David A. Lemmink

Marching towards Christmas…..

Hello everyone. I have not written lately, because life is just going on day by day.  David has returned to work on a modified schedule. For the last week and a half he has been going in after lunch for the afternoon.  That seems to be working for him.  I would imagine that as he feels stronger, he will plan to work longer days until he is at his normal schedule.

He is still coughing, and we’re not exactly sure why.  It could be that his as his lungs mend and as he does more, this is a natural side effect of that healing.  It could be something more, but he is not FEELING bad at all.  The cough does not hurt, so we are assuming it is all part of the healing process.

That’s it!  Life is moving forward and Christmas is fast approaching.  Exciting!  We were able to get our Christmas tree last Saturday….thanks to Elisabeth who was the official tree cutter this year.  Unfortunately, only David, Liz, John and I were able to be there, but we still were able to muster some fun, even without Charlie and Angela.

Best wishes to you all in your Christmas preparations!   Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement.

Love, Connie

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I hope your day is full of family, food and fun!

We here at the Lemmink house have so much to be thankful for!  AND, for the first time in years, we will all be together this Thanksgiving!

We are so thankful that David is improving daily.  He is getting stronger day by day.  We thank God for that.

Thank God for our family and friends who have been so loving and supportive.

Thank God for the doctors and nurses that He brought to us.  They have been so positive and knowledgeable and caring.

Praise God for all He has done and will continue to do for all of us!

Thank you all for your love and support.

Blessings to you all.

Love, Connie

Just a short note to fill you in.

Today was David’s appointment with Dr. Brinker.  It is the first time we have seen him since before David had surgery.  He was impressed by David’s progress in (2 days shy of) 3 weeks!

• David has been off the Fentanyl for a week with no significant pain;
• he only occasionally needs regular strength Tylenol to deal with the pain that he does have;
• his main, large incision is healing nicely;
• his smaller incisions where the drainage tubes were, also healed well, and today the nurse removed the stitches;
• he looks great;
• he feels almost great.  In fact, he feels so almost great that he is going to cards tonight!

We do not need to see Dr. Brinker again for 4 weeks.  At that time we will discuss where we go from here.

Also, they tested his oxygen levels and while walking they were 96 and 97.  So, they told him he no longer needs to be on oxygen!  YAY!!!  We are so thankful for that.  It is hard to be attached to a “tether”!  He said he feels like a regular person again!  YAY!  again!!!

Tomorrow we see Dr. Rush, his primary care physician.  Just a check-up and a way for the doctor to get a baseline of where David is now, following surgery.

If there is more to report following that appointment, I will certainly let you all know.

Thanks, always, for your prayers, love and support.

Love, Connie

Hi all,

Sorry I have been so long in posting.  I have been busy.  I went back to work and Carol, Liz, John and I have been taking turns being here with David.

I am consistently amazed by the human body and how it can work hard towards healing. Two weeks ago today he was in surgery, and now it is great to see that David is doing so well.  He came home barely able to walk 10 steps without stopping to catch his breath.  Today, I am noticing that he is much more easily getting around.  Up and down, across the house, into the bedroom, the only thing slowing him down is the oxygen tube he is still attached to.  Because his oxygen stores seem to be up and improving, he may be able to start weaning himself off the oxygen.  I suggested that he try taking it off for 20 minutes today and see how that feels.  He won’t know how it is until he tries.  FYI:  We learned that his oxygen stores were depleted.  The explanation to us was that we all carry oxygen in our cells, waiting to be released when we need it in times of stress, or exercise or exertion.  Because of this major surgery and the assault to his lungs and heart area, his stores were depleted.  It is so difficult and such a horrible feeling to not be able to take a deep breath, or have the ability to know that you will be able to walk across a room and be able to breath.  Something we ALL take for granted.  (OK Dad, I now see from David’s experience what you have been going through!)

His pain is also something that has moderated.  On Monday, he took his shower, and when I went in to take my shower, I noticed that his Fentanyl patch was on the floor.  We had just applied it Sunday, so he got the benefit of it for a day and a half.  When I told him that I had found it, I asked him if he wanted another one applied and he said “let’s wait and see”.    We waited that day and he did not have enough significant pain to warrant applying another patch.  YAY!  Getting off those heavy drugs is an important step, in my opinion.  The patch is there, ready to apply if he feels he needs it, but so far he is able to manage what pain he has with regular strength Tylenol.  That is so amazing and such a BIG STEP!

