Youth night

Random thought: I love this new Starbucks commercial for the stir-in instant coffee- especially when it says that nurses cant tell the difference between the stir-in coffee and the real thing. We all know nurses drink unhealthy amounts of coffee. Funny commercial. (there's another labor nurse bribe gift Carey!)

Sunday night was a youth-led service, which was held in place of our regularly scheduled discipleship time. Our kiddos did an awesome job! I'm so thankful for strong leaders in our youth group. JC opened the service with a prayer. Timmy, Dani, Erin, & Blaire led worship. I really hope these guys can come together and be our permanent youth praise band! We heard testimonies from kids (Timmy, Stratton, and Aubri) who went to See You At The Pole and the Pre-pole Rally. John talked about high school discipleship on Sunday nights. Blaire gave a short message and read scripture. Jordan made a video out of the photos/footage we took at SYATP and the rally. If you click the link and watch the video, disregard the goofy pictures of moi. Thanks.

After the service, we hit our neighborhood Pizza Hut for some delicious goodies! Jordan and I had a great time laughing, talking and chowing down with our students.

Ok, I know the next picture is an "outtake" but it made me laugh. Sorry guys, but hello? The look on Meghan's face is pricelessssss.

Mauve and the squirts.

Ok, so I dont know if I made myself clear enough when talking about Mauve and her pooping on the last post. She has diarrhea. Ugly stinky doggy diarrhea. According to the vet, it's stress-induced, meaning that when we left her last week to spend time in Houston, she decided to blow a gasket (in her intestines) and they havent quite straightened out since. Her very favorite place to lose control of her bowels is in her kennel. Awesome.

Speaking of the vet, mauve now weighs a whopping 27 pounds! 3 weeks ago she was 16 pounds. Little fatty put on almost 12 pounds!

We made the drive back to Houston on Wednesday night with Mauvey in tow (by the way, she pooped in the car. Twice.) So long Stroke Unit!!!! We got Mr. Mims moved from Methodist downtown to Sugarland Rehabilitation Hospital! Of course this means he's eating food now (without the help of a tube) and is off all IV medications. Every invasive line and tube is out and now begins the long, arduous rehab process. Everyone looking specifically for updates about George can rest assured: his sense of humor is well intact. In fact, he's funnier now than ever before. He had us rolling on the floor laughing; cracking jokes with the therapists and was poking fun at anyone nearby. The doc today told us to expect 2-3 weeks worth of time here at SLRH. He'll have several hours of physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy per day. He still has no sensation or movement in his left arm or leg and while being evaluated today by the speech therapist, we learned that he has a "cut" in his left field of vision. I dont know if this means that he cannot see clearly out of his left eye, or if his brain just isnt processing what he sees out of his left eye. Regardless, he has problems recognizing things on his left side without turning his head that way. The doc was also quick to say that as the swelling continues to subside, he should regain a great deal of what he has lost... vision, mobility, everything. We are super thrilled for the progress that's been made so far. I cant speak for the whole family, but for myself I want to extend a huge big monster Thank You to everyone who has prayed. Thank you to everyone who has called, texted, facebooked, blogged, sent cards/flowers/balloons and visited. I will ask that you continue to lift up prayers for his healing, his physicians, therapists, and nurses, his patience (!!!!), and his stamina.

Ps... no car poops on the way home to Rockport! Yay!!!

Home again & catching up

We made it back home to Rockport on Friday night and were happy to sleep in our own bed. It was hard to leave and we are still praying hard for all of the family.

Mr. Mims has CT scans ordered every morning while in ICU and both today's CT and yesterday's are unchanged. The docs are still pleased with this, because it continues to show that the bleeding and oozing have stopped. It will still be days until they notice the swelling begin to subside and weeks until it's a significant change. They said it could take several months for all the bleeding to be reabsorbed into his body. Despite all this, good news! George is no longer receiving Mannitol and will be taken off the insulin drip today. This means he will be transferred to the stroke floor as early as this afternoon! Yesterday he was awake, alert and talking more and more- at one point for a solid hour and a half! Once he gets out to the floor, the work will begin. Rehab will be a long and arduous process and we still continue to pray that he will regain mobility in his left side, as he still has no feeling or control over his left arm, leg and face. We are overjoyed with the progress that is happening and want to give God all the glory for this healing.

Now that we're back home, I can post some pictures from the last week. Our first HS discipleship was awesome! We had almost 30 kids in our house! Margo Smith was sweet enough to bring dinner & dessert for all the kids. Timmy & Dani led music (see picture below)

Then Jordan started a series on Colossians. He projected a map of Colossae onto the wall, which is what he is pointing at below. It was a great night and I hope we have another super turnout tonight!

