Time to Get Together

This has been an amazing journey. Two and half months ago life was clicking along at its normal hectic pace and all of sudden everything changed. Going to work, carting kids from place to place, walking around the block and remembering the day before yesterday (things we take for granted) were either postponed, difficult or potentially gone forever. Things we often complain about became a luxury we hoped to one day be able to do again. We took life for granted and life apparently didn't appreciate it. Well, never again. The miracle that has happened has awoken us to not only appreciate life itself but those who affect our lives on a daily basis and those who have affected our lives in the past and will again in the future. Our thanks go out to all of those who have given their heartfelt thoughts and prayers on Jill's behalf and who have given aid by providing meals and driving kids from place to place. And how can we ever forget or thank enough those who were at the field and the hospital, who cared enough to step up to plate when everything was at risk, to keep Jill with us until she could fight her way through this? Without everyone, none of this could have ever happened.

In that regard, it's time to appreciate the gift that we have been given, life, love and friendship. It is with each other as friends and family that we are all stronger and able to overcome life's challenges. Jill and I are dearly indebted to all of you who have read this blog and helped make this miracle of life continue. With that, we'd like to invite all of you to join together with us to celebrate Jill's recovery, our friendship, as well as to appreciate all the blessings we've all been given. Please consider stopping by on Saturday, August 7th between 5pm and 9pm at our house for some food and drinks. It will be an open house format so come for the entire time or stop by as it is convenient. All family members are invited (adults and kids). Below is the evite with our address. If you can come, please email us at shisey@yahoo.com to RSVP with the number of adults and kids that are coming so we'll have enough food and drinks everyone. We hope to see all of you on August 7th. Steve


Location:
Our House in Arcadia- I'll give you directions when you RSVP

When:
Saturday, August 7, 5:00PM to 9:00PM

Test Results

If it has been a while since Jill last posted, it has been an eternity for me. I actually missed writing which is something I can't say I've ever felt in my life so far. I was always the kid that loved math and didn't like writing. I guess you never know what you're missing until you miss it. Anyway...

Jill went in for her test this morning at 6:30am. As she mentioned, the doctor didn't get a chance to test the defibrillator when she was in the hospital so he set a TBD date in the future to make sure it was working properly and set the level of shock it will provide should Jill need it. Today was that TBD and the test went perfectly. The doctor raised Jill's heart rate using the pacemaker and put her into cardiac arrest, again (hopefully for the last time). The debrillator fired as it was supposed to and her heart went back into rhythm. He then adjusted the shock level (I don't know the medical term for that) to a lower level so she will be able to respond safely to it should it fire in the future. This is one of the reasons the doctor has kept Jill from driving. With the defibrillator on super charge, it could have potentially knocked her out if it fired. This obviously would be a big problem for anyone riding in the car with her as well as other drivers on the road. With the test done and the debrillator adjusted, Jill had one more question for the doctor (which she asked in a groggy state the second she woke up from the anesthestic). The doctor answered her question by allowing her to start driving once she feels up to it. Praise the lord in many ways!

One Last Test

Sorry that it's been awhile since the last update- things have been progressing nicely in terms of my recovery. I feel almost back to 'normal speed', I have a scar that is healing nicely, and my blood clot seems to be behaving- thanks to the coumadin. I have one last 'step'. I will be revisiting the hospital on Wed (6/23) so that they can test my pacemaker/defibrillator. Usually they do this when they put it in, but the doctors felt that my stability at that time, after numerous cardiac arrests, wasn't the best. So....on Wed am they will put me out, induce cardiac arrest, and make sure that the paremaker/defib goes into action. If, by some slim chance, it doesn't, the doctors will be there will paddles to shock me back into rhythm. And, as my sister-in-law (who is a doctor) says "The good news is that you have a shockable rhythm!". (I am thinking of adding that as a 'special skill' on my resume!)

I am looking forward to being able to drive again, and am hopeful that once I 'pass my test' that will be a possibility. It's been a juggling act with all of the kids activities to get everyone to their places. A HUGE thank you to our dear friends that have helped to shuttle kids here and there. I hope I can repay you soon! I am also hoping that I will be able to reduce some medications after the test, although I think I may be a bit ambitious on that front. Although I am embarrased to admit it, I LOVE my 7 day/4 times a day pill box! There have been many times when I can't remember if I just took a pill...and that's not good!

