For those of you that haven't heard it all from the beginning, I'll start there. On Saturday, June 24, 2006 Rob and I were on our way to Oskaloosa to do some quick furniture shopping to find a rocker/recliner for when the baby comes. We were planning on a quick run to town and then were going to return home to do some lawn and garden work. We have yet to return.

On the way to Oskaloosa, Rob mentioned that he hadn't been feeling well the past couple days. He said that he felt like he just needed to throw up and he would feel better, but he never did. I hadn't noticed him feeling ill or a decrease in his appetite the past couple days. We shopped for our rocker/recliner and then stopped at the Pizza Ranch for lunch. He ate well and we walked back out to the car. He started getting sick before we got back in the car. By the time I was pulling out of the parking lot, he was having chest pains and difficulty breathing. Thinking he was having a heart attack, I immediately took him to Mahaska Hospital, just a few blocks away.

Upon arrival, they started treating his symptoms as cardiac arrest since that was what it appeared to be. After a few doses of nitroglycerine, a chest xray, and blood work, they determined that he had pancreatitus. This meant hospitalization so they admitted him to the hospital for treatment. They told us to expect to be there at least through the middle of the week.

After a long night of getting sick and being tough, Rob appeared to be doing much better on Sunday. Treatment consists of "gut rest" meaning no food or drink, just ice chips. Which was very hard for him to handle, if you know Rob. Sunday night, he spiked a fever and started having breathing problems. They admitted him to the ICU in Mahaska Hospital for closer treatment. They inserted a NG tube in his nose that went down into his stomach to constantly pump out anything that might get into his stomach to keep the pancreas at complete rest.

On Monday morning Mahaska did a CT Scan to see what kind of conditions he was fighting. It showed severe pancreatitus and pressure around his abdomen. After that, we made the decision to transfer him to the UI Hospital in Iowa City for more specialized treatment. He was admitted to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) at the UI. At that point, it seemed a more precautionary move than extremely necessary. But by the time he arrived in Iowa City, it was very necessary for him to be there. He continued to have extreme breathing problems. This meant intibation, so they inserted a breathing tube and hooked him up to a ventilator to assist his breathing.

The ventilator was very hard for Rob to adjust to, mostly because he couldn't talk or have anything to drink but a swab of water every now and then to wet his mouth. He communicated with us by writing notes and has used up an entire notebook of paper already. He had a lot to say. He gets frustrated when we can't understand what he's trying to say. I'm doing my best to learn to read his lips to me doesn't have to write everything down but it's a learning process for both of us.

Tuesday morning his stats were looking quite good. His enzyme levels in his pancreas had decreased by more than half of the previous day's readings, which was very good. However, Tuesday afternoon and evening brought a rough turn in the road. Rob developed a fever again and started to build up more fluid and pressure in his abdominal cavity. The fluid comes from the body's natural response when something is wrong. It creates fluid intended to help flush out whatever is causing the distress. But in his situation, his body was actually working against itself. His doctors are being quite straight with us, which I prefer. They are now saying that it could be weeks or months before he gets through all of this.

All of this excess fluid and pressure built up in his abdominal cavity is a great concern for the doctors. Not only is it putting stress on the breathing process by pushing up on his chest but the biggest concern is that it will prevent adequate blood flow to his organs which would result in organ failure. His pressure in his belly was measured at 38 pounds through the night on Tues. Normal is 8-20 at most. This concern brought in surgeons to be a part of the team assessing Rob at this point.

Wednesday morning brought more hurdles to cross. Rob was starting to get very upset and frustrated at this point. The drugs have him very confused and thus upset when he doesn't know what is going on. He managed to pull out his NG tube and almost had his breathing tube pulled all the way out before the nurses were able to stop him. They decided that at this point, the best thing to do for Rob was to fully sedate him to calm him down. He was started on Adavin, a drug used to calm him and sedate him more to allow his body to rest. Now that he is fully sedated, we are unable to communicate with him, which is very hard to handle. I still think that he knows we are there with him in the room when we come in. He responded to my voice by raising his eyebrows but that was about it. Wednesday was a very difficult day for us, having to see him like that but we know it is the best treatment for him at this point.

Thursday morning brought mostly the same as Wednesday night...more hurrying up to wait. His pressure in his belly was down to 20 now, which was great. By the afternoon, it was building back up to 23, then 27 by evening. With him being fully sedated, our visits with him are uneventful but we are glad to still hear the news that surgery is not needed at this point. We go in to visit him at least every 1 1/2-2 hours for 15 minutes, as visiting rules allow us. Depending on the nurse he has at the time and the procedures they have planned to complete on him, sometimes we can stay longer and come more frequent. Each time we visit, we have to sanitize with hand sanitizer to kill any germs we might bring in with us since the SICU patients are very sick people.

The decision to be made is if or when they will do surgery. Surgery will be the last option possible since it will be very risky. They are trying everything there is to bring that pressure down by other means, including a diuretic drug used to increase his fluid output, and another drug that basically temporarily paralyzes him. This allows his body to be in a complete resting state and will allow his entire system to focus on getting better instead of working against itself. Due to the paralyzing drug in place, it is very important that Rob be fully sedated at all times so that he doesn't awaken and be frightened that he can't move a muscle. Each time he responds to stimuli like our voices, the nurses and doctors need to sedate him even more. If you can imagine, this is very tough on us to have to put him further under but we know it is what they have to do at this point.

Surgery is so risky for him because he is so weak and because of the high risk of infections and other complications. The procedure, should they have to do it, would consist of them opening up his belly to release the pressure and fluids. They would then leave his belly open until he stablized enough to stop creating more fluids and pressure. Otherwise they would just have to open him up again. An open incision like this is VERY risky. That is why they will only operate if it is the last thing they can do to save him. So as long as we don't see the surgeons coming, we're happy.

By late Wednesday night, his belly pressure was back down to 25 pounds, which is heading in the right direction. So tonight as I prepare this blog, I pray that I wake up to an even better number in the morning.

We have been blessed with so many kind words, thoughts, and countless prayers. Please continue to pray for Rob, as this is going to be a long road for him. The power of prayer is what is keeping him out of surgery at this point. So many of you have sent cards, visited, and brought things to entertain us as we wait. Passing the time hasn't been too hard yet because we've had so many visitors that are keeping our spirits up. I want to thank each and every one of you for keeping me grounded and stable myself. Trying to keep my stress level in tact to prevent the baby from having to deal with any of this as well, is high priority on my list right now. Like the surgeon said, I'm going to be no use to Rob if I'm laid up in the OB unit upstairs. With 15 weeks to go in our pregnancy, I'm excited to see October come and can't wait to go home with Rob and enjoy life with him again.

After a couple nights of sleeping on the chairs in the SICU waiting room, we were able to secure a room in the Helen Rossi House on the floor below Rob. This is a place in the hospital ran by volunteers that allows families of patients to stay close by at a cost lower than a hotel. For this too, I'm thankful. Without knowing how long we are going to be here, it's nice to know that I have a bed and a shower now.

I just can't say thank you enough to everyone for everything you have done so far. We really appreciate it and I can't wait for the day when Rob can thank you too!

More updates to come tomorrow but for now, I'm going to hit the bed and pray for good numbers in the morning.

Kelly Kendall