Erin, Savannah & Destiny enjoying some of Margo's awesome chocolate cake!!

Elizabeth & Mauve- who got quite a workout running between 30 teenagers! She was totally worn out by the end of the night.

Speaking of Mauvey, Jordan and I drove by HomeGoods (L.O.V.E.) while in Houston and bought our sweet pup her very own doggie pillow.

But somehow, she still prefers to sleep under the couch. I dont know how much longer she will fit underneath, as she has to contort her body to fit. Maybe when she cant get under there anymore, she will embrace her pillow as a nap zone. Big big thanks to Gains & Mary and Patty Albin for keeping an eye on Mauve while we were out of town. She isnt very happy with us for leaving her with little warning! Hopefully with lots of treats and a new pillow bribe, she will come around and stop pooping everywhere.

While we were out of town, we FINALLY got our new mattress!!! Big thanks to Ethan & Bethany for opening up the house for the delivery guys. We were so excited to finally be out of our old (full size) bed and onto our new (king size!!!!!) bed. I'm also thrilled to be able to use my new bedding and see the master bedroom really take shape...

Love love love it!!!! It's even lovelier than I imagined it. Now, I need something fab-o to go over the bed... any ideas??? We also need curtains, lamps, a rug... still lots of work to be done here, but it feels so good to have a sunny lovely bedroom to come home to!!

2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back

Again, we've had some slow progress with a few setbacks.

I was mistaken yesterday when I said they would do a CT scan along with the angiogram. The CT scan was repeated this morning. It showed that there was no change in the swelling or bleeding. This means the bleeding has probably stopped and in a few days we should be able to notice the swelling begin to subside. The final size of the bleed was approximately 74mm, which is very large.

There has been no change in his ability to move his left side and he continues to remain lethargic most of the day. He has bouts of confusion, mostly early in the morning, but regains his awareness within a few hours. He was able to eat and drink on wednesday, but yesterday the doctors suggested he stop taking food and drink by mouth until they evaluate his ability to swallow again. They suspected George was not alert enough to keep from aspirating his food and drink (taking it into his lungs instead of stomach). They have since then allowed him to drink water by a spoon and have put a feeding tube in. He will receive tube feedings until he is awake and alert enough to chew and swallow appropriately.

Yesterday afternoon, George began to run a fever, which to my knowledge, they have not identified a cause yet. I believe they have taken samples of blood and urine to culture for bacteria and suspect it may be a urinary tract infection. However, we have also heard from the nurses that because the brain is so irritated, the body can spike a fever, something she calls "brain fever." Regardless of the cause, he is now on antibiotics. He also had a PICC line placed last night (a specialized vascular access device that stays in longer than an IV and allows for blood draws).

To my knowledge, there have been no spikes in his blood pressure recently, which is a praise. The doctors said that he is progressing like they would expect and that he may get to be released to the stroke unit on Monday (given he can meet the required criteria for ICU transfer).

Jordan and I are planning on heading back to Rockport sometime later this afternoon. We will continue to receive updates from Mrs. Mims and I will post as I know more. We are hoping that since the bleeding and swelling have stopped, that his body can begin to heal itself and we will see more progress soon. Please keep praying for continued healing and decreases in both swelling and his blood pressure. Please pray for these new complications with infection and feeding.

H.

A praise!

We spoke with the doctor after the angiogram and got wonderful news! They found no evidence of ANY aneurysms! Not the one they thought was in his neck and no evidence of a ruptured aneurysm where the stroke occured. Also, they did not find any vascular deformations in George's brain, which could have also caused a stroke. This is great news and a weight lifted.

So now they will continue to fight high blood pressures and watch the slow progress continue. He is very tired this afternoon, a combination of having the procedure(extra stress on the body) and versed, the sedative they gave him. Continue to pray for healing and check back again tomorrow for another update.

H.

Ups and Downs (more on the Mims)

Things are slow moving here.

Overnight, the nurses & docs had a hard time getting Mr. Mims' blood pressure under control. He was started on a Cardene drip to help bring down his blood pressures to a goal of less than 140 systolic (top number). Since then, the cardene has been weaned off, which is a good sign. He is still receiving blood pressure medicine by mouth and through his IV, but they are not as strong and "critical care-ish"(Ha! I dont know how else to describe it) as Cardene.

Earlier this morning, he seemed very confused and didnt know where he was. Mrs. Mims would remind him he was in ICU and he would ask for something at their house. This has also seemed to pass, as now he seems to be more oriented and even asked Dr. Ling during rounds, "how long am I going to have this headache?" Dr. Ling has said he doesnt look to have made any progress since yesterday, but that this is to be expected. We are reminded frequently by our docs & nurses that this is a slow process.