I can't say it enough- Steve and I are so grateful and amazed at our loving circle of friends and family. Thank you for continuing to keep us in your thoughts and prayers- especially for this last 'visit' that will happen on Wednesday. Never underestimate the power of prayer! I promise to update after the test is done. With heartfelt love- Jill

Update from the Patient

Hello everyone- wanted to give you all a brief update on the latest. I apologize in advance for not being the writer that Steve is :) .

These last two weeks have been focused on 'recovery', which means gaining back my body strength and endurance, allowing my wound to heal, the bruises to subside, and my heart to get stronger. I've had many visits to the doctors (cardiologists, infectious disease, vascular surgeon) and am managing a potpouri of medication. The doctors say it is good to move around, so I am doing my part. It is heartwarming, and a little overwhelming, to get back into 'society', as there are many loving and caring friends that have been concerned. Steve and my mom , aka "Gaga" have picked up the lion's share of home duties- truly saints!

There has been a slight 'detour' in my recovery which has required more medications and doctors, but everyone is very much focused on getting me through it. So...keep those good thoughts and prayers coming...I need and appreciate them!

The kids are doing well- much appreciation goes to all of you for stepping in with food and rides. Steve and I are blown away by the love and concern that you all have shared with us. How are we so blessed with such amazing friends??!!! It is helping us keep our focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. (is that a bad metaphor to use at this time?? :) )

Please keep Steve in your thoughts too- he is doing so much right now. Your kind words keep him energized.

Finally- on Sunday (5/23) the Arcadia Fire Department will be honoring the three people that started CPR at the field at Little League Closing Ceremonies. (Windsor Field, 12-1). When we visited the Fire Department last weekend, they told us that if Mary, Sue and Mathew hadn't started CPR, there really would've been no point in all the work that the paramedics did when they arrived. It would've been too late. Frightening! I can't even begin to express my appreciation to these three amazing and courageous individuals for saving my life, but I will try on Sunday.

Hoping to be back to the 'ole Jill' soon- Jill

2 Great Paramedics!

Our family visit/thank you today to the Arcadia Fire Department to personally meet and thank 2 of Jill's rescuers. These gentlemen performed CPR, started the IV, shocked me, and transported me to the hospital. What a great team!

Slowly, slowly (not my favorite word)

Hi Everyone!

As Steve mentioned, things are getting better everyday. I am, (of course because it's me), a bit frustrated with how slow I need to go, but Steve reminds me everyday of the 'cheering' and 'amazement' by the hospital staff at the fact that I even woke up. Baby steps.

I continue to be touched everyday by the thoughtfullness and love that is sent our way. The cards, flowers, phone calls, blog posts, emails, prayer groups, text messages, visits, food, rides for my children- we are all touched at the outpouring of love and friendship. The Hiseys are a very lucky family! :)

It has been good to be at Trent's games, even if it's only for a portion, to see the team, to cheer them on and to let them know that , as 10 and 11 year old boys, they certainly don't need to worry about me! Although I have become a quiet cheerleader (which is hard for me to do!), the other parents have been yelling on my behalf. Jackson and his friend were so incredibly cute last game- they would yell the "Let's go Trent, Let's go" and I would clap. Teamwork at its best!

And I am am getting a lot of enjoyment over everyones amazement at Steve's writing abilities. I am going to credit his talent to the fact that , when we were dating and he was in far away places like Washington and Wisconsin for baseball, we wrote letters back and forth. It's embarrasing to say that, 'back then' we didn't have cell phones, email or text messaging! And it was way too expensive to call long distance...given the salaries each of us was making. He's just kept that talent hidden for the last 20+ years.... :)

Mother's Day was uniquely special. My mom, who has been the pillar of strength since the day this happened, was able to celebrate with FrenchToast for breakfast. I was REALLY sad to see her go, but had selfishly kept her here for 2 weeks and it was time to share her with my Dad. :) And she'll be back again soon. The touching , heartfelt cards from my kids and Steve were fantastic! It was a quiet, loving day.

