regardless. Some of that might be reflexes rather than brain function. We won't know until we get the results of brain activity tests.
On a good note, her pupils are reacting. Also, the nurse asked her a question and mom answered appropriately. Then earlier today, the neuse asked the same question and mom didn't answer appropriately.
So, it's still up in the air. She is by no means stable and we still have no idea how long she's going to stick around.
Currently my aunt is staying with them. Thankfully, she was visiting from MN when this whole episode happened. She has to leave on Satuday, so I am going down for a while. My dad had Parkinson's and no longer has the cognitive ability to care for himself. He shouldn't be alone. I'm leaving on Wednesday night and fly out early Thusday morning. I'll be there for 12 days unless she dies. Then I'll be back sooner.
The biggest thing that I have been praying for during this situation is that while my mom's brain is out of the picture, I know that her spirit is still alive. I'm asking that Jesus & the Holy Spirit would meet with her and she would have the best, most scared encouter of her life. I would love to see her changed. Even if she dies. I want her to be all that Jesus called her to be. You see, my mom is saved but is VERY religious. Even to the point of being stuck-up (now there's a word that states my age) about it. It often times gets in the way of her seeing who Jesus is. During this time I am longing for her to get a glimps of Jesus. Jesus works in mysterious ways and if this is the only thing that happens out of this situation, then I'm all for it. Please join me in praying for a Jesus encounter.
Here are some prayer needs:
1. I'm a little anxious about what I am going to find when I get there. Pray that I'll have lots of peace. Pray for wisdom for every decision that has to be made.
2. Pray also that I'll have lots of patience when dealing with my dad. Because of the disease he is very slow in everything.
3. Pray for safety while traveling.
4. Pray for Alan while he stays home with the kids. He is a great dad. He'll do fantastic. Pray that there will be NO attitude problems between the siblings. Pray for peaceful rest and sleep for them. Pray that no one will get sick.
I'll keep everyone posted as I get a chance and if anything changes.
Thanks everyone for praying! I love having a huge family!!
The latest on my mom is that she is still on a ventilator. We are waiting for the neuologist to do some testing to see if she has any brain function. We won't know the results of that until at least Thursday/Friday. Her blood sugar is around 300. Normal is 110. This needs to come down. Her organs are not responding to the things the doctors are trying to do to stablize her. Her kidneys are decreasing in function compared to what they were doing on Saturday night. That's not a good thing.
The doctors now think that it was caused by a condition where your heart stops beating and instead it just quivers. They won't know for sure though until they so more tests.
The doctors were saying originally that she was in a coma. Now they are saying she is in shock. The difference being that she has been moving her fingers and opening her eyes. Not on command, but she has been doing that regardless. Some of that might be reflexes rather than brain function. We won't know until we get the results of brain activity tests.
On a good note, her pupils are reacting. Also, the nurse asked her a question and mom answered appropriately. Then earlier today, the neuse asked the same question and mom didn't answer appropriately.
So, it's still up in the air. She is by no means stable and we still have no idea how long she's going to stick around.
Currently my aunt is staying with them. Thankfully, she was visiting from MN when this whole episode happened. She has to leave on Satuday, so I am going down for a while. My dad had Parkinson's and no longer has the cognitive ability to care for himself. He shouldn't be alone. I'm leaving on Wednesday night and fly out early Thusday morning. I'll be there for 12 days unless she dies. Then I'll be back sooner.
The biggest thing that I have been praying for during this situation is that while my mom's brain is out of the picture, I know that her spirit is still alive. I'm asking that Jesus & the Holy Spirit would meet with her and she would have the best, most scared encouter of her life. I would love to see her changed. Even if she dies. I want her to be all that Jesus called her to be. You see, my mom is saved but is VERY religious. Even to the point of being stuck-up (now there's a word that states my age) about it. It often times gets in the way of her seeing who Jesus is. During this time I am longing for her to get a glimps of Jesus. Jesus works in mysterious ways and if this is the only thing that happens out of this situation, then I'm all for it. Please join me in praying for a Jesus encounter.
Here are some prayer needs:
1. I'm a little anxious about what I am going to find when I get there. Pray that I'll have lots of peace. Pray for wisdom for every decision that has to be made.
2. Pray also that I'll have lots of patience when dealing with my dad. Because of the disease he is very slow in everything.
3. Pray for safety while traveling.
4. Pray for Alan while he stays home with the kids. He is a great dad. He'll do fantastic. Pray that there will be NO attitude problems between the siblings. Pray for peaceful rest and sleep for them. Pray that no one will get sick.
I'll keep everyone posted as I get a chance and if anything changes.
Thanks everyone for praying! I love having a huge family!!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Bingaman Happenings
Has it really been since November since I last posted? Wow, time just flies by!
Here's the latest on the underwear saga...Last week I found out that Joshua doesn't always change his underwear. His words, "Oh, I forgot I was supposed to do that." EWWWWW!!!
I see that my work is cut out for me. I will be watching him like a hawk!
Now onto other news...
For those of you who don't know, Alan recently had a job change. He still works at the church but is now full time worship which means he runs sound and concentrates on recording. No more weird night shift schedules for the Bing house!!!
