#prayfordebbi #keepfightingdebbi

I am back in Seattle this morning after what feels like the longest week of my life.
Let me start at the beginning (for anyone who hasn't been following this on Facebook).

My mom has has been having bouts of A-fib for a couple of years.  Her heart rhythm would get erratic and funky and they would have to shock her heart to get it back in rhythm.  She has always had an irregular heart beat.  Finally, after she was still having A-fib on meds, they did some imaging of her heart and found that she had a pretty badly leaking mitral valve.

So on Nov 16th (last Friday), she had routine open heart surgery to repair her leaking valve.  This has a 98% recovery rate.  My mom is trying to edge her way into the 2% it seems.

They had to repair the valve twice during the initial surgery.  The second time they used a collar.  It did the trick and they took her off the heart and lung machine.  Her heart didn't start.  They immediately started CPR and put in an ECMO machine.  This machine did all the work for her heart, pumping the blood out to be oxygenated and then back to her body.

That same night they also put in 2 stints thinking maybe the found the cause of the arrest...but her heart still didn't kick back in.  This surgery ended just before I landed in SLC on Friday night.  The doctor told my dad that it was about a 50/50 chance that she would make it. 

All week we watched the red line on the monitor that showed how much her actual heart was doing.  At first it was very little.  Her heartbeat was erratic and small.

It seemed like most afternoons we got good news of some sort. So we would leave the hospital encouraged by progress, only to come back in the morning to see a backslide--or no increased progress.  Frustrating isn't a strong enough word.  Devastating?

This was her heart on Nov 17th.  See the red line?

This is her heart on Thursday afternoon.  So much better.  

All the siblings and grandkids gathered.  We got a grandkid picture.  We played games on Thanksgiving in the waiting room.  We ate at Chuck-A-Rama nearby so we could stay close.  And on Thanksgiving her heart settled into a regular rhythm.  Friday morning they were able to remove the ECMO machine (there is about a 7 day limit on this machine).  Her heart is now beating on its own.  But she is still "sick" the doctors say.  They are keeping her on pain meds and sedated because her sternum is still open.

Chuck-A-Rama, the Kid's Table.  So thankful that my cousin Shelley and her sister Cindy brought their mom, Aunt Sissy to see my mom and be with us too.

My mom bought these outfits and sent them to all her 1st Thanksgiving Grandbabies.  

All 11 grands.  A pretty amazing bunch.  Spending all this time with babies this week made me SO thankful for older children. 

I had to come home.  It made the most sense.  But I was awake at 4 am thinking about my mom.  How much I love her.  How much I want her to heal and be happy again.  How much I want her to be able to hold her new grandbaby Reagan, and all 3 other babies that were born this year. 

Love and support has been flowing in through FB, meals, flowers, hugs, visits from family and friends.  I am so thankful for the faith and prayers of those who love my mom.  It has been amazing. Thank you for your love and continued prayers.

Before I left my sisters and I decorated a Christmas tree in her room.  The decorations are the hearts that people put on the doors of the house.  The sweetest notes of love and encouragement.  Today I am praying that she'll be able to see them. If that is God's will.

Have I ever mentioned that I have the least patience of anyone ever?  All the waiting--when there is nothing you can do is so painful. 

Happy Veterans Day

This week we had Veterans Day assemblies at school.  The teachers planning the Kindergarten assembly asked if anyone wanted to sing the "Star Spangled Banner" for their assembly.  I said we might be interested, and this group did a great job!  Super proud of them.

Medal of Courage

Last January Derek had his hardest police experience in many ways.  I wrote about it in a post in January.  His sargeant recognized their amazing bravery and work and nominated them for the Medal of Courage.  They won!  It was a really fun awards ceremony.  We haven't been to the Police Awards Banquet since I was pregnant with Ben!

Then, November 2010

Now, November 2018  We pretty much look the same.  

Maren, Clark and Anne Marie came to represent the family. 

The squad

This is the picture they had on the wall there.  It was so awesome!  We got to take it home.  

The award

Close up of the Medal of Courage.  

Halloween (the actual day...)

Halloween is fun in my classroom...and fun in my favorite way.  It's an academic showcase that the kids think is a party.  Best Day Ever. 
Students do a project that I call "Guide to the Galaxy" and Halloween is Galactic Travel Day.  Kids read a sci-fi or fantasy book that takes place in another world (or a modified version of this one).  Then they create a guide to help us prepare to travel to that world.  It is a lot of work (especially for 4th graders) but it was really fun again this year.  I upped my game this year with some lights in the room, black table cloths under their boards, and a "travel itinerary" for everyone who visited to fill out. (Basically a future reading book list based on the worlds they found most interesting.)  We then read a Halloween story and played Halloween ABCs.  After lunch we played some Heads UP 7-up to celebrate a birthday.  I was glad it was an early release day. 

 There was no trick-or-treating at the Shoreline center this year.  So we skipped right tho Spiros with the Nortons.  Then Derek and I sent the kids trick-or-treating without us.  (Ann joined them, so they did have a big kid there).  We relaxed and watched a show (we are watching the Rookie with Nathan Fillion).  Then I took down Halloween decorations and we got to bed basically on time.  It was a great holiday!