A NEW BLOG

TODAY WE ARE STARTING A NEW BLOG. WE TRANSFERRED OVER EVERYTHING FROM OUR OTHER BLOG. HERE IT IS BELOW:

Tuesday, 8 April 2008
UPDATE ON PAM:
Hi,
April 18th will be seven months since Pam's heart transplant. She has not felt this good in years. The hospital in Portland just called and she has no heart rejection from her test yesterday. Her body is not rejecting her heart because of the 32 pills she takes every day. The heart transplant coordinator said because Pam is doing so good we do not have to go back but once every two months now. WOW eight months after a heart transplant you only have to get a check up once every two months.
We wrote a very nice letter to the donor family and gave it to the doctor yesterday. She will give it to our Social Worker at the hospital and she will give it to the donor bank who will contact that family. Maybe we will find something about Pam's heart donor.
Love to all,
Dennis, Pam & Kavin

Tuesday, 18 March 2008
Dennis wrote this today:

Hi,
Six months ago today Pam had her heart transplant. The last four months, not a single problem. You would never know she has had a heart transplant. "Amazing". She takes 32 pills a day. She has not felt this good in years.
Pams dad Bill has been in the hospital since last Friday, and is still there today, he has Leukemia. What it amounts to is he has to have a couple blood transfusions a week for life to feel good or just stay at home with hospice care. His decision is he just wants to be comfortable. Soon he will get tired of going to the hospital every week then he will just stay at home and ride it out! His body and organs at 84 years old are slowly wearing down a lot now.
Love to all,
Dennis, Pam & Kavin

Wednesday, 12 December 2007
Going Home!
Hi,
On July 2, 2007 Pam was admitted in the hospital for a heart transplant. She waited in the hospital until September 17th, at 9:00 pm for them to come get her for her heart transplant. At 1:30 am Pam was all done and two weeks later she was released from the hospital. We have relocated to the Portland area for three months now. On December 13th, we finally get to go home to Eugene, Oregon. She has done better than most heart transplanted people. Today is her birthday the 12th, and she finds out today that she can go home tomorrow. Pam is so happy to go home.
If Pam takes good care of her heart, she could have it for almost twenty years. Good care of it means never missing taking her 45 pills a day.
We have to start packing tonight to get out of this Hotel in the morning.
Love to you all and our Lord has answered all our prayers. We are done.
Dennis

Tuesday, 4 December 2007
They will be going home soon!
Pam has been doing so well, they let her go home to Eugene, overnight for Thanksgiving! She was able to have Thanksgiving with her family! That was so very nice.
They are hoping to hear this week or next that they can go home for good. It would be a nice present for Pam, she will be 52 on December 12th! Then they will just have to go to Portland once a month for Doctor visits.
Pam's sister's had a big fundraiser (it was even on the radio), to help them out with expenses. Dennis can't work because he has to be there for Pam & Kavin. And they did better than expected so they are so very happy!
God is good. Say prayers they can go home soon for good!

Sunday, 4 November 2007
UPDATE ON PAM:
Hi,
We are living in Tigard, Oregon for six more weeks and then we can come home to Eugene, Oregon. Here are twelve pictures of Pam after her heart transplant at the Hotel we are staying at. Pam, Kavin and me are doing great. Pam has on her Halloween dress and weighs 105 pounds today. She will gain weight slowly. But I kinda like her at 105 pounds.
Love to all,
Dennis
Link to Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8876133@N03/sets/72157602910158617/show/