As an aside, Monday, he and I took a road trip.  His first time out since we got home.  We went out to the farm to get our milk, and then on the way back, I asked him if he would like to go out to his office and see everyone.  He said YES and off we went.  He was so happy to see everyone, and they were equally happy to see him!  It was an exhausting day, but well worth the effort!

So, David is improving day by day.  It is heartening to see him healing and getting stronger!

Thank you for your prayers, cards and good wishes.

Love, Connie

Just a quick, happy note to let you all know that we are HOME!  yay!

The trip was uneventful, and we took a little side trip to Kalamazoo to say HI to Angela.  I’ve now started laundry.  David is sorting through mail and then hopefully heading for a nap.  John is just HAPPY we are here.

Thanks for your prayers and good wishes.  I will write more when there is more to write!

Love, Connie

Not much time to post and not a ton to report……….

Well, there is that we are getting out of here today!  YAY!  It takes a while to get all the paperwork done and prescriptions written and filled and visits with the doctors and nurses.  But by 3:00 Iowa time we will be on our way out.  We were thinking of staying here a couple of days, but we think it would be better to head back to Grand Rapids.  Once we can leave, we will head out and try to make it half way, with stops every hour.  They want David up and moving every hour to prevent blood clots.  So you see, it won’t be a fast traveling trip, but that’s OK with us….we will still be headed home.

I hope to post tonight but if I am not able, then I will let you all know when we have arrived home.  HOME!  Oh, does that sound good and safe and amazing!

I must add here, that our time spent in Iowa City at the University of Iowa Health Care Facility has been as pleasant as could be imagined.  The nursing staff here is exemplary.  They are kind, caring, loving, and very thorough.  They will do whatever it takes to make your stay here the best that it can be. David’s nurses, Ty, and Kelly, and Heidi and Kindra and Julie, and Mindy and Debi and Sarah ~~ I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone ~~ they were ALL amazing and we thank them so much for all they did.   We are so thankful for them and their care.  We are thankful too for the doctors.  Dr. Iannettoni is so skilled and his bedside manner is fantastic.  Craig the Physician’s Assistant is so helpful and does his job with skill and humor.  I have nothing but good things to say about the University of Iowa Health Care Facility and its staff.  Thank you and blessings to you all!

Thank you, too,  for your upbeat, joyful and loving comments.

Love, Connie

Just a short post tonight as today was a much calmer day than yesterday.

We played catch-up a little bit as David was extra tired today.  I guess all that happened yesterday was too much and he had trouble sleeping last night.  I believe having the epidural removed was a big part of that.  The epidural masked much of the pain.  Having it removed, David did experience more uncomfortable sensations and pain.  Sometime this afternoon, the nurse brought in a pain patch that should last about 3 days.  That seems to have done the trick as he no longer is needing to use the morphine pump.  The morphine seemed to make him loopy.  With the patch, he is no longer experiencing that loopy side effect.

Today, other than the normal checks made by the nurses, the only unusual event was an x-ray around 8:30 this morning.

It’s around 8:00 p.m. now, and we have already taken 4 walks.  I will convince him to go one more time before we hit the hay.  The more ambulatory he is the better!

Other than that, it was uneventful and quiet and a bit boring!  We are in this tiny room, which feels kind of cave-like.

One thing we did do was watch the Penn State vs. U of Iowa football game today.  It was exciting, because in the last 5 seconds, Penn State was ahead 23 to Iowa’s 21.  In the last couple of seconds, Iowa kicked a field goal and it was good!  EXCITING! The crowd went wild!!!  Being here at the University of Iowa, that was really fun!

Hopefully tonight we will get a good night’s sleep and tomorrow David will feel much stronger!

Thanking God for His blessings, and thanking you for your love and support.

Love, Connie

I am so happy to post tonight.

We have had another busy, positive and progressive day.  So many things have happened and even though there are 24 hours in a day, this day felt so much longer.  Yes, it felt longer, partly because being in the hospital, time feels like it is standing still, and partly because when you are in the hospital, every minute it seems that something is happening.  And today it seemed like something happened every minute!

Following breakfast, David did the first of his 4-daily walks in the hall.  He was still pretty wobbly, and we didn’t go too far, but he was up and moving. That is an important step to getting out of here.

