Ugent Prayers for John Evans

Update 42: I can't believe this is happening and I really need all of you. They are taking Caroline to Hershey Medical Center now via helicopter. She needs a chest tube and some procedure done on her lungs. She will be back in ICU. I'm driving back down there now. She is very scared. Hopefully they will let me see her tonight or first thing tomorrow.

Oh no, horrible news.    Still praying.

Update 43: Round 2 Day 2 on the ventilator.

My apologies for last night. Caroline and I were both scared about what was happening and I let a bit of that spill into my 2nd facebook post. Yesterday I drove 85 miles from our home to get to Harrisburg and I spent all day with Caroline, speaking with her doctors and nurses at Select Specialty Hospital. Then I drove 85 miles home in the evening, but I was only home for about 2 hours when the nurse from SSH called me stating that “based on Caroline’s CT scan results they were sending her to Hershey Medical Center because SSH was not equipped to handle her issues”. The nurses sounded a bit frantic on the phone, kept placing me on hold, told me the transport was happening immediately and via helicopter. I already know that Hershey is only 15 miles from SSH. Why would they send her via helicopter? It had to be an emergency!? Otherwise why would they do that? The nurse also mentioned that a chest tube was needed. I asked if that was something they would be doing as soon as she arrived in Hershey and she said that yes she thought so. After hearing all of this I panicked and threw out a quick post for prayers before jumping in my truck and driving 70 miles to Hershey!

I was able to sit with Caroline in the ICU for about 20 minutes when I got there. It was then that I realized that she was taken from SSH to Hershey via ambulance and they were not planning to do any procedures on her that night. I called SSH and spoke to the head nurse supervisor and she apologized to me and said it was her fault for the confusion during their earlier call to me. She said the helicopter had just arrived at her facility and she assumed it was for Caroline but it wasn’t. Honestly I was really pissed off about this, but I do realize that we are all human beings and we all make mistakes, so I don’t hold any hard feelings. But am I alone on this?? To me, in my mind, transporting someone from one hospital to another vial ambulance means they are just getting a ride to another hospital...but transporting someone to another hospital immediately via helicopter means HOLY CRAP WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY! Maybe it’s just me but I view those two modes of transportation differently.

Anyway, none of that changes the fact that Caroline does have a problem requiring her to be in ICU. Since she was stable last night and all day today the team at Hershey carefully went through her issues, redid their own X Rays and CT scans to come up with their own diagnosis and treatment plan. Tomorrow Caroline will have two chest tubes installed to relieve fluid buildup between her lungs and inner chest wall. This fluid is probably infected and could be the culprit behind her recent breathing issues. I can just imagine already being very weak and lying on your back trying to breath with a cinder block on your chest. Take the cinder block away and it will probably be much easier to breathe!!! Removing this fluid should be a big relief for Caroline. She also has a partial lung collapse that should be resolved when the fluid is removed.

I spent the entire day there today to be sure to connect with all of the doctors as they made their rounds. I was really happy with all of them. They seemed great. Our son Jack came down to visit but due to their very strict visitation policy they would not let him in. Only I am allowed to visit. However, since Caroline’s room is all the way at the back of the hospital on the first floor with a huge window, Jack was able to sit outside right up against the window so they could see each other and send texts back and forth. Caroline’s bed is positioned sideways and only about 4 feet from the window so it actually worked pretty well.

Tomorrow, after Caroline has her procedure I plan to go back down with our other kids and let them have a window visit with their mom who they haven’t seen in nearly two months.

I just got home about an hour ago. I’m exhausted…

Sorry for some of the panic last night. This road to recovery just has a lot of potholes in it that are hard to avoid.

Special thank you to Pat for the room at the Holiday Inn! I was a bit disappointed though. After spending the night in the Holiday Inn Express shouldn’t I have been able to just go into the hospital and perform the chest tube procedures myself? I did walk out of the hotel and into the hospital with confidence, but I felt not quite enough to pull it off. Hmm...false advertising.

Man, this has been a rough time, keeping you in prayer.

Update 44: Good day today!. The chest tubes went in without issue and as the doctors suspected the fluid is infected, but now it can be drained and she can be properly treated for the type of infection it is specifically. Targeted antibiotics will be better than broad spectrum antibiotics. I took the kids and Helen (Caroline’s Mom) down to Hershey to visit today after Caroline’s procedure. Even though they could only see her through the window it was a great visit.

Caroline looked great, was in good spirits, and not in any pain. It was good to see her being optimistic, and good to spend the day with the kids and Helen.

Update 45: Caroline is doing very well! I didn’t update yesterday because things were going so well and I didn’t want to jinx it. Like so many times before I would post good news only to immediately be hit with a setback. But now we are on the second day of great progress that I figured I’d clue you all in. She has been off of the ventilator for two days now. She is doing her physical therapy and getting stronger. In fact, tomorrow they may even downsize her trache and install a speaking valve. So for the first time in two months she may be able to speak! I asked her today if she had put any thought into what her first words would be...would it be something profound?! LOL. She said she didn’t think about it.

