back to the hotel today

Mom and I went to the Jewel store by cab this morning to get groceries for Gordy's home (Hotel) coming. When we got back we put together venison stew and put it in the crockpot for dinner. Then we walked up to the hospital to pack up Gordy's belongings to bring him back to the hotel. Gordy is feeling really good. I almost beat him in a three streets game of gin, but I goofed up at the end. Dinner was very good, but filling. Thanks Michelle for providing the vension. :)
The training went well. We are all educated now on how to change his dressing, change the batteries in the LVAD and respond to the alarms. There is a lot more to the LVAD pump with all the different alarms that could occur. As long as Gordy continues to feel good there shouldn't be any problems.
In a week or so once the doctors have checked his lung pressures, if they are good, Gordy should be able to be put back on the transplant list.
Tomorrow I will go back home on the train. Mom will stay with Gordy until Kim comes on Sunday to be with Gordy for the New Year. Then mom will be back on Tuesday.
All is well, we are all so happy to see Gordy doing so good. Please feel free to give your well wishes to Gordy on this blog.

All the best, Deb

Hi everyone thank you for all your prayers and thoughts. I made it and now I'm feeling real good. They will be moving me to the Hotel Thursday providing we all pass the training. I guess this is going to be my 15 mins of fame cause I,m the first person from this hospital to receive this new LVAD. The news media is going to interview me some time next week. The LVAD is from Ventracor and is called Ventrassist. The company is in the Australian stock market, might be a good investment. Anyway Im looking forward to getting out of this Hospital.


Thanks again for all your prayers and contributions


Gordy

Gordy is feeling better everyday

Today, mom and dad went back to Chicago by train. Taking the train works very well for them. They save on the expense of paying for parking their car each day. Plus the worry of driving on bad roads keeps them more at ease.

Mom and dad were very happy to see Gordy. He is doing so well it is unbelievable. His color is really good. Mom says that Gordy is saying he feels so much better now than before his heart attack. Today Gordy was moved to the eleventh floor into a regular room. His room number is 1141.

I promised to post pictures of the benefit. Here are a few to enjoy.

more updates on Gordy

Hello all, sorry I didn't get back to post more updates on Gordy until now. Tom and I spent the entire week in Chicago with Gordy. We returned home late Friday night.
Gordy is doing exceptionally well. Each day he improves. The doctors have reduced a lot of the i.v. medications and is taking some meds by pill now. As of Friday he only had two drain tubes in, and should have those removed soon. He has been getting out of bed to sit in the chair for lunch. He started eating solid foods on Wednesday. However he doesn't have much of an appetite. He started physical therapy on Wednesday. I'm sure by now he is walking around the room. There is a good chance that he will be moved from ICU to CCU on Monday.
I've changed this blog so that anyone can comment. So please send your well wishes to Gordy. He should be able to read the blogs on his computer soon.
As soon as I get more updates I will post to you all again.
Keep Gordy in your thoughts and prayers, God Bless
Deb

surgery - LVAD Heart Pump

Gordy had surgery Monday 12/10 to put in the new LVAD heart pump. The surgery went very well. The doctors were all very pleased with the outcome. There were no complications. The surgery only took about 5 1/2 hours and recovery was 1 1/2 hours. We all went in to see him once he got in ICU (2 people at a time) before we left the hospital for the night. Kim and the girls left for home after that. The next day my parents, Greg and Becky went home. Mom and Dad needed some well deserved rest. So Tom and I stayed here in Chicago to be with Gordy each day until Kim can come back on Friday.
Today, Tom and I went back to the hospital to see Gordy. We called the nurse (Jenna) before we left to see how he was doing. She said he was awake and writing on paper to communicate with her. By 11:00 AM they took out his ventilator. The doctors are only prescribing small amounts of pain meds at a time. This is to make sure he doesn't get too sedated. They need to keep him breathing normal so that his vital stay good. All his levels are very good and continue to improve. Tomorrow if all goes well they plan to remove some of the drain tubes and possibly the swan that is in his neck. This monitors the blood and lung pressures levels. Gordy didn't get much rest today because of the pain. Hopefully tonight the doctors can give him something to help him sleep. I'll give an update tomorrow to let everyone know how he is doing.

Benefit for Gordy

Today is the benefit for Gordy at Lena Lou's.

We'd like to thank all that donated their time and money in putting on this benefit. Without these wonderful people we couldn't have done it on our own. Thank you so much!!

To all that have and will be donating money towards Gordy's medical and household expenses we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. There are so many loving and caring people in this world and we commend you for being there for him. Thank you so very much!!

We will post pictures of the benefit on this blog for all to see very soon.

Again we appreciate all the love and support during this difficult time.

Sincerely,
The Gibbs Family

Heart Pump

Gordy is feeling better today now that the pnemonia is going away. He is scheduled for surgery on Monday morning 12/10 to put in a LVAD (Left Heart Assisted Device). The surgery will take 10 to 12 hours. The recovery will be 3 to 4 weeks which includes training on how to live with the device. Once he is in good shape he will move back to the hotel. He can hardly wait to feel better.
He talks about his friends who came to visit him this past weekend (Gary, Dan and Bob). He truly appreciates the time he gets to spend with all of his friends. It sure does brighten his day.

Deb