The angiogram is still scheduled for today although we are unsure what time. The neurosurgeon who will be performing it has other surgeries scheduled for today and we are getting worked in somewhere. I will probably post another update later with the results of this test, as they will also do another CT scan in the process.

We expect another visit from the therapists sometime today. Yesterday, the speech therapist came by and cleared him for a little pureed food. He had an arnold palmer last night and he's still talking about it! Physical therapy also came by last night and sat him up on the side of the bed for a short period of time. It's a delicate balance of therapy and medicine, as stimulation causes his blood pressure to spike. But at the same time, movement and exercise is needed to rehabilitate the left side.

As far as a timeline; our nurse seems to think we should expect to remain in ICU through the weekend. He would then transfer to the stroke unit for approx. 5 days and then spend approx. 2 weeks in an inpatient rehab unit. After that, he will have several months of outpatient therapy. Like I said, this will be a long process for everyone involved and we will all need rest and patience (something that's running on empty right now).

Please continue to pray for healing, specifically lower blood pressures and lower pressure in his brain. Please pray the angiogram will be an easy and uncomplicated procedure. Please pray for rest & comfort for George as he is very tired of laying still and complains frequently of headaches. Continue to pray for our docs & nurses & therapists.

H.

New Update

We are still in ICU. There is no cell phone service in the ICU, so look to facebook and this blog for updates from Jordan and me.

The most recent CT scan shows more bleeding and increased pressure around his brain. He is still getting Mannitol which is a medicine to decrease the pressure. They are now also adding hypertonic saline along with the mannitol to hopefully help decrease the pressure more. The docs said it could still be several days before they notice the swelling begin to decrease significantly. If the swelling continues to grow, they are still considering putting a shunt in to release pressure around his ventricles (chambers in the brain that hold CSF). The docs are encouraged that he hasnt already needed a shunt and he hasnt needed to be intubated (breathing tube). Dr. Ling said he believes George will continue to improve slowly and we shouldnt expect him to get worse, but that he will stay in ICU until he is stable OFF of the mannitol and hypertonic saline, because only then will they know he will not need surgery.

Clinically, he looks better today than yesterday. He is still lethargic, but he is awake for longer periods of time and can hold conversations longer than he was able to yesterday. He can open his eyes and easily recognize people around him. His speech is still very slurred and difficult to understand, but he is talking a great deal more today than yesterday. He told us he is ready for a large coke and ESPN. He knows he is in the hospital and he knows he cannot move his left arm and left leg (no progress in movement here), but he asks to get up frequently and go see other parts of the hospital.

He will definitely spend another night here in ICU tonight, and there is an angiogram scheduled for tomorrow. They are looking for evidence of an aneurysm near the bleed, and they also found a small aneurysm on his carotid artery that they want to look at closely. Dr. Ling says that the type of bleeding he has is different from what is typically caused by an aneurysm, but that they want to be able to rule out that possibility. Dr. Ling is also encouraged that the stroke happened on the right side for 2 reasons: 1- George is right handed, which means he still has use of his dominant hand (Left arm/leg are affected side) and should have more determination to rehabilitate left arm and leg; 2- there are more cognitive/understanding centers on the left side of the brain, and if the stroke was on that side, George would not comprehend what was happening. Thankfully, it is the right side that is affected, so he is coherent and able to understand what happened to him and what is going on now.

Please continue to pray for healing of his brain, decrease in pressure and slowed bleeding. Please pray for patience for both George and us, as we are sure this will be a long healing process. Please continue to pray for our docs and nurses.

H.

At the Hospital

Jordan and I are here at Methodist Hospital in downtown Houston after Jordan's dad, George had a stroke this morning. Here's what we know so far:

George, a night owl, was up late working. Jordan's mom, Elizabeth, thought she heard a thump around 3 this morning, got up and found George on the floor in the bathroom. He was unable to talk and unable to move his left arm & leg. He was initially taken to Methodist Sugarland, but after a CT scan confirmed a large hemorrhagic stroke (a brain bleed, which is different from a stroke caused by a clot), he was transferred to the downtown Methodist Hospital. We started out on the Stroke floor, but when Dr. Ling, the neurologist came to visit, he decided to move Mr. Mims to the Neurosurgical ICU. They did a second CT scan which showed the bleeding had increased and his brain had continued to swell and was now affecting both sides of his brain (the earlier CT showed pressure on only one side). He is now on the way to MRI. They've also done a EEG and an ultrasound. We've been visited by a neurosurgeon who mentioned putting a shunt in his brain to decrease the amount of pressure, but have not resorted to this yet. Although all the test results are not back yet, the docs are saying his high blood pressures were the cause of this stroke. There will be a long recovery ahead as he has still not regained much movement on his left side and is mostly very lethargic and sometimes difficult to arouse. We are asking for lots of prayers from anyone and everyone. God IS the great physician and we are praying that He annoints the hands of everyone involved in Mr. Mims' care. Updates will come as we know more information.