Finally, before I blubber on too long, I just want to again thank you all for your support...I do believe that is what is keeping all of us going. God bless! Jill

5/11/10

Jill is still making great progress but things have slowed down. To go from ground zero to leaving the hospital in 9 days was remarkable. Everything was happening at the speed of light. Now everything is a day to day progression. This is still very positive. Most of her improvement is in the form of walking around a little more each day. She has attended each of Trent's last three Little League games, however, sitting through an entire game is very taxing. Today her big walking session was a quick trip to the market. This was quite an accomplishment considering her trip of 40 feet the first time she was back on her feet. She has not had any additional fainting spells or anything of the sort since her last trip to the doctor so each day has been a baby step forward without any set backs.

I believe Jill will be the next to post on the blog so I am going to check out for now. However, I've heard from numerous people that they would like to make a comment or say something but haven't been able to do it for one reason or another so I've set up an account that anyone can use if they want to send a message. Since a lot of people may potentially be using the same account, make sure you note who you are at the bottom of your message. Here is how you do it:

1) Underneath the latest post is a comment link. Click on that link.
2) Scan down to the bottom of the page below the other comments and type your message into the white box below the words "post a comment" - Don't hit "post comment" button yet
3) Next to the words "comment as", click the down arrow and click "google account"
4) Now click on the "post comment" button
5) You should get a Google Account asking for email and password. Type in sendjillamessage as one long word in the email box and shewillreadit as one long word in the password box and click sign in
6) You should see a word verification box toward the bottom of the next page. Enter the letters you see into the box (these change every time so I don't know what will be presented to you) and click on "post comment".

You're comment should be posted for Jill to read. This sounds a little complicated but it is pretty easy once you have the email and password. Sometimes the word to enter in the verification box is hard to read so if it doesn't work the first time you may have to try it again. Hopefully, this will give access to all of those who would like to comment but haven't been able to do so.

Also, if you are interested in stopping by to see Jill, send me an email with the time that may work and I'll check with our schedule. The time window we put in place was good for a day or two but the family schedule has reduced the effectiveness of that time window. She still is resting/sleeping half of her day as she wears out pretty quickly so there is no hurry. She certainly will not give anyone demerits for being patient. My email is stevehisey@gmail.com.

5/6/10

The last few days have been pretty uneventful. Jill has been walking better each day and her short term memory is slowly coming back. The big challenge for Jill is to be patient and let herself heal. It has almost been two weeks since all of this happened and she has come so far that it is almost expected that she'll be back to normal in very short time. Unfortunately, this whole thing was very severe and it just doesn't happen that way. Today, Jill went in for her first visit to see her cardiologist (by the way I gave him the blog now that I've mentioned him by name). It was supposed to be a fairly routine visit where all of her wounds would be checked as well as the pacemaker defibrillator tested. The wounds looked good and the machine worked as it should as well, however, Jill's body didn't react well at all to the testing of the machine. Everyone left the room after the test and everything seemed alright and suddenly the room starting getting white and she just about passed out. The event gave yours truly a scare as she started to pass out in a similar manner to what happened at the game. The big difference this time was that she responded to words whereas she didn't at the field. In addition, she was still being monitored on the heart machine and her heart performed admirably throughout this little episode so that was a definite positive.

Everything ended up being fine and eventually Jill sat up and walked out to the car. As a matter of fact, she even wanted to do a quick chore before we went home so I knew she was back. We both came out of the appointment a little scared and little depressed. We are both confident that everything will be fine over time but the recovery is going to take longer as there are going to be stumbling blocks along the way. It is naive to think that you can knock on death's door and expect to be back to normal in a couple of weeks. She is doing really well so far, god bless, but we have to keep this whole thing in perspective and take this recovery process one day at time.

Tuesday - 5/4/10

Jill's rehab is going well. She is walking around, albeit a few steps slower than her normal pace. It is also very tiring to walk very far or stay upright for any extended period of time. To give you an idea of where she was on Saturday, she got up for the first time in a little over a week and walked about 40 feet. Each step was approximately 6 inches and each required a 15-30 second rest between steps. At the end of her first trek, she was feeling dizzy and needed to sit down pretty quickly. It's amazing to see what happens to the body when you lay around in bed for 9 days.

Today, she faced some old demons and went back to the baseball field (this was the first game that we were in the same dugout where this whole event happened). She stayed clear of the dugout as there was lot of activity in there that would of been too much to handle based on her condition but she did get out and talk to a lot of those people that were there that day. She was moving pretty slowly and got a bit tired, but there is no stopping Jill when she sets her mind on something. At the end of today's game, Jill got to talk to the boys on the team that were there that day and told them that everything was alright and that she is doing a lot better. The team even scored a couple of crucial runs after she got there to secure the victory.

