My Precious Mother

Good Morning To All:

I am writing this morning to catch most of you up to date on what has been going on with my mom. Keep in mind, she is doing much better now but she still needs your Prayers on a daily basis.

On Monday, mom and I went to the doctor after school and found out the results of the various blood tests that had been ran to check us out. We found out first of all that all of mom's test came back good (including her cardiac tests) except for her blood levels. She was told that she was a 7.4 and suppose to go no lower than a 7 before needing a blood transfusion. The doctor put her on Slow Fe and a new vitamin called amni3 (I think) to help her get her iron levels and blood levels up. I found out that I am having issues with my thyroid (which might explain a number of things with me) and was scheduled for an ultrasound of my thyroid and put on meds as well. We left and picked up our prescriptions at the local pharmacy and went on home to rest up for the next day at work.

I fell asleep immediately following my arrival home and slept until mom called at about 11pm. I told her goodnight in our regular way "tell dad and Billy I love them and I love you, too... if you need me, call me. Love you, bye." I slept until 2:23 am when my cell phone rang. If you know me you know that I have serious anxieties with phone calls like this and hearing about sicknesses/problems with my family members. I jumped out of bed and began to try to gather myself. It was my brother who proceeded to say that my mom had been taken to the ER because she was sick to her stomach. He said that mom didn't even want him to call at first because she knew it would worry me but she told him to go ahead and to tell me that she was ok. I threw on my clothes and left, all the while thinking that she had to be very sick because mom hates going to the hospital.

I arrived at PCH shortly (and it was though Jesus had escorted me there because I made it safely and quickly). I walked in and my brother was in the waiting area. They had taken mom back and dad was with her. I sat there for a few minutes and then I went to the doors and pushed the button to get in. Billy followed. Mom was laying in a hospital bed with dad sitting beside her. She looked sooo tired. I asked her what had happened and she told me that she had felt a hold/cold sensation start at her feet and move up to her head. She said that it was so strong that she felt herself leaving her body. She also said that she was so weak that she couldn't even lift her arms. I immediately asked if she had felt pressure or pain in her chest and she said no. She didn't think it was a heart attack because she didn't hurt any or feel any pressure. When she had blockage around her heart before, she had tons of pressure and felt as though she couldn't breathe if she walked too far or did too much. She had felt that way for a long while before ever getting checked out and having her 3 way bypass open heart surgery in October of 2004.

The blood work that they had completed showed that her enzymes did not show that a heart attack had occurred. Her EKG however did show activity. (We later found out that this was because she had open heart surgery and that EKG's never look "normal" again after that. Each patient has their own normal baseline after surgery which may show up on an EKG as abnormal but technically be normal for the patient.) The doctor, who I must say was extremely laid back, told her that her blood levels were low and that they were going to admit her and give her a transfusion after he spoke with her cardiologist in Lexington. However, after he spoke with Dr. Skinner's partner, he said that they wanted mom to come to Central Baptist and have her heart checked out just in case since she had a history of heart problems. They didn't want to just send her there in an ambulance, they wanted to send her in a helicopter. Mom said that she had never been in the air before and asked if any of us could go with her but since they are so small, we obviously couldn't.

I left the hospital at about 4:30 am and by the time I pulled onto the road, the helicopter was landing on the launch pad across the street. I flew home and picked up my bag that Michael had packed for me. I had told him to stay at home and that I would be fine. I had figured that there would be limited room in her room and that they would not let all of the family there. I knew that I wanted to stay right there by her so he would just be sitting there waiting with rest of us. He obviously protested but eventually agreed and said to call him asap and let him know what was going on and that he would be there if I needed him. I told him goodbye in tears and asked him to keep Praying for her to be ok.