H.

SSSSSick in SSSSSSeptember

It seems I have been totally assaulted by the snot wagon. I dont quite understand how my body can create so much offensive, congesting mucous, but apparently it does. Also, I must have developed some sort of tolerance to decongestants and antihistamines. Ugh! No worries though- I'm sure it's not Swine Flu (oink oink!). So while I've been laid up on the couch with a box of kleenex nearby, I've finished up my most recent project...

Coming to a mailbox near you!

I've already put the first batch of these little beauties in my mailbox. I have another group waiting for envelopes and addresses and then they'll be out as well. If I've pestered you for an address, humor me! I havent figured out how quicky mail moves in & out of Rockport, but keep an eye out (and consider the blog a little preview of what's to come!). One of these days, I'll finish my San Diego scrapbook and start on my NYC scrapbook. You will think I'm crazy, but I'm already brainstorming Christmas cards!

Staying busy

The Next Food Network Star ended recently, and Design Star is ending soon, and I have only one question for these "next big thing" shows... why is it that when these potential stars have to deliver something in front of the camera, they freeze up and bumble over lines and cues? Isnt the entire show videotaped? For example, on the Next Food Network star, they cook meals and talk the entire time, (as the show is being taped all around them) but as soon as they have to cook "on camera," it's as if they have lead limbs and mouths full of peanut butter. I dont get it.

I'm just saying.

We are keeping busy around here! The house is mostly unpacked and is starting to look and feel a little more like home. We're waiting on some new furniture for our living room to be shipped and we still dont have our new mattress, although it should be here any day now. I'm trying to decide where and how to hang all of our wall art & mirrors. There are a few things here and there and still many things on the floor awaiting some wall space and a nail. There are also a few baskets of knick-knacks and tchotchkes waiting for a little shelf space. One day, every thing will have its place and I will finally feel settled.

Among unpacking and cleaning, I've cracked open the scrap stuff again and have made a few little things.

I like how these ended up- and I think my mama likes them too! I'm also working on something else right now that's going to be super cute! Be checking the blog again later (or maybe even the mailbox!) for pictures of my in-progress project!

Mauve is still Mauve. She loves having company, depsite her bladder problems. We've learned to introduce new people while she is outside so if she loses bladder control, there's no cleanup! I'm interested to know how she will react to having lots of high schoolers around this weekend (and then the next few weeks too). Middle & high school discipleship groups start Sunday and I'm super excited!

Speaking of having kids over, we had another group of kiddos here on Saturday for the next installment of "Dinner with the Mims." We ate dinner, played a fun game of Apples to Apples and then introduced Sarah, Dalton and Kendall to Dutch Blitz! It was a vonderful goot game! It was a vonderful goot night!!!

We'll do another dinner again Saturday with another group of kids! I am loving getting to know our students a little better and a little more personally.

And check out what I've cultivated with my awesome green thumb in our backyard!
Ok, so I just watered the plants that were already there and voila! A fancy flower (bird of paradise, I think!)!

SSSSSSSSeptember

Mauve had her bath today.

Which is more than what I can say about myself.

We had our first "Dinner with the Mims" night on Monday night, which was fun! We're having our students over to eat with us in small groups to facilitate deeper relationships with our kiddos. Erin (she's the one who's way taller than I am) and Meghan (she can lift like 3 times her body weight) were our first victims! Poor kids were assaulted by Mauve, who cant hold her bladder around strangers anymore. We had some yummy dinner (salad & poppyseed chicken) and some good conversation, which is exactly what we're going for. I hope to have another couple of kids over again later this week for another episode of "Dinner with the Mims"

Jordan came up with the name, which is a little lacking in creativity, but it gets the point across, right??

And then this morning, we received our new bedroom furniture! We got every piece except the dresser which was ordered incorrectly or something, so we'll get it later. Several hours and lots of screws, styrofoam and cardboard later......
And voila!!! Yay for new furniture! I look forward to posting pictures of our new sofa/loveseat/accent chair! It's also on its way to our house and is super duper cute. We've gotten most of the boxes unpacked and things are slowly finding their way to final spots. I would probably have a little more accomplished, but took some time to make something nice for my mommy. Maybe if she lets me, I'll post pictures of it soon!

Now if only we had a mattress.... details! details!