Monday, 1 October 2007
Pam & Kavin & Dennis Update
Hi all,
The last two days the heart surgeon who performed the heart transplant told us Pam is doing better than most heart transplant patients. Pam is going to be taking about 30 different pills a day. Very expensive pills. A couple of them together are $2,000.00 a month. The best we can tell according to the doctors is that her pills total about $4,000.00 a month. Her insurance pays 100%. The total cost for her heart transplant is a little over one million dollars. Her insurance again pays 100%. We are very blessed.
It took me almost two weeks to finally listen to Pam's new heart beat within her. Her heart beat is perfect. It does not miss a beat. That donor had the most perfect heart within him/her.
Pam's kidneys are working very good, no problem. No one at the hospital can tells us anything about the donor. The donors family will have to write to the hospital, and the hospital will let us know that there is a letter from them. Then it is up to us whether or not we want to read it. And we also can write them a thank you letter and it is up to them whether or not they want to read it. Over 80% of the time people never here from the donor family.
Pam will be released from the hospital this Monday. Exactly two weeks after her heart transplant. We will have to relocate to Portland, to stay close to the hospital, for three months now. We should be back home, in Eugene, Oregon for Christmas.
Kavin we found out this last week has the same heart condition that Pam has. His heart is only working 50% of what it should. Not pumping blood as it should. His new pacemaker of last week alone cost $90,000.00 and his insurance covers it 100%. Yes, we are the blessed ones. So in a few years we could be right back going through another heart transplant. Pam and Kavin will be in that same little row boat together on there way through life, with there new hearts.
What can I say! Life is good.
Love to you all,
Dennis

Sunday, 23 September 2007
Hi all,
Last Monday, Pam's doctor came in Pam's room around 4:00 PM and said that he accepted a heart for Pam, and around 9:00 PM they came to take my wife of 30 years to the operating room for her heart transplant. At 1:30 AM it was all done. The surgeon came in the waiting room around 2:00 AM and said everything went great and Pam is doing just fine. He said that he took very good care of her. I saw her at 4:00 AM and nothing on this earth could have woke her up. Then I saw her again at 8:00 AM and she could not open her eyes but she could nod her head yes very slow when I talked to her. Her new heart was beating within her all on its own. To see my lovely wife like this made me feel very sad and the nurse had to get me a box of tissue. It broke my heart.
She is on a lot of drugs to help her. She is getting a lot of shots and drugs right now. 33 percent of heart transplant patients, their kidneys will fail after they have a heart transplant. Pam's kidneys failed all the way. Pam had to go on 24 hours of dialysis. So the last 4 days we were praying very hard for her kidneys to start to work again. If not, she would be on dialysis 3 times a week for the rest of her life. I walked in to see her at 9:00 AM this morning and her doctor is there. I asked him how Pam did over night and he said real good, and she had started to urinate, and her kidneys had started to work again. Pam's kidneys woke up and want to do there job. Praise our lord for hearing your prayers. I am on cloud 9 that everything is going perfect. Pam is doing great, and as of today she is feeding herself and maybe Sunday she will walk for the first time with her new heart. If our Lord is willing, after next week Pam will be released from the hospital. Yes, what more could all of us ask for than for a prayer to be answered. Just ask, and believe.
We have been married for 30 years and today Pam did something for the very first time. She grab my hands and she prayed out loud to our Lord. We closed our eyes and she thanked the donor and there family for giving her a heart and then she thanked all who have prayed for her, and then she told Jesus she wanted to get out of bed and get on her knees to thank him. All is good.
3 days ago on Wednesday our son fell on his feet, while Pam was in bed and passed out. They took him to the ER and his heart beat was only 36 beats a minute. He has a heart condition like Pam and they put a pace maker in him to help his heart. He is 28 years old and he is ahead of Pam with this same condition we found out. We can handle it for this makes our faith just too strong.
I want to thank all of you for your prayers, and guess what? They way you have prayed over the last few weeks for Pam you must pray like this for the rest of your lives. Jesus was here for us and felt our sad feelings. What did he do for us? He gave us her life, so that we may learn that Godliness is more powerful than anything.

