Mostly Good

written by Ron Polinder

Wholesome developments today--Colleen's mind seems altogether active and functioning.  Her responses are slow, but right on target. So some really nice exchanges with those of us here--also her childhood and lifetime friend, Diane DeWaard Dykman.  

Colleen overheard me talking on phone re some insurance issues, but when hanging up, she was quick to correct me on some details. She also said she wanted to get home to Rosemary Way--not quite ready for heaven yet, meaning she's got some livin to do.  :)

Dr Foltz visited twice, briefly, and remains very pleased with her improvement.  But she remains very weak--will likely be in ICU another 3 days.  I read her some Caring Bridge which she enjoyed, but later in the day when offering more she said, "Too heavy."  And now tonight she indicated to S and Sh she just wants to rest, can not handle visitors for a couple of days.

Hanging around a hospital for a week, you soon learn what can go wrong--pneumonia, blood clots, infection, and more.  The PT came in today, and gave us instructions on how to keep exercising certain muscles.  Colleen's left side is particularly weak.

So, no shortage of matters to pray about, but always with thanksgiving for the terrific progress we have seen, and for the love we have experienced.

Ron

She's talking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They extubated (removed her breathing tube) Colleen this morning, and she is talking and responding appropriately to questions. She knows where she is, who is around her, what year it is...etc.  I talked with her for a brief moment on SKYPE and she said, "Oh Lynette...I love you." She is still very weak and fragile, and tires very quickly, but we are SOOO grateful at this progress. Our prayers have been asking for more precious time with her.

Thank you for all of you who have been following and caring so deeply from afar.

thank you.

Just wanted to write and thank you guys for how many of you prayed for our family and Colleen. What a blessing to have this type of support behind us in the middle of such uncertain times. We are all encouraged by the progress we have seen in Colleen in the past 24 hours. Hoping and expectantly waiting for more of our sweet Colleen to come back to us. She is still intubated, so is unable to talk. From what I've heard she is breathing on her own, but it has been easy for them to suction with it so they decided to keep it in a bit longer. There is talk of removing it soon, and then we will anxiously be waiting to hear her voice. Love to all of you.

Coming Along!!

written by Ron Polinder

Colleen is surely moving in the right direction--nicely responsive to our inquiries, signalling with thumbs ups.  Even gave the peace sign, a product of the 60's, though Colleen was never a hippie. In fact, can you imagine anyone less a hippie?  Actually, the 60's did not come to Lynden until the 70's, so we missed it.  

We opened an eye asking, can you see us?  Her eye moved to Shawna, Staci and me--thumbs up!  She was able to point to her tummy when asked where she had pain, and later to her head--and indicated it was moderate.

All these are good signs for which we give gratitude to God, and his petitioners!  We are a thankful family.

It was Rusty and Lynette's 8th anniversary today--celebrated via Skype. And I wasn't even aware of it until later tonight--goodness gracious, desperately need Colleen back in action.  

Praying that she will be!

Ron

New Hope

written by Ron Polinder

Dr. Foltz came with his report about an hour ago.  Clearly it was this very rare "brain lock."  His initial procedures were not successful, then he irrigated the brain and it broke loose, so to speak, moving substantially, releasing pressure from the brain stem enabling her brain to rebound to a better space.

He fully expects her to wake up within the next 24 to 48 hrs, though she is now on a respirator and thus would not be able to talk--but we are hoping to see those eyes again. 

While Dr. Foltz observed two of these while in training, this is the first time one of his patients developed this syndrome.  He was breaking new ground even as he was working on Colleen.  He was buoyant as he shared the result with us. 

Having said all of this, Shawna reminded me before this post to plead for your ongoing prayers.  Her mom is not out of the woods--it has been a particularly tough morning for all of us--ominous.  Rusty replayed so much of the Olive experience.  Staci, the medical social worker, is first of all a loving daughter, and mother of her own children.  So will you hang in there with us--and keep praying?

Ron

Prayers needed NOW.

In some desperate need of prayers right now for Colleen. The doctor did another MRI this morning and discovered that the pressure in her brain was pushing her entire brain over to one side-a rare very CRITICAL event called locked brain syndrome. He is one of the top neurosurgeons in the U.S. for this particular type of surgery, and has only seen two cases like this in over 2,500 cases. One case he was able to help by going in and relieving the pressure and the other case he wasn't able to help. She is going into surgery now.

Please pray.

Would you mind commenting too that you are praying for her?

 Feeling like I need to have some more visible evidence that more people are lifting her up right now.

Latest Doctor Visit

written by Ron Polinder

"We had three doctor visits this morning, including Dr. Foltz, each a specialist, and they all think we can be encouraged that all tests are coming back normal.  Dr Foltz said, "In all my years, I have never seen anyone not come out of this, if all the tests were positive."  So, that is a hopeful word, and we will just keep waiting.  There are ongoing signs of response--more movement and more effort to respond to us (we think)."