She still has two chest tubes but subsequent scans have shown they are working well and the infection is clearing up. The doctors think she may be discharged as early as Friday or maybe after the weekend, so we now need to decide on where she will go after that for her rehab. She does not want to go back to Select Specialty Hospital in Camp Hill so we are thinking about a facility in Bethlehem. We will know more about that tomorrow.

I really hope that her rehab doesn’t take that long. This whole thing has been so grueling and she wants to come home so badly. But if the past two days are any indication of what’s to come, then I think her stint in rehab may be short. This woman is determined to put in the physical therapy and do whatever it takes to get home.

Thank you God for giving us two good days of progress and healing!

Now I’ve ordered a Grandma pizza and me, the kids, the dog, and the cat are gonna curl up under some quilts in the family room and watch the ridiculous new Vince Vaughn movie “Freaky”.

Good night. God bless.

Very good to hear, keeping them in prayer.

Thank you all again for all of your prayers. It means so much to us! My wife is doing much better these days. She is still in the hospital and at best she won't be home for a few weeks, but I think the worst is behind us. There were a period of time there where I went off the deep end a little and was so desperate for prayers. I thought we might lose her. I tried to keep most of the really negative things doctors were telling me out of my facebook posts because some of my wife's student were reading those, but she did had some close calls and doctors were very blunt in telling me what the potential outcome could be. Very scary. But that stuff seems to be history and we're working toward a full recovery!

Thanks again for your love and support!

John Evans

Such good news!  Glad to hear it.  Good to see you!

Great news to read, and it's always good to have updates so we can continue to pray for her.  We pray that her stay in hospital will be short, and she can come home very soon, then finally life can get back to normal for you all.

Update 46: Caroline’s done pretty well over the past two days. They downsized her trache and although she is still unable to talk, she is handling the smaller size well. There is still a bit of infection in her chest and this afternoon they replaced one of the chest tubes that wasn’t working so well. The new one is on point.

She will be there over the weekend for sure, but the doctors are thinking that she will probably be discharged next week! Then it will be onto the next facility...probably Good Shepherd in Bethlehem, Pa. for rehab.

I’ll be going down to visit her again on Saturday. Helen (Caroline’s Mom) will probably go with me to do a window visit.

Jenny Stokes and I are working on a cover song for when Caroline is finally ready to come home so that’s been a fun escape in the evenings. Hopefully we will finish it up this weekend.

So awesome to see Mrs. Evans making improvements....even if it's just small ones.

Update 47: Caroline has done well these past few days. I visited Friday night and all day Saturday. She had window visitors on both Sat and Sun so it was a busy weekend for her. Her progress is slow but it is progress. Over the next few days I think we will know more about when the chest tubes may come out and when she may be able to be discharged. We still don’t have confirmation on if she can go to Good Shepherd in Bethlehem so we will keep our fingers crossed on that.

I’ll keep updating every few days. I think we are in this stage where her progress will just be baby steps each day and nothing really dramatic to report, so we’ll just check in every couple days.

Seven days without an update, I hope that's a good sign.

Yes, Caroline is definitely getting better:

Update 49: She did it! Last night Caroline was finally transferred to Good Shepherd Rehab Facility in Bethlehem, PA. She is doing so well these past few days and I’m so proud of her. She is speaking quite well with a new trach and valve that were installed the other day. She is walking around. First 100 feet, then 300 feet, then 350 feet! She is determined to get home. She still has two chest tubes, a feeding tube, and the trach, but gradually she will be shedding these things as her body heals and no longer needs them. We’re hoping for her to be home in a few weeks. We need her back!
Now that these updates are becoming fewer and farther between I wonder when all of this is said and done how will we look back on it? There were a lot of scary moments that may be tough to read and re-live, but maybe we’ll just focus on the positive side. The outpouring of support, the prayers, the donations, the food, the shawls, the quilts, the letters, the IMs, the driveway shoveled, the healing water from Turkey, etc. Yeah we will look back on this and probably cry when thinking about the tough moments, but I’m sure we’ll quickly be comforted and smile at all of the positive things that happened.
Thank you all for being such a wonderful part of our lives during a time when we needed you most. Will never forget it.

Wonderfull to hear, thanks for posting.

Thanks for posting the update Jen! Yes my wife is definitely getting better. Her progress is steady but slow so I have been just updating every couple of days or maybe even once per week at this point. Thank you all for your concern and prayers for my family. This has been the most difficult time of our lives and I'm so grateful for the outpouring of support my CHM friends!

Wow Mrs Evans is walking already, that is amazing!  She certainly sounds motivated to get home.
Fantastic news.  I'm guessing John and kids are very happy she is making such great strides.  Still praying for her continued healing and for comfort and assurance for the rest of the Evans clan.

Brilliant!  Praise the Lord.  Wonderful news, and a wonderful song too!

Awesome news!  Congrats!

That is the best news I have heard in awhile.  Praise God indeed.!  
Now I gotta go listen to the song.

Great job with the cover guys.... poor Jenny looked a little cold though.