Wednesday, June 17th

Dave is home!!! They took every other staple out of his incision and sent him on his way! He did have a total of 38 staples, pretty impressive. He will get the remaining staples out next week. He has been told he can exercise by walking, and walking only, for the next 8 weeks. After the 2 months are up he can ease slowly back into an exercise routine. He's already talking about hitting infield practice, riding his bike, and working out on the bowflex. Dr Young knows him well and told him in no uncertain terms that he was only to be walking for the next 2 months! :) As always thanks for your prayers!

Tuesday, June 16th

Dave had his accident one year ago today.



Thank you Lord for sparing Dave's life and allowing him to continue to serve you so faithfully here on earth. Thank you for bringing Dave through the last year and returning his health to him. All the praise and glory is Yours. Amen



Dave is going to be dismissed from UNMC tomorrow, PTL! His kidneys are working much better. He walked (with the walker) half way across the hospital to finally see the suite Diane and the kids have stayed in during Dave's hospitalizations. It's a pretty long hike for someone with a 12+ inch incision! He started taking his pain medication every 5 hours instead of 4. Dave is doing great and ready to get home! Thank you so much for all your prayers, God is faithful!

Monday, June 15th

They took Dave completely off the epidural this morning. They put him back on iv fluids as his kidneys are not functioning at the level the doctors would like to see. They are hoping the extra fluids will encourage his kidney function. The nurses have been really good about making sure to bring in Dave's darvacet at the scheduled times so Dave has been as comfortable as he could be today. He wasn't in lots of pain, but as Dr Young has been telling him, he needs to be able to feel that he has had an abdominal surgery. Dave has been up walking around quite a few times today, walking is much easier when you can feel your legs! :)

Sunday, June 14th

Dave had a really good day today. Last night at 2:00am the anesthesiologists decreased the dosage of Dave's epidural. They will continued decreasing the dosage until Dave is completely off the epidural, sometime tomorrow afternoon. We are very thankful that Dave's pain hasn't increased significantly. They will introduce darvocet, pain med, in place of the epidural. Please continue to pray for Dave's quick recovery.

Saturday, June 13th

Morning update:
Yesterday afternoon and evening Dave was in tremendous pain, he was rating it at 8-9. Because he was feeling so good in the morning the anesthesiologist changed the dosage of his epidural. Dave was in intense pain for about 3 1/2 hours until they put the dosage back to what it had been, at that point he was rating his pain at a 4-5. Then in the evening for 2 hours he was in intense pain again. This time the anesthesiologist gave him a couple shots of lidocaine and upped the dosage of his epidural. Since 9:00 last night Dave has been in significantly less pain. Dr Young said pain free is not where he wants Dave, he wants him to be a little uncomfortable but at the same time tolerable. Please pray the doctors will be able to keep Dave's pain under control. Dave's blood pressure is still elevated this morning, most likely due to the pain. His temperature is slightly elevated as is his white blood count. Please pray he doesn't get an infection.

Evening update:
Dave had a very good day today, PTL! His pain was controlled. He was able to get up and walk 4 different times and sat up in the chair for a little while! Dr Young is wanting to decrease the dosage of the epidural, please pray the pain will stay under control with the dosage change. Dave's blood pressure and temperature are back to normal, PTL! We appreciate all your prayers so much, thank you.

Friday, June 12th

This morning Dave walked 3 laps around the hallway! Then he sat up in the chair for a couple of hours. Dr Young was pretty impressed. Dave is expecting the PT to have him do that again this afternoon. Dave is doing very well. The new incision followed his old one along the mid-line, except it is a little bit longer, over 12 inches! Impressive! :) Dave is starting to feel the incision some, as you can imagine it doesn't feel good, but he says it's tolerable. Please continue to pray for his recovery and for him to be infection free! One of Dr Young's main concerns is that Dave doesn't get an infection.

Thursday, June 11th

Evening Update:

Dave got back to his room around 5:00 tonight. He is doing well, making jokes and giving the nurses a hard time! He's vitals are all good, and his heart rate is 72 (much better then 49 in April). He still has an epidural in, and will continue to do so for a few days, so he is pretty comfortable. He ate a couple of popsicles, chicken broth, and drank some Sprite. He is hoping for some oatmeal tomorrow morning, but mom said probably not yet! She takes pretty good care of him and makes sure he follows all the rules! Tomorrow, Dave will probably sit on the edge of the bed and maybe walk the following day. We are so thankful that the surgery went well. Praise God! Please continue to pray for pain control and quick healing. 

Afternoon Update:

They took Dave back for his surgery at 9:40am, they started surgery at 10:50, and finished surgery around 3:00pm. We just spoke with Dr Young, he said surgery went well. We haven't been able to see Dave yet, he is still in recovery. Dr Young said Dave's bowels were not involved, PTL! They were not able to do the repair with the scope, so they had to make an incision. They placed a sheet of goretex under Dave's facia so he now has a double layer of protection against potential hernias (the goretex and his facia). His facia is stretched really tight, please pray for no ripping. Dr Young would like to see Dave walking around tonight and he will be able to have liquids tonight also. Best case scenario, with no complications, Dave will be in the hospital 5-7 days. Thanks for your prayers.