Good morning troops!

written by Ron Polinder

"The night was mostly uneventful, though we think she made some groans in response to my "goodnight."  For the record, this would not be the first time she groaned in response to something I said.  :)  Too, there were slight indications she was responding to others--Shawna last night and Staci this morning.  Her body movement was almost nil yesterday, but we have seen a few voluntary movements this morning.

We have not yet seen Dr. Foltz this morning, but he said he would be coming in.  Will send an update when he does.  Each time he comes in, he encourages us--we are hoping for the same this morning.  Yesterday was a long day!

But we keep singing--so thankful for singing kids.   Last night Rusty got up in the middle of the night for an hour to sing to his mom.  As I write, Stac is singing "My Life is in Your Hands," from the Rehoboth choir all-time top 10 list.  Shawna quickly joins with her soprano, prompting Staci to move to her low alto.  All, warming my heart--and we trust Colleen's.

In that spirit, I am so thankful our kids are here--tenderly, sweetly, deeply loving their mom.  What a blessing--before Colleen went to surgery, while still conscious, she would say "blessings, blessings, blessings."  We said it together 10 times for each of our grandkids.  

So we are not moping--a little impatient maybe, but trying to rest in the promises.

Have a good Sabbath--and include us somehow!"

Ron

Sorry, No Progress

"Dear Friends--our concerns continue--still no response from Colleen.  The doctors are baffled, but wondering if it is merely swelling that is preventing her from coming out of it.  They have done further tests, including an EEG, which came back normal.  So the waiting continues--testing our patience, adding to our angst.

What is there to say?  So many of you have said you are praying without ceasing--we believe you, and on your knees at that.  We ask you to keep at it, dear people.  Maybe in the morning we will have a more positive report!"

Ron

I'll love you..

Just got off the phone with Rusty this morning. Sounds like the doctor is very encouraged with the MRI results, and the amount of cancer he was able to successfully remove.

Colleen still hasn't woken up from the surgery, so today they each took turns sitting with her in the ICU. Rusty told me over SKYPE  this morning one of the songs he sang to her today was, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always..." He said he had a hard time getting through the song because of all the memories attached to it combined with the reality of life at the moment.

Tears rolled down my face because this is the very song we sang over and over to little Olive after her brain surgery just 19 months ago.

Never did we think that in only a few more months he would be singing this song to his own mother after her own brain surgery.

If you didn't grow up with this book, it starts when a son has just been born. His mother sneaks in his room after he falls asleep every night, and sings the same song to him from the time he was a little baby through all of his rambunctious  and rebellious teenage years. Even after he is an adult and moved across town, she would still occasionally drive to his house with a ladder and sing to him (I realize that may sound a bit crazy, but it's real sweet in the book).

She sings, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be."

Later, the role is reversed and he holds his elderly mother and sings the same words back to her,

"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my mother you'll be."

Hope.

No matter what the prognosis, it seems impossible to hope for the best when you love someone so deeply. So we continue to hope, we continue to pray, and we will continue to strive to love and support each other on this journey we never wanted to be on. 

"Love always protects, always trusts, always HOPES, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13: 7

update on Colleen.

Looks like tomorrow at 11:00 am (Seattle time) Colleen will have surgery to try to remove as much as the tumor as possible. She was able to enter into the study at Swedish which we are very thankful for. Rusty just arrived a few hours ago in Seattle and is grateful to be there with family before the surgery. Thank you for your prayers and love from afar.

Here is her caring bridge site: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/colleenpolinder

Prayers Needed.

Rusty is on a flight back to Seattle after just receiving the news that his mother has a very serious brain tumor (glioblastoma multiforme). We are learning now that the "stroke" that we thought she experienced earlier this year was instead the start of this tumor. Surgery will be scheduled in the next few days in Seattle to remove as much of it as possible. Please join us in prayer for Colleen's recovery, wisdom for all the medical professionals that will be caring for her, and for strength for our family and her closest friends who are all broken hearted at this latest news. 

22 weeks.

"Birdie, rest a little longer ...

till the little wings are stronger."

-Tennyson

Sprout.

Two years ago we had a volunteer come to serve at our foundation for a few months named Bryan Appleby. We really connected with him, and once he returned home stayed in touch. Bryan had planned a trip to visit Thailand again in November 2009 long before Olive was born. When Bryan met up with us, we had just arrived in Bangkok at the private hospital there. After his time with us in Bangkok, Bryan visited Chiang Rai and stayed in our house, where he wrote the song, "Sprout." This song is about our little Olive. We listened to it the first time two weeks ago as tears rolled down our cheeks.


Bryan has such a gift of putting so much depth and meaning into his songs. He just put out a new album and is starting to get recognized for his talent in Seattle. You can look him up on I-Tunes and download songs from his newest album, "Fire On the Vine" if you like what you hear. Here is a photo of Olive on the day Bryan met her...