I have been stuggling with teaching the kids school. Somedays I feel very overwhelmed and take it out on the kids. I don't want to be that way and God doesn't want me to either. So, I have come to the decision that for next school year, I will be sending the 2 oldest kids to public school. Evan has lots of reservations about going but we are praying through his issues. Lydia can't wait and is counting down the days. When we were first throwing this idea around, Joshua said that the only way he'll go to public school is if we buy him an alarm clock. I guess he assumed that we wouldn't wake him up in time to get on the bus so he wanted to take care of that issue by himself. Joshua will remain at home with me for another couple of years.
We are trying really hard to get out of debt. We have some bills still to pay from when we got our yard done. It's really making us think, "Do we need this, Can we live without it?, Can we get this cheaper?" We are doing well with this. We are almost debt free except for our car and house. We are also working on getting an emergency fund supplied. It's a great feeling to be working on this. It's not always fun, but it feels really good to get some of our bills paid off.
We have been traveling with school again. In March we were in Harrisburg, Lehighton, New Cumberland and in April, we went from Pittsburgh to Philly in 3 days. That was crazy but fun. The kids had a blast swimming in all of the indoor pools.
Last night I got a phone call from my dad saying my mom is in the hopsital and is not doing well. 3 weeks ago, she had triple heart bypass surgery. They had some complications attaching the new veins because she is a diabetic and has been since she was a little girl. The doctors were finding that her veins were very brittle. Overall, the surgery went well but she wasn't healing as well as she should have been. Last week I called one day to check on her and she was out of it. She didn't even know who I was. That was a weird feeling. I called her yesterday and she said she was doing better. She was just tired. Then last night I was getting out of the car after coming home form church and get the call from my dad. It turns out that she had a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot) which stopped the blood flow to her heart and brain and lungs. (typically, these types of things tuen out fatal.) My dad called 911 and the paramedics got there withing 2 minutes and did CPR and revived her. She is currently on a ventilator and is not expected to last very long. She is having tests today to see if she has any brain function. So, if you think of us, please pray for peace for my dad, myself, and my brother and sister. I could really use some wisdom to know what to do and when to do it. It's hard being so far away. (They live in FL.) I asked my dad if he wanted us to come down and he told me to give it a couple days to see her status. Honestly, I don't know how I am feeling. I am still trying to process. Those of you who know the history between my mom and myself have an idea about what I am feeling. Those of you who don't, ask me sometime and I'll share. I was okay last night while talking to my dad until we were ready to hang up and I heard him crying. Then I started. I'll try to update as I hear anything new.
Here's the latest on the underwear saga...Last week I found out that Joshua doesn't always change his underwear. His words, "Oh, I forgot I was supposed to do that." EWWWWW!!!
I see that my work is cut out for me. I will be watching him like a hawk!
Now onto other news...
For those of you who don't know, Alan recently had a job change. He still works at the church but is now full time worship which means he runs sound and concentrates on recording. No more weird night shift schedules for the Bing house!!!
I have been stuggling with teaching the kids school. Somedays I feel very overwhelmed and take it out on the kids. I don't want to be that way and God doesn't want me to either. So, I have come to the decision that for next school year, I will be sending the 2 oldest kids to public school. Evan has lots of reservations about going but we are praying through his issues. Lydia can't wait and is counting down the days. When we were first throwing this idea around, Joshua said that the only way he'll go to public school is if we buy him an alarm clock. I guess he assumed that we wouldn't wake him up in time to get on the bus so he wanted to take care of that issue by himself. Joshua will remain at home with me for another couple of years.
We are trying really hard to get out of debt. We have some bills still to pay from when we got our yard done. It's really making us think, "Do we need this, Can we live without it?, Can we get this cheaper?" We are doing well with this. We are almost debt free except for our car and house. We are also working on getting an emergency fund supplied. It's a great feeling to be working on this. It's not always fun, but it feels really good to get some of our bills paid off.
We have been traveling with school again. In March we were in Harrisburg, Lehighton, New Cumberland and in April, we went from Pittsburgh to Philly in 3 days. That was crazy but fun. The kids had a blast swimming in all of the indoor pools.
Last night I got a phone call from my dad saying my mom is in the hopsital and is not doing well. 3 weeks ago, she had triple heart bypass surgery. They had some complications attaching the new veins because she is a diabetic and has been since she was a little girl. The doctors were finding that her veins were very brittle. Overall, the surgery went well but she wasn't healing as well as she should have been. Last week I called one day to check on her and she was out of it. She didn't even know who I was. That was a weird feeling. I called her yesterday and she said she was doing better. She was just tired. Then last night I was getting out of the car after coming home form church and get the call from my dad. It turns out that she had a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot) which stopped the blood flow to her heart and brain and lungs. (typically, these types of things tuen out fatal.) My dad called 911 and the paramedics got there withing 2 minutes and did CPR and revived her. She is currently on a ventilator and is not expected to last very long. She is having tests today to see if she has any brain function. So, if you think of us, please pray for peace for my dad, myself, and my brother and sister. I could really use some wisdom to know what to do and when to do it. It's hard being so far away. (They live in FL.) I asked my dad if he wanted us to come down and he told me to give it a couple days to see her status. Honestly, I don't know how I am feeling. I am still trying to process. Those of you who know the history between my mom and myself have an idea about what I am feeling. Those of you who don't, ask me sometime and I'll share. I was okay last night while talking to my dad until we were ready to hang up and I heard him crying. Then I started. I'll try to update as I hear anything new.
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