There were a lot of people that were involved in the process of getting Jill home, and I could never mention them all, but I would like to mention a three others.

Fire Department/Paramedics - This group of guys arrived at the field with Mary and Mathew performing CPR. The guys were very calm and brought order and confidence to the scene. They went about there job in a very routine manner but did everything they needed to do in case of further emergency. This emergency occurred when Jill's heart stopped in the dugout and paramedics shocked her back to life. They proceeded to keep her breathing until they loaded her in the ambulance, where her heart stopped again and they shocked back to life again. I wasn't allowed in the ambulance as there was too much going on but I heard that they had to shock her a third time on the way to the hospital. These guys did a fantastic job of keeping her alive until they got to the hospital.

Dr Wogensen - Allie and I were at the hospital for approximately an hour when Dr Wogensen, Jill's new neurologist, entered and started talking to us about hypothermia, the "cooling process". He explained that the process was new at Methodist Hospital in Arcadia and that the process was having a great deal of success around the country. Methodist is actually the first hospital in our region to have hypothermia available to its patients. My sister-in-law quickly got on the phone with other doctors to research hypothermia with her colleagues and only heard positive results. We made a quick decision to perform this on Jill as all arrows pointed toward the likelihood of reducing any potential brain damage or other damage to her major organs. It is interesting to note that no other hospitals do hypothermia so if Jill had her accident outside of the area for bringing her to Methodist she never would have been able to have this procedure performed as her condition was too dire for her to moved. As it turns out, hypothermia was not only new to Methodist, it was really new. Jill was the second person to have this procedure performed. The first happened the day before. Praise the lord for new technologies and Dr Wogensen for identifying Jill as a candidate for this procedure.

Dr Bindra - Dr Bindra, Jill's electrocardiologist, and new friend for life, was the one who performed the ablation and implanted the defibrillator pacemaker in Jill's chest. He did some major things for Jill and all of them came out fine. He will be the one that will monitor the reports that the pacemaker produces. One swipe of the wand near Jill's chest and a report is sent to the company that produced the machine and they, in turn, send it to the doctor. It's very similar to your home security system. The monitoring center tracks activity at your house and they send a report if there are any problems. Dr Bindra even took on all of Jill's background questions about what schools he went to and when did he graduate. Jill got a little nervous in the beginning when she found out he was younger than she was. After Jill talking to her connections at UCLA, Dr Bindra got Jill's blessing and he also did a fantastic job.

To get from point A, where Jill collapsed at the baseball field, to point B, where she walked out of the hospital alive and able to start the recovery process, was an amazing example teamwork in which everyone had to perform their roles to perfection. If there was one weak link in the chain, a life would have been lost. I've mentioned some people and groups that worked in unison for 9 days to allow to Jill to go home but there were many more. The ER doctor (whose name evades me), the infectious disease doctor (Dr Nieber), the pulmonary doctor (another whose name evades me), the other cardiologist (Dr Baruch, the plumber) and, of course, all the nurses. The CCU nurses watched Jill 24 hours a day and took great care of her as did the cardiac unit nurses. Both groups went beyond the call of duty. A grateful thanks to all of these people as they all were very proud of their contributions to Jill's recovery (and they should be). It truly shows that all the work they put in on a daily basis really pays off.

I've talked to Jill about having visitors and also about handling all of the offers to bring dinner over for the family. For the short term, it will be ok to stop by the house and visit Jill between 6:30 and 8pm each night starting tomorrow. We are going to give that time frame a try and see how it works. I would ask that everyone be fairly brief so that each person that stops by gets a chance to say hello. The dinner planning is still being worked out. I'll get back to you as soon as we have a plan. Again, thanks to all who have offered and or provided help. Your support has made things much easier.