Love you all very much,
Dennis

Saturday, 15 September 2007
Email from Dennis:
Hi all,
Pam is doing real good waiting for her heart transplant. We are in very good spirits. The doctors and nurses say we are the best people, that most people are not in a very good mood, including there family while they wait for a heart transplant. But we are. We feel everything will go great and we have the faith. Lets get this over with. There is nothing more for us to wait for. The Chaplin at the the hospital even gave us communion.
Our social worker at the hospital said that Pam's bill after two and a half months has cost $200,000.00 so far. Almost a quarter of a million and the transplant is still coming up.
The doctors feel the time is very soon, that she is getting close to the top of the list. In the last two years no one has waited more than three months for a heart transplant here. We have waited a little over two months now. Once a week Pam has been getting a massage, and a dog comes in her room once in a while to visit her.
Love to all,
Dennis

Here's a Link to Pics that Dennis sent: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8876133@N03/sets/72157602026538678/show/

Friday, 7 September 2007
UPDATE ON PAM:
Email from Dennis today:
Hi,
It has been 58 days since the doctors has put Pam on the heart transplant list. No donors so far. Pam now will be the 499th person to have a heart transplant at this hospital. Unless another person comes in with a different blood type and gets transplanted before her, like just what happened. The doctor said when this hospital does its 500th heart transplant it should be on the news.
Pam is bothered a little that she now weighs only 105 pounds.
Love to all,
Dennis

Thursday, 30 August 2007
Pam Update
Dennis has sent another email, which I wanted to share immediately:
Hi,
I just called Pam this evening from home and she told me something interesting. The doctor came in her room this evening and told her they got a call for a heart for her Monday, but they had to turn it down. Then they also got a call for a heart for her Tuesday and turned that one down also. Those two hearts were not right for Pam. The doctor could not tell Pam why. Its for them to know and not us.
Pam is on a list, of this region, which includes other states next to Oregon. The doctor said Pam is about to the top of that region list. So the right heart for Pam must be very soon in coming. Pam is number one on the list at her hospital but everyone on that list is put on another list of a certain region. She is now almost to the top of the region list of different states. So I am very excited to hear this. It makes me feel on top of this world that a victory is near. All Pam wants is to come home to her house. There's no place like home.
Love to all,
Dennis

Wednesday, 29 August 2007
UPDATE ON PAM:
Email I received from Dennis tonight, feel free to leave a note for Dennis to relay to Pam. I just know this weekend is it:
Hi,
Pam has been on the heart transplant list for seven weeks now. Her heart is little by little getting worse. We need Pam's heart to stay strong or good enough until she gets transplanted. If her heart gets really worse, Pam will have to have a major surgery to have a plastic pump heart put in her to help her live until she is transplanted. I am looking forward to Labor weekend, we heard on the news in Portland that more people are killed by accidents on Labor day weekend than any other holiday weekend. Yes, we feel sad about the donor and that family, but God already knows Pam's donor and he is working everything out for this to happened. This donor may have the wisdom to know that God is taken them and letting another person live a little longer because of them. There is nothing on this earth we can do to prevent the death of the donor. We may decide someday in the future to meet the donors family, it is up to us our social worker told us. I guess they can put there ear on Pam's chest to hear there love ones heart. But as of right now, we do not want this.
Yesterday I asked the Chaplain at the hospital if he could give us communion. He said yes, this Friday afternoon. How nice to have communion at the hospital in Pam's room for all of us just before the weekend.
Pam had a visitor this week that she just loved. A dog came to visit. Very nice dog and every two weeks he will come visit.
Love to all,
Dennis
Here are 18 pictures of Pam at OHSU and a couple of other pictures of interest:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8876133@N03/sets/72157601749931308/show/

Thursday, 23 August 2007
Pam Update
Dennis sent this email tonight...Say Prayers for Pam....
Greetings,
Over the last three weeks Pam's heart has not been doing very good. Two or three times a day she gets rapid heart beats. Pam as you know as a pacemaker & defibrillator within her. Yesterday afternoon Pam was standing next to her bed and she look at me and said, I feel a rapid heart beat right now, and right when she said this, she let out a blood-curdling scream that echoed threw the hospital as her defibrillator shocked her heart. Scared us to death, she threw her self on the bed face down. We waited for the doctors to come in and they were there within one minute. An alarm went off at the nurses station because of her rapid heart beat. Pam got shocked by her defibrillator only once.
Pam had a rapid heart beat of 16 beats in about 5 seconds, so her defibrillator shocked her and right after she got shocked her heart beat went right back to normal of 72 beats per minute. The doctors do not like Pam getting shocked, so they adjusted her defibrillator to shock her at 20 seconds. But within this 20 seconds her pacemaker which pacers her heart to 72 beats per minute will try to get her heart beat back to normal by speeding up her heart even fasting than a rapid heart beat and slowing down. This will happen about 3 times within this 20 seconds. If this does not work, her defibrillator will shock her.
The Pacemaker/Defibrillator did its job.
Pam has been waiting for 6 weeks now to be transplanted. Hopefully soon.
Love to all,
Dennis

