Hello all,
Saturday, January 21st marked one month since Anita's second liver transplant. She did have a set back around January 14th that landed her in the hospital again for a few days. The set back was c-diff. Anita lost a lot of fluid & became dehydrated. The doctors have since got the c-diff under control and she is doing much better.
She is doing great with her progress:
-All of her drains are gone! At one point she had SIX drains coming out from her belly doing the work that her liver could not do. All of those are closed & tubes are GONE!
-All of her staples are gone. The doctors estimate she had between 40-60 staples that were used to close her up all the way.
-Her liver is doing great & her blood tests are coming back positive & normal.
Anita's incision location on her belly is shaped like the Mercedes symbol, an upside down Y. The Mercedes logo & brand is easily recognizable! Mercedes logo represents reliability, first class performance & breakthrough engineering. It is strong. And it is the most long standing automobile brand. Much of these traits can be used in talking about the experience that Anita has gone through.
Anita is one of a kind. She is strong, independent, first class & truly amazing. She is long standing. She has shown & demonstrated such strength through this. What the doctors have done to assist has been nothing short of amazing. We are so eternally grateful for doctors in our region who are top of their medical field and are providing first class experiences.
Tomorrow is Anita's birthday- Tuesday, January 24th. We are so happy to celebrate her & let her know how much we love her. She is incredible and we are thrilled she is doing so well.
PLEASE give Anita some birthday love tomorrow! She definitely deserves it.
I love you Anita. Thank you for being you and for always showing unconditional love. I could not have hand picked a better mother-in-law if I tried. I am so lucky you came with the deal when I married your son.
Love,
Whit
Monday, January 30, 2017
Thursday, January 5, 2017
From Anita
This post is from Anita!
Thursday, January 5th, 2017
I've been home three days and it has been heaven. I had my first outpatient visit with the liver team. My reports were all positive.
The key issue right now is the amount of infection that had accumulated in my body. The doctors are not sure that the infection is gone and are concerned it will enter another vital organ. Tomorrow I meet with the Infectious Disease Team.
For the next few weeks, I will be traveling to the hospital daily for tests.
The Doctors take care of healing my body. Family & friends heal my soul.
Ashley & Dr. Kimball took me for blood draws yesterday. Kimball's main concern was "Grandma, Are you feeling better?" His laugh and smile are the medicine for my soul.
Friends, your continued thoughts and prayers medicate my soul.
Hugs to everyone,
Anita
Thursday, January 5th, 2017
I've been home three days and it has been heaven. I had my first outpatient visit with the liver team. My reports were all positive.
The key issue right now is the amount of infection that had accumulated in my body. The doctors are not sure that the infection is gone and are concerned it will enter another vital organ. Tomorrow I meet with the Infectious Disease Team.
For the next few weeks, I will be traveling to the hospital daily for tests.
The Doctors take care of healing my body. Family & friends heal my soul.
Ashley & Dr. Kimball took me for blood draws yesterday. Kimball's main concern was "Grandma, Are you feeling better?" His laugh and smile are the medicine for my soul.
Friends, your continued thoughts and prayers medicate my soul.
Hugs to everyone,
Anita
Monday, January 2, 2017
No Place Like Home
Happy 2017 Family & Friends!
Yesterday Ash, Kimball & I had the opportunity to go visit Anita in the hospital for what we hope is the last time.... for a VERY long time! It was so refreshing to see Anita not connected to any machines, no tubes hanging out of her body and a hopeful light in her eyes. We had great conversations, visited the Gift Shop and ate a great take-out meal as a family!
A funny story.....
Kyle, Anita & Kimball were making laps around the 10th floor when I hear the head surgeon saying "Come on Mate take this shortcut & you can cut Grandma off"... I instantly had a fear that my 3 year old was running the halls wildly and being a disturbance so I ran from Anita's hospital room to the door just to see Kyle and the doctors cheering Kimball on to scare Grandma!
After the marathon around the halls, we went downstairs to the cafeteria to enjoy dinner and came back up to find out that none of us told the nursing staff we were heading downstairs for a little bit. Each of the nurses said they were looking for us! OOPS!
As Ash, Kimball & I were leaving last night we said a quick goodbye to the nurses as we headed to the elevator when our 3 year old said, "Goodbye. Thank you for taking care of Grandma." Ash and I looked at each other with sweet smiles on our face as our child did something that we should have done. We are all so thankful for the wonderful nurses & team at IMC that have cared for Anita these past 30 days. The staff at IMC has been wonderful!!