From "The Patient"

Hello all- I do not even know where to begin. I am, to say the least, completely overwhelmed by what has happened and it will take me some time to process it all. What I do know- that God was watching over me, that I have the most amazing husband in the world, that I love my kids and family so much, and that I am so touched by my dear , dear friends. You can't fathom how it feels to hear from friends you knew 30 years ago that are pulling for you, or to hear from people you see every day that have put their lives aside to be there for me and my family. It is honestly overwhelming. I have shed many tears as I try to understand and deal with all of this- so please understand if I am a bit 'shy' at first. I laugh at everyone's comments about me- "Iron Woman", "Strongest Gal I know" etc. If you could see me now... :)

I echo Steve's words about Mary, Matthew and Sue. God Bless each of you- thank you for being so brave- for allowing me the opportunity to be around for Steve, Allie, Trent, and Jackson. What a gift you have given to us- the ability to continue to celebrate life's moments, for me to be there as their mom and wife. Wow.

I'll end here for now but just want each of you to know that I am reading the posts everyday, and it completely lifts my spirits (and Steve's too!) I laugh at those of you that are in awe of Steve's writing abilities- I am too! We've been married twenty years, and I have NEVER seen this side of him!

A few folks mentioned in their posts that this was a big wake up for them; I encourage everyone to take a moment to smell the flowers, tell your loved ones how much you love them- even if it sounds 'gushy'- to not be afraid to step in and help others (even if it involves CPR), and to be thankful for every day that we have together! Hope to see you all soon! MUCH love -Jill

She's home - 5/2/10

Where do I start? After nine long days of ups and downs, and the amazing amount of help we received from an incredible number of people, Jill finally came home at about 6pm this evening. For most who go through this process, this is a dream scenario to go home in nine days. We are blessed to be so fortunate looking back but it was a grueling for all of us. Today, the doctors felt the pain in Jill's chest from the surgery, the pneumonia, her white blood cell count and a few other issues were well enough to let her chose whether she was ready to go home or not. There wasn't a lot of thought as the answer was a resounding "yes". We packed up all of her stuff and made the trek home. She ate her first real meal in nine days which was really nice as she was getting the cardiac diet due to being in the cardiac unit at the hospital. I won't go into the details about the cardiac diet but suffice it say it's the blandest food you can possibly imagine.

Now that Jill is home, we are going to set up a way for everyone to come see her. She is still very weak and has a great deal of recovery to do over the next couple of months but being home and seeing her friends and family will aid in her recovery. Tomorrow, we'll post something here on what the process will be so everyone can see her while still giving her some time off to rest and heal.

This ordeal has been amazing. Now that we seem to be out of the woods, I have to mention some of the people that made this miracle happen and how truly blessed we are that these people were in the right place at the right time.

When Jill collapsed last Saturday, there were three people that administered CPR to her for approximately 10-15 minutes prior to the paramedics arriving, Sue Selinske, Mary Lesh and Mathew Breta. These three are heroes and Jill wouldn't be here today without them. I just want to briefly describe their role and how heroic they were last Saturday.

Sue Selinske - After Jill collapsed, I was trying to get a response from her while she was going through what looked kind of like a seizure. Sue raced over to the dugout and was also trying to communicate with Jill. Suddenly, without notice, Jill stopped this seizure like process and stopped breathing. She actually started to turn purple so we knew right away she wasn't getting any air. Without hesitation, Sue started breathing for Jill and performed CPR until Mary arrived. Every second without air causes damage to brain. Sue's responsiveness at the second Jill stopped breathing was critical in Jill having all of her faculties working today.

Mary Lesh - Mary was a parent of the one of the boys on the opposing team. I don't believe Mary knew Jill prior to last Saturday. When Mary saw the situation starting to unfold, she raced over to Jill and took over the situation and started doing the chest compressions. Mary never hesitated and performed these chest compressions, checked for pulse, etc for about 10 minutes until the paramedics arrived. I can't imagine how this would've of been different if we were playing another team and Mary wasn't there.

Mathew Breta - Mathew was the scorekeeper at Trent's game that day. He is a 17-year old high school student that just recently finished taking his CPR class (thank heavens). Mathew hurried down to Jill's aid when he saw everything unfolding and joined Mary in doing CPR on Jill. Mathew did all the breathing for Jill as well as measuring her pulse, etc. He and Mary were the perfect team. Neither Mary nor Mathew knew Jill before the game, but regardless both moved aggressively forward to her aid and kept her alive during during a very trying period in which she stopped breathing 3 or 4 times before the paramedics arrived to relieve them. I can't imagine how things may have turned out if we weren't lucky enough to have Mathew score keeping that day.