I left my apartment at 5am and flew to Lexington. I had my trouble lights on and made pretty good timing until I got close and started to run into the early morning commuters going to work. I was on the phone most of the way there and when I wasn't on the phone, I was talking and crying out to God. I was so scared. My aunt, who lives in Lexington, had already arrived at the hospital and taken care of mom's paperwork. That was truly a blessing. She was sitting outside waiting for the helicopter as I drove and she was right there as soon as mom got to the hospital.

I arrived pretty soon after mom did at around 6:15am. I raced up to her room and she was sitting there laughing with my aunt. She said she didn't feel as badly and was ready to go home. HA! Dad and Billy arrived about 45 minutes after me because they had stopped by the house to get some clothes and things and then left. I know that I drove Billy insane by calling him every 2 minutes the entire way.

The doctor came in for a minute, no joke, and said that they wanted to do a heart cath to make sure that everything was fine in mom's heart. They took her first to have an echo and then we waited for hours to hear again to see when they would be taking her for the cath. A few hours after arriving, mom was sick of sitting in bed and wanted to sit in a chair. We helped her to a chair and she was sitting there talking and laughing. Immediately, her face went pale and she looked blank. I asked if she was ok and she said she was doing it again. I ran to the nurses station and got the nurse and she helped her back to bed and we were all asked to step out while they went in. They put nitroglycerin tablets under her tongue and when we finally got to go back in, she was laying there resting. She said that the sensation had already went away. They started her on a nitroglycerin drip (which, by the way, causes a huge headache in the back of your head) and told us to keep a check on her. They informed us about the EKG (the above information I mentioned) and said that they were pretty sure she had not had a heart attack. We were pretty convinced that it had to be some sort of medication interaction or her body reacting to having such low blood.

We finally called mamaw in the early afternoon hours and she said that she would be there soon. We had not wanted to scare her so early and without having any idea of what was going on. We were told that her heart cath would probably be the next morning which meant we'd be staying the night. A few hours later, mom had the sensation again but a very quick version of it. It came on and was gone in a matter of minutes. The nurses had by then turned off the nitro drip and said that if she had another they were going to turn it back on. I got a little stressed and told them that we were worried that her blood levels may be causing this. I asked if they had checked and they said no. They sent someone to check them and found that they were now at a 6.8. They said that they were going to give her blood and if it didn't help or if it got low again quickly that they would have to do an upper and lower GI scope to see if something was making her bleed. (This scared us tremendously. Internal bleeding may be connected to some serious diseases.) So they ordered 2 units of blood for a transfusion. Michael and his mother wanted to donate the blood for mom but it happened so fast that there wasn't enough time. They tested her blood the next morning after the transfusion and found that it had went up to a 9.7. You could see evidence of it in her face because her color was really well and her cheeks were so rosy. This was really noticeable because she had been hearing for a long time that she looked "jaundice" and pale. (We later found that these were symptoms of severe anemia.) Dad stayed with mom that night in her room since only one person was suppose to, while Billy, mamaw, and I slept in the waiting room 2 doors down. I was up and down all night feeling ill because I was worrying that something was causing her to bleed internally, even though there were no signs of blood coming from her body in any way. Billy, mamaw, and I had special prayer for mom and I continued to pray the entire night when I would wake up. God truly gave me peace throughout that night because I honestly felt like I was going to start panicking. I got up at 4am and checked on mom and dad. They were sleeping. I then asked her nurse about her and he said everything was going fine. I was up and at 'em at 6am.
They had told us that if her blood levels went up they would for sure do the heart cath. So, we waited all Wed. morning for her turn in the cath lab. They came and got us and started on her at 1:10. I asked how long the procedure would take because I had blocked out a lot of that from the last time. They told us that it should be no more than 30 minutes unless they had to fix something.