In the meantime, Carol and John showed up.  Unfortunately, they were getting booted from the motel.  Since we did not reserve any time in advance, and this being a big game weekend and ALSO parent’s weekend, all rooms were booked.  The motel personnel had not told us that this was happening, so we were caught unawares.  They packed up all the luggage and came here to see us and say goodbye.  They hung out with us for a couple of hours and then took off for home.

Once David was done with his walk, we got him back in bed and then Craig, a Physician’s Assistant, came in.  He was sent by Dr. Iannettoni to remove the IV line that was still in David’s neck.  While preparing his supplies and instruments, he got a page, and he left the room to answer it.  It was a call from the doctor telling him that while he was here he should also remove the 3 chest tubes. YAY!  That was such exciting news.  The chest tubes were so uncomfortable.  Every time David moved, they would pull, or push or just plain hurt.  So, we spent the next hour having the tubes removed.  YAY, again!  This is progress and that is what we want to see!  It is amazing to me that just 2 (yes two) days ago, David was in major surgery and today he was getting the chest tubes removed.  AMAZING!  Thank God!

Following having the tubes removed, we decided to order lunch, and while waiting the 45 minutes for it to arrive, off we went on another walk.  This time we went around one whole large area.  WAY farther than any other time before.  I thought following all of that, David would take a LONG nap.  He got into bed, and I ran down to the cafeteria to grab a salad.  He did a bit of dozing on and off, but not at all like yesterday when he barely was able to stay awake.  I came back upstairs and sat and read for a while, but then the nurse came in to take vitals which woke him.

We decided that I would call in David’s dinner order at 5:15, and then while waiting for the food to arrive, we went for another L O N G walk!  Without all those wires and bags and junk, it was so much easier.  And he did it so much faster and went so much farther.

We are finishing up watching a movie now, and then will go for the last walk of the day.  Following that, I believe we will CRASH!  And Kelly, our night nurse told us that because he is 48 hours post-op, she would not have to wake us ALL NIGHT LONG!  YAY!  A full night’s sleep.  That sounds so darn good….I can’t wait.

Seeing an end to this part of the journey is extremely exciting!

I can never thank you enough for your prayers, love, posts, and support.

Love, Connie

Hi all,

Just thought I would catch you up on today’s happenings.  It was a busy day and David is progressing and getting stronger.

This morning after he had breakfast, Ty, his nurse asked if he would like a sponge bath.  He said sure, so they got him up and sat him in the chair.  No easy feat when you’ve just had major surgery and still are feeling weak.  But they did.  It took two big guys because David still really needed the support.  The got him in the chair and let him sit for a few minutes.  Then Ty proceeded to just give him a modified bath.  His face and arms and torso.  She got a new gown on him and was talking about calling the guys back in to help him back into bed.  Unfortunately, we were unprepared for the next event:  his stomach decided sitting in a chair was not what it wanted.  GLURB!  As I said we were not prepared, so Ty had to clean up his legs and feet.  She told him, “If you wanted your feet cleaned, you could have just told me.” haha   Carol told me the first time she got up following one of her surgeries, the same thing happened to her.  Maybe it’s a family thing!  🙂

He got cleaned up and back in bed, and proceeded to take a nap.  A couple of hours later, Ty came back in and suggested that David get up and walk a bit in the hallway.  He was game, so we all got him out of bed, with all the tubes and this and that and out we went into the hall.  He did great!  Went as far as he could and then back and into bed.  Following that journey, he slept for a good 3 hours.  Whew!  It’s tiring work!  Tuckered him right out.

After his nap, he had quite a bit of awake time.  Time chatting with John, his mom, and me.  In between, he would doze, and then wake up.  A whole lot of healing going on!

Tonight, following a light dinner of chicken noodle soup, cottage cheese and pineapple, the new nurse, Kelly came in and asked him if he would like to go out into the hallway for a walk.  Again, David was game.  He knows the more he can accomplish, the faster we will get home.  So, up he got and out we went.  This time he went twice as far.  YAY!

He is now sleeping.  Good thing.  We will still be woken in the night, but hopefully not quite as often as last night.

All in all today was a positive day.  He got noticeably stronger as the day progressed.  I look forward to more of the same tomorrow, all with the intent of getting strong enough to head HOME!

Thank you for your kind words, prayers of support and love.

Love, Connie