All of us are dearly indebted to these three for their heroism. It's one thing to step to forefront when the life you are trying to save is family member or a friend. It's another when you are doing it as a job. But to step forward when you really don't have to and save a person you don't know, is even more heroic and shows deep down what kind of people these three really are. I don't know if the three of you are reading this blog but if you are, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You've saved a very special person to all of her family and friends. You will always be heroes!

5/1/10

Yesterday was roller coaster ride. As I mentioned, Jill was going to go through a group of tests to try to determine what may have caused this event. The first two were tests where two different stimuli injected into Jill's system to see of they generated a response that might point the doctors to what may have happened. One of these was adrenaline and the other was a medical term that someone who didn't write it down on a piece of paper wouldn't remember. Neither of these had any effect on Jill which crossed them off the list of potential causes.

The ablation, that I briefly discussed yesterday, was the third and final test before the doctor would finalized the decision to put the defibrillator pacemaker in. An ablation is the process of putting a catheter with a wire in it into a vein, guiding it up to the heart and then sending charges to various parts of the heart to see if there is a reaction from the charge. The cardiologist performed this test on Jill and moved through the different areas of her heart without finding too much. He then moved to one of her ventricles, sent a charge and she went into cardiac arrest again, similar to what happened on the baseball field. The doctors got her heart going again with the electric jolt of the paddles they keep on hand in case this happens. This was very scary to here to after the fact but she was revived without any noticeable damage. This event confirmed that there was no other option than to put the defibrillator pacemaker in. Later that afternoon, the cardiologist did the implant and Jill came out of surgery at about 4:30 yesterday afternoon.

She had a very difficult day. The long term outlook however is very positive. She feels like she has been hit with a baseball ball in the chest due to the surgery but is now in full recovery mode. The recovery is going to be slow. The doctors say she won't be able to lift her arm above the shoulder for six weeks, can't drive for a couple weeks and has put a fair number of other restrictions on her which will be a challenge in themselves. Regardless of all these restrictions, the great thing is that she will be coming home soon. It will be good to get her out of the hospital and into her own bed so she can get some sleep and get her strength back. It seems like it been an eternity since this whole thing started, and Jill has been through so much, but now there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.

Morning 4/30/10

The cardiologists stepped aggressively in yesterday which is a really good sign. They felt Jill was well enough strength-wise and health-wise (related to the pneumonia) to start putting her through their testing plan. The MRI was first, and that came back normal. Yesterday, they did an angiogram. In this process, the doctor inserts a catheter into her femural artery and guides a wire up to her heart where he injects some dye to examine the blood flow in her arteries looking for blockages. Jill came out of this with flying colors, no blockages. She was a bit sore and went through another mild sedation but was doing well by late last night. She was doing so well that the hospital gave her the ok to move out of CCU and into the next level of care in a room with a view of the golf course (and the parking lot but golf course sounds a lot better).

This morning she was scheduled to do an ablation where they will insert a catheter into a large vein in her leg/groin and run a wire up to certain muscles in her heart where energy is sent to try to identify and/or normalize an abnormal heart rhythm. This test is scheduled for this morning.

In addition, the cardiologist decided he wanted to accelerate Jill's recovery by performing another procedure while she is anesthetized. He decided to insert a defibrillator pacemaker (AICD) in her chest. He has been talking about this for the last few days as a potential option for Jill but a final decision was made this morning. The defibrillator pacemaker will shock her heart back into the proper rhythm should anything like this ever happen again. Needless to say Jill has had a bit of hard time coping with this outcome due to her age and health but she's starting to get used to the idea. The rest of us look at this as extremely positive as we can't have this happen to her again. She is too special to all of us.

This morning came as quite a shock. The AICD solution wasn't surprising. It was more how quickly it all came about. She is in surgery right now as I write this, so please send your good thoughts and prayers one more time to help her get through this final surgery and recovery period. If everything goes as planned she should be able to come home in couple of days, thank heaven.

At the end of the today, she'll have climbed the mountain, reached the top and will now start her decent back to her life again with all of us. She still has a ways to go but it all looking very positive. There are a lot of things that had to happen for her to be in the situation she is in today. We are all very lucky and blessed.

For those that are interested in sending Jill a message, we started taking a laptop to her at the hospital so she can read the blog posts and the comments from all of you. Funny enough, Jill needs to read it too as she doesn't remember much of what happened that day or any of the first few days she was in the hospital. Also, she will likely be able to see visitors soon as well. Due to the outpouring of support from everyone, we'll have to figure out a gradual way for people to come see her. She still needs a lot of rest so we'll get the stealth team back together and figure out how to make it work.