Sunday, 19 August 2007
Here's an email Dennis has sent on Pam. Also, he included a link to see pictures of Pam at the Hospital. She's now been there 7 weeks.....
Hi,
Pam is doing really great waiting for her heart. There is no change this week. She was put on a list to have someone come in her room with a dog or cat to visit. The average wait is 60 day's for a heart transplant and Pam has been on the list for 31 day's. Pam's dad said to me the other day that he feels her heart is coming next week. I hope he is right. Her whole family is feeling the time is close. I just feel it will all be done by labor day, or during labor day. There are more donors during Holiday weekends for transplants we were told. The last heart transplant at this hospital was on July 4th! The truth is plain and simple, there are more accidents on holiday weekends which means more donors. Pam will be the 498 person at this hospital to have a heart transplant. And she is still number one on the list. (Yes 500 would have been nice, but no).
Love to all,
Dennis
Here's the link to pictures of them at the Hospital that Dennis sent:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8876133@N03/sets/72157601509746458/show/

Wednesday, 8 August 2007
An Email that Dennis sent to me:

"Hi,
Pam's doctor asked Pam if she would like a lady call her who had a heart transplant last year at the same hospital, and Pam said yes. The lady called and said she was 60 years old at the time of her transplant and she was on the heart transplant list for six weeks. Pam has been on the list for four weeks. The lady also said she walks about five miles a day now with no problems. She takes a lot of medicine but she said it is worth it.
This lady said she feels really great and would do it all over again. She also told Pam it is a piece of cake. Pam's time must be getting close. She is one of a few, who can handle this.
Love to all,
Dennis"

Friday, 3 August 2007
UPDATE ON PAM:
Dennis is trying to send an email at least once a week that I can post here for you all, here's one I just received:
"Hi,
Pam is doing really great waiting for her heart. We all are in great spirits. We just have to wait for a donor. This donor not only could donate there heart, but also all of there organs to people on a waiting list. Including there skin to burn victims. If this is so, then Pam's transplant surgeons will have to wait for all other organs to be removed first because you need the heart to keep those organs alive. This is all coordinated by the transplant coordinators. How interesting. Pam is still number one on the heart transplant list.
Kavin and I spend the night in Pam's room which is nice, and if there is ever an extra food tray a patient does not want the nurses know to bring it to Pam's room for Kavin and I to eat.
All systems are go for transplant. The operation will take about 4 to 6 hours. We can see Pam one hour after surgery. Three days later she can sit in a chair and walk. Ten to fourteen day's after surgery Pam can leave the hospital.
Love to all,
Dennis"

Sunday, 29 July 2007
Hi all... Dennis sent the following email to me, and I thought I would post it being he says it all to well! I also talked on the phone with them and they all are doing good, with such positive attitudes!!
"Hi,
Pam is doing real good waiting for her heart. Everything is go, for heart transplant. We talked to the two surgeons who will do the surgery. They said they are waiting for a call from any hospital within 1,500 miles of Portland, Oregon. When they get the call from a hospital that has a donor they will hop on a private jet and fly to that hospital. Pam's two surgeons will then check that heart out at that hospital and if it is a great heart, then they will remove it from that donor. A donor has to be brain dead, but the heart still beating. It is the law for hospitals in this country to keep hearts beating even though the person is brain dead. The two surgeons will then fly back to Oregon with Pam's heart, and a ambulance will be waiting for them at the airport to bring them to the hospital in Portland. The two surgeons will have Pam's heart with them, keeping it at 39 degrees.
So, Pam's two surgeons knows her and her heart 100 percent and the heart that they remove they also know that heart 100 percent and that it should and will beat within Pam.
When Pam's new heart starts to beat with her warm blood, a prayer is said. The sooner this is done the sooner we can come home to Eugene, Oregon.
Pam will be a member of the zipper club with a 12" scare on her chest. But in one year it will look like a white line. "Great for me"!
So, we wait for now, for all of this to happen.
Love to all,
Dennis"
Also, Dennis sent this link to some more pictures of Pam at the Hospital:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8876133@N03/sets/72157601060882971/show/