So many of the staff have commented that Anita's cheerful personality and positive outlook on life reminded them why they do what they do. Our family has sure missed Anita's contagious smile as she battled for her life.
Well, Anita is HOME. She says it feels so good. She has missed the cows, horses and her beautiful scenery! Thank you to the Hanson family for putting Kyle & Anita's Christmas Tree into their home early in December while we were all at the hospital. She is enjoying looking at it!
Anita is home with tears in her eyes as she thinks of the donor & their family. She expresses her deep love to them and is so grateful. She is thankful for her Christmas gift this year... LIFE.
Some of Anita's thoughts for today:
"Life is a precious gift. In this new year, may we acknowledge and be thankful for all opportunities that pass our way."
We are so excited to have Anita home where she belongs! Here is to a healthy & safe 2017 to all of our loved ones! We plan to spend a lot of time as family and remembering the important things in life.
Love,
Whit & the rest of the Lewis Family
PS- below is a picture of "Dr. Kimball" taking care of Grandma with all of his doctor tools!
Yesterday Ash, Kimball & I had the opportunity to go visit Anita in the hospital for what we hope is the last time.... for a VERY long time! It was so refreshing to see Anita not connected to any machines, no tubes hanging out of her body and a hopeful light in her eyes. We had great conversations, visited the Gift Shop and ate a great take-out meal as a family!
A funny story.....
Kyle, Anita & Kimball were making laps around the 10th floor when I hear the head surgeon saying "Come on Mate take this shortcut & you can cut Grandma off"... I instantly had a fear that my 3 year old was running the halls wildly and being a disturbance so I ran from Anita's hospital room to the door just to see Kyle and the doctors cheering Kimball on to scare Grandma!
After the marathon around the halls, we went downstairs to the cafeteria to enjoy dinner and came back up to find out that none of us told the nursing staff we were heading downstairs for a little bit. Each of the nurses said they were looking for us! OOPS!
As Ash, Kimball & I were leaving last night we said a quick goodbye to the nurses as we headed to the elevator when our 3 year old said, "Goodbye. Thank you for taking care of Grandma." Ash and I looked at each other with sweet smiles on our face as our child did something that we should have done. We are all so thankful for the wonderful nurses & team at IMC that have cared for Anita these past 30 days. The staff at IMC has been wonderful!!
So many of the staff have commented that Anita's cheerful personality and positive outlook on life reminded them why they do what they do. Our family has sure missed Anita's contagious smile as she battled for her life.
Well, Anita is HOME. She says it feels so good. She has missed the cows, horses and her beautiful scenery! Thank you to the Hanson family for putting Kyle & Anita's Christmas Tree into their home early in December while we were all at the hospital. She is enjoying looking at it!
Anita is home with tears in her eyes as she thinks of the donor & their family. She expresses her deep love to them and is so grateful. She is thankful for her Christmas gift this year... LIFE.
Some of Anita's thoughts for today:
"Life is a precious gift. In this new year, may we acknowledge and be thankful for all opportunities that pass our way."
We are so excited to have Anita home where she belongs! Here is to a healthy & safe 2017 to all of our loved ones! We plan to spend a lot of time as family and remembering the important things in life.
Love,
Whit & the rest of the Lewis Family
PS- below is a picture of "Dr. Kimball" taking care of Grandma with all of his doctor tools!
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
A Christmas to Remember...
Merry Christmas from the Lewis Fam! We hope that you enjoyed your Christmas and held your loved ones extra close this year.
We had a wonderful Christmas as a family celebrating in the hospital. Brandon & Aimee came up from St. George and spent the weekend. Ash, Kimball & I visited Saturday & Sunday for as long as we could with a 3 year old! :) And Kyle was there each day too!
Gramma & Grandpa gave Kimball some scrubs and all of the doctor tools necessary to take care of Gramma Anita. We convinced Kimball to get into his scrubs and he looked JUST like a little nurse or doctor. He would check Gramma's ears, her throat, cut her with his pretend knife :) and chart everything!
Anita is doing really well. Her doctors have given her instructions to get as much rest as possible so that is what she has been doing.
The current plan is for her to go home on Friday and we are all anxious & excited to get her home. She is allowed to have visitors but please let us know if you are planning on coming. There are times when she is in testing or with the physical therapy team and she would hate to miss you. Please remember to not visit if you are ill. The overall goal is to keep her HEALTHY and out of the hospital once she is home.