Afternoon 4/29/10

My apologies for the delay in today's post. Things have picked up so a lot is going on.

To start off boldly, Jill is doing great! On Tuesday she was fully awake for the first time. She has full body function, although the doctors won't let her do much as she needs to be monitored at all times. Her short term memory hasn't been working too well but the doctors feel that this will likely return in about a week.

She has made a lot of progress but is really missing the kids. Allie is able to go see her on a daily basis but the hospital has a "no kids under 14" rule right now. Allie looks about 18 so she had no problems. To try and cheer Jill up, Uncle Dana and I went into stealth mode to try and get Trent into CCU to see her. He sucked his chest in and acted as old and as tall as he could and he got in. We actually caught a lenient group amongst the security folks and the nurses. She was so excited to him! Trent's visit actually is the first recent memory that stuck in Jill's memory and she is now starting to remember more and more. We still haven't gotten Jackson in to see her but thanks to the Black/Phillips family we set up a web cam conference so she could see and talk to him. Both of these interactions were healing in themselves. This is clearly an example that there is nothing stronger than a mother's love for her kids.

Jill's condition is really looking good. She's been sitting up in a chair quite a bit and actually got a little sunlight yesterday when we went to Huntington Hospital in Pasadena to get an MRI on her heart. The MRI results came back positive that everything was normal. The aspiration pneumonia also continues to get better as has her white blood cell count. The cardiologists (she has two now) have stepped in and have now started their tests (the MRI yesterday being the first). Today she will have an angiogram which will look for stoppages in her arteries or any other identifiable injuries to her heart. Assuming this comes out with no blockages, they will perform two more tests which will, without getting into too much detail, see if they trigger the problem again to identify what happened. They obviously aren't trying to start this whole process over again but need to know that these weren't the causes. The cardiologists believe that all these tests will likely be negative but they have to do them. Once all these tests are complete, they doctors will be able to determine what they will do going forward as a solution.

She will likely be moved tonight or tomorrow out of CCU down to the next level of care at the hospital. She still will require nurses that specialize in heart problems but anything with a window, a little sun and a view of the golf course or race track is better than CCU (it has 4 white walls).

She is having a difficult time sleeping right now so the nurses are trying to reduce the number of people that come to see her. I promise the second she is available for visitors I'll let everyone know and we'll figure out some orderly way to get people in to see her either at the hospital or at home. Everything is going as well as possible so keep up your good thoughts.

Morning 4/28/10

Jill continues to progress. She is speaking better and is looking better. They are gradually weaning her off some of the medications she has been on which is always a positive sign. She originally had some challenges with her blood pressure being too low so the doctors were regulating it to keep it up. Yesterday they took her off of the blood pressure medicine completely which was great. Her poor body went through a significant trauma and is really fighting to get back to normal. In usual Jill fashion, she wants things to happen as quickly and efficiently as possible, and laying around in bed 24 hours a day doesn't fit with Jill's style, but she's being as patient as she can be.

The doctor working with her the most now is the infectious disease doctor (the nurses work with her all the time and have been great by the way). Due to her catching the aspirational pneumonia, the infectious disease doctor was brought on board to make sure nothing spreads and to make sure she doesn't catch anything else while her body is weak. Her white blood cell counts have been high and she's been fighting the pneumonia, but both made nice progress yesterday. She was also running a temperature of about 101 degrees on Monday but that came down to 99 degrees yesterday.These three items are being closely watched and are the next hurdles Jill has to get through before the cardiologist can step back in to try and diagnose what may have happened and how to proceed going forward. This will probably take a couple of days.

Jill still is having some challenges as well with her short term memory. She doesn't remember what happened that day (which is probably good) and has remembered a limited number of things since (also probably good for the time being). With all the things that she's been through it is probably better that she start remembering the more current components of her recovery than the very trying ones. We can tell her about those later. The doctors don't seem too concerned at this point as she's been through a lot and she's only been awake for two days. She's made phenomenal progress. The doctors and nurses are amazed at how much she's progressed in such a short amount of time. No doubt this is a combination of her spirit and all the good thoughts and prayers she been getting from everyone who cares for her. Keep them coming.