Wednesday, June 10th

Dave has his hernia repair surgery tomorrow at 10:00am at UNMC. Dr Young will be doing the procedure and has told Dave it will be very extensive. He will attempt to do the repair via a scope and if that isn't working Dr Young will make an incision along the old scar, mid-line, and repair the 2 hernias that way. They have told Dave the estimated length of stay in the hospital will be 7-10 days. Your prayers are very appreciated as Dave is not looking forward to the recovery process. However, we have much to be thankful for, especially prior to this procedure. Dave had to have a colonoscopy and prostate biopsy to rule out cancer as his numbers were not what they should be. Praise the Lord they both came back cancer free!!!! Thank you for your continued prayers.

Friday, April 17th

Evening Update:
Dave is home! PTL! Thank you so much for all your prayers!

Morning Update:
Dave had a good night and a good morning, PTL! He had some Sprite this morning and since he was able to keep that down he was allowed to order "real food". Dave has not felt nauseous since last night. Dr Stothert said if Dave keeps his lunch down he will be able to discharge late this afternoon or this evening! Dave is only in pain when he laughs or coughs and he isn't on any pain medications, another praise! Dave asked Dr Stothert if he would be able to get back to bike riding, weight lifting, and work on Monday. Dr Stothert said that would be fine! We have lots to be thankful for!!!

Thursday, April 16th

Evening Update
Dave is doing well. He is in good spirits and laughing (although it is painful). He was moved around 6pm tonight from a regular room to a cardiac observation floor because his heart rate dropped to the low 50's. The doctors aren't too concerned, but they are taking extra precautions. The doctors don't really have an explanation for it, but Dave also vomited a few times, it seemed to be after he stood up and walked a few steps. Because of the vomiting, Dr Young said that Dave was going to have to wait to start the clear liquid diet until tomorrow afternoon. Dave's a good sport, but he is getting quite thirsty and a little hungry. :) Dr Young hasn't said anything different, so we hope that Dave is still on track to come home by Saturday.

Morning Update
Praise God, Dave’s surgery went well! Dr Young repaired the gastric tube tunnel by making a 4 inch incision and stitching up the inner stomach lining. Dave won’t be able to have anything to eat or drink today but tomorrow he will start on a clear liquid diet for a couple of days and then onto a liquid diet. Sounds yummy! Dave will be in the hospital overnight and will hopefully be home on Saturday. Thanks again for your prayers.
Also, today is Jiree’s birthday, so be sure to wish her a happy birthday!

Wednesday, April 15th

Dave was at UNMC today from 2:00 until 5:45 running tests and speaking with doctors. Dr Young decided Dave will NOT have the hernia repair procedure tomorrow. Instead he will have the gastric tube tunnel repaired. This surgery will be at 7:30 am tomorrow and is expected to last 1 to 2 hours. Dr Young will cut along the gastric tube tunnel to stitch the stomach lining, cut away some of the scar tissue to help the healing, and stitch up the external abdomen. The risk of infection due to the leaking gastric juices was too risky to do the hernia repair. So the hernia repair will be done at a later date, at Dave's convenience, probably mid June. Dr Young plans to keep Dave one day and discharge him on Friday.

Tuesday, April 14th

Dave will have his hernia repair surgery on Thursday, April 16th. He will be in Omaha on Wednesday having tests run and meeting with the anesthesiologist. His procedure as of now is planned as a scope, if the doctors feel it necessary they will open him along the preexisting scar and complete the repair that way. Since Dave had the gastric tube removed a month ago, he is STILL leaking from the resulting hole in his stomach. (It leaks externally.) We pray the Dr Young will be able to do something about the leaking as well! Dave is excited about getting this behind him so he can get back to "normal". Dave asks for prayer for successful a surgery and a quick recovery. God is good! Thank you for all your prayers and support. We pray you had a blessed Easter where we remember that Christ not only died on the cross for our sins but was raised from the dead!

Friday, March 13th

We had a little scare last night...Dave started not feeling well on Wednesday, his body was achy. By Thursday Dave was feeling worse. UNMC recommended Dave have labs run so he went to Dr Bertolini's office in Lincoln around 11:00am. By 4:00pm he was feeling significantly worse and went to see Dr Bertolini again. His labs showed an increase in his white blood count, but his liver counts were normal. Dr Bertolini saw Dave at his worst and decided to send him to UNMC. We drove Dave to the emergency room at UNMC where they were ready and waiting for him. They ran CT scans of his abdomen and pelvis, which both came back normal, PTL! Since Dave was already there, Dr Young decided to take out Dave's gastric tube! Dave is now tubeless!! Dave did stay the night at UNMC, but was discharged on Friday. They decided he must have had the flu, better safe than sorry! Dave said staying the night in the hospital brought back a lot of memories, yuck! We are so thankful that Dave is ok and that he doesn't have the G tube anymore! Dave will have a surgery to repair the hernias in about one months time. He is looking forward to being "normal" again. Thanks for your continued prayers.