Sunday, 22 July 2007
UPDATE ON PAM:
Here is an email I received from my brother:
Pam is doing very good at the hospital. She has a very bad heart right now and needs to be transplanted soon. A doctor came in her room to see us the other day and he wanted Pam's old heart.
So she signed papers to give her old heart to research at this same hospital. The research team of people will take tissue from her old heart to examine and freeze the rest for future research.
She is not in ICU which is a good sign that she is doing good enough not to be in ICU for now. Pam is still first on the list and the transplant coordinator seems to think a heart will come quick because she weighs 110 pounds and can take a small heart.
The only thing is the last three day's she has started getting a very few rapid heart beats. Like about 10 to 15 beats in 2 seconds. But not much to worry about for now. She is not in ICU yet, a good sign.
Love to all,
Dennis

Thursday, 12 July 2007
Dennis sent the following email today::
"Last Monday at 12:00 noon Pam was put on the heart Transplant list. The heart transplant coordinator put Pam number one on the list. She is doing real good right now. The doctors say a heart could come pretty fast during the summer because of more accidents. Pam has gone from 127 pounds last week to 110 pounds this week. She has lost 17 pounds in one week. She is on a donor request list of 0 positive blood type and from a 8 year old to a 65 year old heart donor. At 110 pounds she can take a small heart. The surgeons said they would turn down a older heart for Pam. We live 2 hours from Portland, OR. and after the surgery we have to live within 1 hour of Portland for the following three months. So Kavin and I looked at a place to live in Portland yesterday and we liked it and it is fully furnished. So we told our social worker at the hospital we would like to live there at $40.00 a day for heart transplant people like us. And her insurance will pay relocation cost of $40.00 a day. So her heart could come anytime now. Portland has a 1,500 mile radius that they would except a heart from. Which includes California, Washington, Nevada and Idaho etc. A heart will live about five hours without oxygen. So the doctors say this heart will get 1st class treatment for its very fast journey to Oregon and then to Pam. ANY RACE, MAN OR WOMEN will the heart come from. I have a pager with me that could go off anytime to tell me to call the hospital. Love to you all, Dennis "
I think this is wonderful news! We'll keep you posted! Also, Dennis sent this link of pictures of Pam in the Hospital, and of himself and Kavin: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8876133@N03/sets/72157600786196450/show/

Wednesday, 11 July 2007
I always think that no news is good news! Dennis' hasn't called, he is up staying with Pam right now, so all must be going well for her! Just a matter of time for a heart to be available...

Friday, 6 July 2007
Dennis called again today. They had a meeting at the hospital, and Pam's heart is worst than they thought, and she is staying in ICU until the Transplant. They are putting her on the list immediately and it takes about 60 days for one to be available.... Prayers Work!

Thursday, 5 July 2007
Hi. My Sister-In-Law, Pam, out in Oregon is still in the hospital. Dennis called today, she's now in ICU. Yesterday she started going into Kidney Failure. They are giving her several things now, to try and get rid of the fluid around her stomach and kidneys. This morning the fluid began to go down. They are going to keep her on these meds in her IV's for a few days till the fluid goes away. They will then put her back on her pills for a few days. It the fluid doesn't come back she can come home.... If the fluid does come back, she stays in ICU until they have a heart, for her heart transplant... they think around 2 months. If her kidneys should fail they will put her on dialisys (spelling?). She needs prayers... I will start posting everything here. So that I don't bother people with emails, just keep checking here for updates.