Thanks for following this journey with us and for all of your positive comments and thoughts! We definitely appreciate it.
Love
Whitney
We had a wonderful Christmas as a family celebrating in the hospital. Brandon & Aimee came up from St. George and spent the weekend. Ash, Kimball & I visited Saturday & Sunday for as long as we could with a 3 year old! :) And Kyle was there each day too!
Gramma & Grandpa gave Kimball some scrubs and all of the doctor tools necessary to take care of Gramma Anita. We convinced Kimball to get into his scrubs and he looked JUST like a little nurse or doctor. He would check Gramma's ears, her throat, cut her with his pretend knife :) and chart everything!
Anita is doing really well. Her doctors have given her instructions to get as much rest as possible so that is what she has been doing.
The current plan is for her to go home on Friday and we are all anxious & excited to get her home. She is allowed to have visitors but please let us know if you are planning on coming. There are times when she is in testing or with the physical therapy team and she would hate to miss you. Please remember to not visit if you are ill. The overall goal is to keep her HEALTHY and out of the hospital once she is home.
Thanks for following this journey with us and for all of your positive comments and thoughts! We definitely appreciate it.
Love
Whitney
Friday, December 23, 2016
Updates & Visitors
Merry Christmas Eve, Eve! :)
Anita has been doing so well that she has been moved from ICU (YAY!) back to the 10th floor early this morning. The nursing staff has set some good goals for Anita to hit today which include sitting up in a chair as much as possible and to walk. Physical Therapy will also begin working with her to start building some of her muscle back and getting her balance back to where it needs to be.
From this point forward, all drain tubes will be removed along with as many IV tubes as possible. We are considering this an amazing Christmas miracle.
Our family has felt so loved these past few challenging weeks and we do not know how to repay you all for your kindness.
As a family we would like to request that we not receive any visitors over the next few days. We would like to enjoy this time as a family with Brandon & Aimee visiting from Park City and allow Anita the ability to rest as much as possible.
We strongly feel that she has done so well thus far because of the love & support & visits of family & friends. If you would like to visit please reach out to Kyle, Ashley or I via Facebook messages or text tand we can help coordinate a time to visit Anita. Please hold off visiting the hospital until the middle of next week.She will be doing some physical therapy and could be away from her room when you visit. When you visit please only plan on staying 30-40 minutes only... as anything longer than that timeframe tends to make Anita feel tired.
We are hopeful to have her home within a week to 10 days and welcome visitors at home when she returns. I know she would love to see everyone when she returns home to give you a hug & a "thank you" herself.
She expresses her love and appreciation for everyone every time I talk with her. She cannot believe the amount of support & positivity she is receiving from all of her friends and family. She is a very well loved woman and we are so thankful to still have her here. We are so very thankful to this donor family.
The Lewis Family hopes you enjoy a very Merry Christmas and check here for more awesome Anita updates in the coming days!
Love,
Whit
Anita has been doing so well that she has been moved from ICU (YAY!) back to the 10th floor early this morning. The nursing staff has set some good goals for Anita to hit today which include sitting up in a chair as much as possible and to walk. Physical Therapy will also begin working with her to start building some of her muscle back and getting her balance back to where it needs to be.
From this point forward, all drain tubes will be removed along with as many IV tubes as possible. We are considering this an amazing Christmas miracle.
Our family has felt so loved these past few challenging weeks and we do not know how to repay you all for your kindness.
As a family we would like to request that we not receive any visitors over the next few days. We would like to enjoy this time as a family with Brandon & Aimee visiting from Park City and allow Anita the ability to rest as much as possible.
We strongly feel that she has done so well thus far because of the love & support & visits of family & friends. If you would like to visit please reach out to Kyle, Ashley or I via Facebook messages or text tand we can help coordinate a time to visit Anita. Please hold off visiting the hospital until the middle of next week.She will be doing some physical therapy and could be away from her room when you visit. When you visit please only plan on staying 30-40 minutes only... as anything longer than that timeframe tends to make Anita feel tired.
We are hopeful to have her home within a week to 10 days and welcome visitors at home when she returns. I know she would love to see everyone when she returns home to give you a hug & a "thank you" herself.
She expresses her love and appreciation for everyone every time I talk with her. She cannot believe the amount of support & positivity she is receiving from all of her friends and family. She is a very well loved woman and we are so thankful to still have her here. We are so very thankful to this donor family.