Sitting in that waiting area was like being dunked in cold water. I could remember the last time we were in there waiting to hear about her heart and finding out that she was going straight into surgery. I remember losing it in the bathroom and Billy coming in to help me deal. I could remember walking to the "garden" area outside and calling ever Christian I knew to ask them to Pray for her to be ok. It was definitely a flood of emotions for me. I sat there so sick to my stomach and ill for almost an hour. I thought maybe that they had gotten started late and that was what was taking so long, but I was wrong. Dr. Skinner came out and asked for the Brittain family. He must have seen the stress on my face because he asked my relation to her and then told me she was fine. He talked directly to me for a few minutes and said that they had found 2 out of the 3 bypasses blocked again. One bypass was blocked 100 % and the other was blocked 90%. He said that the bypass to her left main (the widow maker) which had been so urgent in her surgery, was totally clear and unblocked. That was a blessing. He explained that the 100% blocked bypass didn't really serve a purpose and that he had left it alone but the 90% blocked bypass had been making her experience the sensations. He said that the 90% blocked bypass and the low blood count was a double whammy on her making her feel so bad. He placed a stint in the bypass and said that she was doing fine. He gave us a picture showing the artery before and after the stint. (I'll try to add that to this post at a later time). I asked why they had gotten blocked again so quickly after only 3 years. He told me that it was genetics and that she would have to be extremely strict on her diet, exercise, and cholesterol to ensure that she was keeping them unblocked. It amazes me that genetics can make you so susceptible to heart disease. I mean, I get it, I understand the science of it, but wow.

About 10 minutes later, we were back in her room with her and Dr. Skinner had already informed her of what had occurred. She rested on her back until about 4pm before they took the (I can't remember the name) shaft that had aided in the heart cath, out of her leg. She had to lay flat because the piece could have punctured her artery if she had have moved around. She then had to lay at a 30 degree angle until 8pm to ensure nothing aggravated her artery and that her leg was ok. We were told that they were going to take her blood the next morning (Thursday) and that if it was the same or higher, she would get to go home. Dad and mamaw left and came on home and my aunt stayed with Billy and I until early evening. Billy and I spent the night in mom's room (even though only one of us were suppose to). The waiting room had been empty and he had fallen asleep in two chairs before getting up in his sleep to make a bed in the floor. The nurses were really nice about it ( I was glad because some of the nurses prior to this night wouldn't have been). I was glad that we were there together because I would have been worried about him sleeping alone in a waiting room. I slept in a chair that can be made into a bed though I was afraid to make it into one because I was afraid of the room it might take up. One of the night nurses came to me in the middle of the night and woke me up and laid it out for me and told me to rest. That was a blessing. That chair felt like a king sized bed to me after sleeping sitting up the night before.

We got up Thursday (yesterday) morning and they took mom's blood. The physician's assistant came in and told mom that everything looked good and that if her blood levels came back the same or elevated she would be going home. I got ready and packed up and the nurse came in a couple of hours later and told us that mom's blood level had went up to a 10.7 ( I think that's right)! Praise be to God! We were later released and after eating grilled chicken sandwiches from Arby's we headed home. We stopped at my apartment to get my laptop and some clothes and then at the pharmacy to get mom's new prescription of plavex and arrived home at around 1:30pm.

If you have read this entire post, wow! I didn't mean to stretch the story out so long but I wanted to have these details recorded for my record. I still left plenty of things out but I think this is sufficient. I feel so blessed that my mom is laying in bed a couple of rooms away from me this morning and that she is doing well. God has been so good to us in every situation, especially throughout these past few years with mom. He showed us her blockages and remedied them through open heart surgery 3 years ago and He answered my specific prayers about specific body healing on my mom this week by letting us catch the blockages and low blood. How amazing is our Heavenly Father, that He would be so gracious and kind to watch out for my mom in such a beautiful way. She (and the whole family) credits all of this to Him! Praise You Jesus for being our protector and keeper.

I would like to ask that all of you reading would continue to lift my mom up in prayer each and every day. Pray for her strength as she lives in a healthy manner and pray for her heart and the rest of her body that it is strengthened each day. Thank you all for your love and support and I pray that God's mercies will rain down upon you and that you will be completely drenched in His loving grace!