Morning 4/27/10

It was a very positive day yesterday all and all. As I mentioned Jill woke up in the morning and gradually got some of her faculties back. By lunch time she was about 75% awake and wanting to communicate. She still had the breathing tube in her mouth so she was unable to say anything. She requested a pad of paper and pencil and started to write down questions such as, "what happened?", "where is she?", "how are the kids?", and "did you call work to tell them I wasn't going to be there today?" She is definitely starting to become her old self again. She is having some challenges with her short term memory, however. She doesn't remember what happened on Saturday or a lot of what has happened since (even when awake) but this is not unusual in situations like this. As much as we want everything to be better as soon as possible, there will clearly be things that will take time.

The breathing tube was her next challenge. It was very uncomfortable so she went right to the nurse and told them she wanted this removed. They started weaning her off of it in the late morning and by early afternoon they took it out and she was breathing on her own again. Another very positive sign.

She is still fighting the aspirational pneumonia. The cardiologist can't do any further tests to try and figure out what caused this until the infection specialist gives the ok. The pneumonia doesn't seem to bother her too much other than deep cough in her already sore throat (from the breathing tube that used to be there).

We are now back to waiting. Once she kicks the pneumonia, the doctors can start progressing again to figure out what happened and where do we go from here. She still is in CCU so she still isn't able to see visitors. They actually requested again yesterday that we take it easy on family visitors as well.

It was a great day yesterday. Keep up your thoughts and prayers, they appear to be working.

Good News - 4/26/10 morning

Jill came out of the "cooling" process this morning at about 1am. From there the doctor started to reduce the paralytic medication as well as the amount of sedatives she was receiving. At a little after 4am, Jill opened her eyes. She was still very groggy as you would expect. By 6am, she was trying to communicate but was really unable to due to the breathing tube in her throat. She was moving her hands and feet slightly which was also very positive.

At the same time, she appears to have caught aspirational pneumonia which is the doctors say is pretty common in situations such as Jill's. She is being given antibiotics in addition to everything else.

This is great first step but the recovery process is just beginning. The next major steps in her recovery are to get her off the respirator that has been breathing for her for the last two days, to get rid of the pneumonia, and to let the cardiologist do his thing to try and figure out why this happened and where to go from here.

We have gotten a lot of requests to visit Jill at the hospital. While she is in CCU, the hospital won't let anyone in other that our immediate family. CCU is similar to intensive care with nurses tending to Jill 24 hours a day. The family is even restricted a bit as they don't want her to be overstimulated in the early stages of her recovery. So please be patient. I will let you know when the doctors give us the ok for Jill to see visitors.

It has been a great morning. God Bless.

Sunday 4/25/10

Today is pretty quiet day. Jill has been in the "cooling" process for most of the day. At approximately 6pm, the doctors started warming her up. This process takes about 6-8 hours so she should be back to her normal body temperature in the early morning tomorrow. She will also be taken off the other medications that paralyzed her body and kept her asleep. Once all of these medications have worn off and she has had some time to rest, she will be able to wake up, move her body, etc, if she can. Keep your fingers crossed.

What happened - 4/24/10

As many of you already know, Jill was helping Trent put on his catcher's gear at his baseball game on Saturday and collapsed in the dugout. There were three people at the game (and thank god they were there) that performed CPR on the spot and kept Jill breathing until the paramedics arrived and took her to Methodist Hospital in Arcadia. She was in a comatose state when she arrived. The doctors did some tests to try and find the cause of her collapse but failed to find the cause before she was put through a "cooling treatment". This "cooling treatment" takes her core body temperature down to about 90 degrees for 24 hours to try and reduce the trauma to her body to minimize the chance of brain damage or damage to her vital organs. As this process lasts about 24 hours, and its goal was to keep Jill in coma, all we can do is wait for the "cooling" process to end and for the doctors to start warming her up.

Updates on Jill

I figured the best way to keep everyone posted on what is going on with Jill is to set up a blog and update it periodically. This way everyone can check in whenever it is convenient and get the latest updates. I'll do my best to update the blog as frequently as possible. I believe you have the ability to post your own comments but I likely won't respond directly as I'm hoping this will be informational more than conversational.

I'd also like to thank everyone who has called, emailed or sent a text, to any of us in the family, and offered their support and prayers. It is comforting to know that everyone is so willing to help in this trying time. You are all truly great friends.