The Lewis Family hopes you enjoy a very Merry Christmas and check here for more awesome Anita updates in the coming days!
Love,
Whit
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Anita's New Liver!
Good morning everyone!
Sorry that I have neglected the blog a little bit. We have some very exciting news to share. Yesterday, Anita received a new liver!
The beginning of the week consisted of a lot of family visits, walking the 10th floor so much she was up to 3 miles a day and waiting patiently for a new liver.
On Wednesday, December 21st Anita was wheeled into surgery with a liver waiting for her.
We received updates throughout the surgery. At 5:45PM on Wednesday the old liver had been removed and the new liver had just arrived. The surgeons were going in with the new liver at that point. At 8:50PM that same night the surgeons had successfully placed the liver and were attaching it to her body to make sure the liver was functioning as it should. Anita did so well during surgery.
Anita is currently in the ICU recovering from the surgery. The surgery went very well. Her surgeons met with Kyle & Ash last night with GREAT enthusiasm about the quality of the liver and how well the surgery went.
The liver is from a younger donor and our surgeon highly recommended writing a letter asking to meet with the donor family at some point, if possible. This situation really made an impact on Anita's head surgeon.
We are thinking of & praying for this donor family as they lost a loved one and they gave the opportunity for Anita to continue living and make her healthy once again. Please pray for this donor family as they go through this process of losing a loved one. We are so, very appreciative of this family and hope they can feel of our love and prayers for them.
I will continue to post through this weekend with updates on her recovery! The Lewis family is excited for a healthy & happy 2017!! We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!! Thank you so much for your concern and prayers. We appreciate your support more than you know!
Love,
Kyle, Anita
Ash, Whit & Kimball
Brandon & Aimee
Sorry that I have neglected the blog a little bit. We have some very exciting news to share. Yesterday, Anita received a new liver!
The beginning of the week consisted of a lot of family visits, walking the 10th floor so much she was up to 3 miles a day and waiting patiently for a new liver.
On Wednesday, December 21st Anita was wheeled into surgery with a liver waiting for her.
We received updates throughout the surgery. At 5:45PM on Wednesday the old liver had been removed and the new liver had just arrived. The surgeons were going in with the new liver at that point. At 8:50PM that same night the surgeons had successfully placed the liver and were attaching it to her body to make sure the liver was functioning as it should. Anita did so well during surgery.
Anita is currently in the ICU recovering from the surgery. The surgery went very well. Her surgeons met with Kyle & Ash last night with GREAT enthusiasm about the quality of the liver and how well the surgery went.
The liver is from a younger donor and our surgeon highly recommended writing a letter asking to meet with the donor family at some point, if possible. This situation really made an impact on Anita's head surgeon.
We are thinking of & praying for this donor family as they lost a loved one and they gave the opportunity for Anita to continue living and make her healthy once again. Please pray for this donor family as they go through this process of losing a loved one. We are so, very appreciative of this family and hope they can feel of our love and prayers for them.
I will continue to post through this weekend with updates on her recovery! The Lewis family is excited for a healthy & happy 2017!! We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!! Thank you so much for your concern and prayers. We appreciate your support more than you know!
Love,
Kyle, Anita
Ash, Whit & Kimball
Brandon & Aimee
Monday, December 19, 2016
Weekend Update!
Anita is doing exceptionally well. The doctors want her health to stay at its current level so that she can be ready to have this next liver transplant as soon as it becomes available.
Brandon & Aimee were able to make it up through the snow storm Friday night and spent Saturday & Sunday with Anita. Sunday, Anita took 30 laps around the 10th floor! She was cruising!
The doctors are pleased with her vitals although they continue to worry about infections. She currently has 5 tubes (she lost one the other day) and they are concerned about infection with those but so far so good.
The Medical team has her pain under control and the only pain she experienced was when they were installing a new IV. She was poked 6 different times and each time they had to dig for a new vein. The 7th time was the charm!!
:)
Whitney
Brandon & Aimee were able to make it up through the snow storm Friday night and spent Saturday & Sunday with Anita. Sunday, Anita took 30 laps around the 10th floor! She was cruising!
The doctors are pleased with her vitals although they continue to worry about infections. She currently has 5 tubes (she lost one the other day) and they are concerned about infection with those but so far so good.
The Medical team has her pain under control and the only pain she experienced was when they were installing a new IV. She was poked 6 different times and each time they had to dig for a new vein. The 7th time was the charm!!
:)
Whitney
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