[PPRAANet] Messages from Dean Buckhouse regarding Wes K0HBZ - Home!

[Rob Roller N7LV]

Clear DayIn case you haven't been aware of Wes' past several days.  The last 
message forwarded from Dean Buckhouse reads that Wes is back.  Welcome back, 
Wes!  Good to hear you're doing well!

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From: "Kathe Petersen"
Sunday, November 09, 2008 6:29 PM

All -

Life's looking up.  Wes has been trekking around the hospital floor several 
times a day, and is up to four laps around the wing with good endurance.  He 
got the temporary pacemaker wires (wires that actually go into the heart in 
case they need to speed it up) removed from his chest late this morning, and 
that was accomplished with very little discomfort, although with a little 
anxiety on his part.  Shortly thereafter, he experienced a miniscule 
arrhythmia, maybe  15-20 seconds, that corrected itself, but it's still 
cause for concern.  His legs are still retaining an awful lot of fluid, 
despite taking Lasix.  He's also still on four liters of oxygen, with a 
blood oxygen level of 94%, which they'd like to get higher, so they doctors 
are reluctant to commit to a release time yet. They're very careful about 
releasing anyone before they're certain that they'll be OK for their trip 
home.

Therefore, we are uncertain whether or not we'll be able to head home late 
Wednesday afternoon, as scheduled.  Carol is still hoping to get back in 
time for the joint concert of First Christian and Grace Church's choirs on 
Friday evening, but we'll have to let you know when we have a better idea. 
A miracle would be awesome!

Many thanks to all of you, our friends, for your continued thoughts and 
prayers.  Sometimes things don't always turn out the way you think they 
should.

Cheers,
Carol and Wes

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From: "Kathe Petersen"
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 8:01 PM

All -
Looks like we got our miracle.  Barring anything going wrong between now and 
tomorrow afternoon, it looks like we WILL be headed home tomorrow evening as 
planned.

We had been a bit puzzled, as most of the patients that came in with us for 
open-heart surgery (except for two that have had major complications and are 
still in the ICU unit) had been off oxygen for a couple of days or more and 
were being discharged yesterday, and Wes was still on four liters of oxygen. 
They finally backed him off to two liters early this morning.  While Wes is 
in the bed or close to it, he's on the oxygen unit in the wall.  When we go 
out for walks, we switched the hose to a tank on the wheeled stand that had 
held the IV lines.

After our second walk this morning, Wes noticed that the tank we'd been on 
was empty, and he hadn't had any trouble breathing on the walk.  We put in a 
request that our attending doctor come talk to us.  When we reported this 
and asked him why Wes was still on oxygen, he looked puzzled.  He checked 
Wes' pulse oxygen level, which was within tolerable levels.  He told us to 
try the rest of the day without oxygen and keep the monitor on his finger, 
and they sent him for a final echocardiogram.  The results of the ECG were 
good, his EKG had looked good since yesterday, and his pulse oxygen levels 
were tolerable, so the attending doctor and his superior decided that Wes is 
in good enough shape to go home.  All we can figure on the extended oxygen 
use was that his chart noted "uses oxygen at home", even though it was only 
at night, and they figured he needed it.  Who knows?

Wes still has an awful lot of fluid in his lower legs (I told him today that 
his normally skinny legs were "shapely"!), but it's gradually being expelled 
by the Lasix, and should continue to do so, which will make his breathing 
gradually easier.  He still has 4-6 weeks of recovery at home, while the 
sternum heals and his body recovers from the surgery, which won't be easy, 
but being home will be good.

Our prayer request now is that our journey home will be uneventful and Wes 
will hold up OK. It will be a very long day, as our flight, thankfully 
non-stop, leaves Cleveland at 5:00 pm and arrives in Denver at 6:24 pm, so 
we'll be getting home around 9 pm, which is 11 pm Cleveland time.

Thanks to all of you, our friends, for the non-stop prayers that have 
carried us through.  We'll see you soon.

Cheers,
Carol and Wes


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From: Kathe Petersen
 Wednesday, November 12, 2008 9:35 PM
Home

Carol and Wes just walked into their home in Woodland Park.  They are weary 
and very glad to be home.  I talked with Carol briefly and didn't really get 
any details other than the trip was uneventful, they are tired, and they are 
glad to be home.  Look for more personal news from Carol or Wes in the days 
to come.

Kathe Petersen
Administrative Assistant
First Christian Church
16 East Platte Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO  80903
fcc at firstchristiancos.org
719-633-8888