Two steps forward one step back!

I appologize for the lack of updates here lately. I have three wonderful steps of both progress and preparation which brings me just that much closer to my internship! First off I am very excited to announce this letter! I can't not even begin to explain to you how wonderful it was to receive this letter from my cardiologist!

This letter is the official approval from my cardiologist to my school stating that he approves my leaving for my internship this coming spring! I have a six month check up appointment with my cardiologist in February and as long as nothing has changed at that point he has approved my heart to be in working condition and able to go!

Secondly I am excited to have this here card stating that I am CPR and First Aid certificated! This was a small requirement for my internship in which I was unable to complete before. I am very excited to say that I am now healthy enough to have it! 

Lastly I would like to ask prayer for the one step back. 

Due to some lingering difficulties with my incision the doctor has put me on another medication and drawn some blood for testing. They are yet again concerned for a possible bone infection in my sternum. I do not have the results back yet but we are praying that they will come back clear and it will be something minor. 

Thank yall so much for all your prayers! I am so very excited about these new steps forward!

Just a little bit from the heart

I apologize for the lack of updates these past few weeks. Everything has been wonderful! My new incision healed up perfectly and because of the way he made the new incision he was able to close up the old one! The first few day after surgery was quite rough because of the anesthesia. However by the second day I was feeling wonderful. While I was not back to my complete normal self I felt better than I had since the very beginning of this journey.

Yes I know it was slightly insane of me due to the fact that I had just gotten out of surgery but the third day I was privileged to stand and be part of my best friends wedding! I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends! It was a beautiful wedding!

I had two appointments today, one was a cardiac stress test and one was my final check up for the year! The stress test went well, my heart seemed to handle it well. I should start cardiac therapy within the next week. My primary doctor said as far as he can tell everything is fine and I should be good to resume my normal life! I have to say what a wonderful blessing it is to go to my primary doctor here. I typically can't stand going to the doctors but I have been blessed with amchristian doctor here in Mansfield that is very involved in medical missions trips. I always enjoy my visits with him because we always end up talking of missions and what the Lord is doing in each others lives concerning His mission.

Thank you all for your continued prayers, calls and cards they are a wonderful blessing! I will continue to update on any changes both here and in Kiribati.
Candace

Home again

Thank y'all so much for all of your prayers, texts and calls yesterday. I can't explain how much it helps in trying times to have those encouraging things. I got home yesterday evening. I am doing well my pain is pretty low which is nice. I havent actually taken any pain meds as of yet. I struggled with sickness from the anesthetic all yesterday and last night but that has mostly passed. My throat is pretty torn up from the breathing tube but other than that all is well.

Everything seems to have been successful. They removed the top wire from my sternum with hopes that everything will heal up normally now. The doctor said when he got in he was very thankful that they did not wait another day because there was a great deal of build up and fluid around my sternum. He believes that if I had waited even one more day it could have gone into severe infection.

Today I am on "bed rest" which is driving me crazy but I am very thankful for my sweet little brother who is taking such wonderful care of me. I can't imagine where I would be without this kid he has been my right arm these past few days. I cannot wait till my parents are home tho! There is nothing quite as good as having my sweet mama here with me.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. I have a follow up appointment next Wednesday, I will update how that goes. 

Please don't forget to keep the Daku and Snyder families in your prayers as well as the I-Kiribati people. 

Candace 

Back to the OR

Just wanted to give a quick update. I am heading to the OR within the hour. The doctor called this morning and feels as though the need to remove the top wire from my sternum right away. After reviewing the CT scan he fears that a bone infection could develop if they don't remove it right away. Please continue to pray they are very hopeful that this will help everything else to go start to improve.

I'll update when I can.

From Valley Moments to Mountain Tops

To say that these past few weeks have been all skittles and lollipops would be a lie. However to say that I haven't been abunantly blessed through these times would also be a lie.

I still ask that you continue to pray for my left lung. We are unsure of why but it still has not opened up. The doctors lowered my medicines a second time and my blood pressure has started to even out some these past few days which is wonderful! As for my incision not much has changed. It seemed to be healing up but the doctor still had concern for the stability of my sternum. Wednesday when I was in Cincinnati for my 1 month cardio check up I received a call from the surgeon saying he wanted to do surgery right away to remove the wires from my sternum. He feels that they are causing the fevers and wound and believes that the only way for me to heal would be to have surgery again. However while I was at the cardiologist I explained the matter to him and he felt as if that was the craziest thing he had ever heard. As you can imagine this out me in a difficult position not knowing which doctor to follow and whether or not to have the surgery. With the indecisiveness I have contacted Dr Dearani at the Mayo Clinic. Since he is the one who did the original surgery he is going to be making the decision for what the next step is. Please pray for him to have wisdom as he reviews my tests and makes this decision. He ordered a CT Scan for tomorrow and when he receives the results from that he will make the final decision.

As you can see there has definitely been some valley moments since my last post. However I need to also express how wonderful it has been to have some mountain top moments. Along this bumpy road God has constantly reminded me that He is right here with me. And occasionally just because  He can He adds in some extra special blessings. These past weeks I have just been overwhelmed with how wonderful He is and the wonderful friends He has placed in my life.

Last weekend a group of friends from my church came up to visit. It was so wonderful to spend some time with them! While laughing hurts somethin terrible it was so good to laugh with friends again and be reminded of how blessed I am to have them! I am so thankful for their each of them giving up their weekend to come up here and spend it with me! I have been blessed with the best friends!

This past week was full of blessings as well! Thursday because my heart check up was in Cincinnati I was able to stop by my church and give a testimony of all that the Lord is doing in my life now. It was so wonderful to see my church family again. Having not seen them since August you can imagine how excited I was to catch up with my friends and family in that area. After coming back to my parents Friday morning I was quite worn out but overwhelmed at how wonderful it was to have seen my friends. Saturday morning I receieved yet another blessing as some friends from Milford drove up to visit for the day! I can't tell you how big of a blessing it has been have the Money and Ziemer families in my life! They have invested so much into my life I am just so thankful for all they have done for me! 

Yesterday was a particularly difficult day. I was just completely worn out! My parents are out of town so it has just been my little brother and I here which has been fun but very tiring! My fever came back again yesterday and my pain was abnormally strong. Yet again I found myself in a valley moment. Not because anything bad was happening but I was just simply having a rough day. But just the time when I was getting down is when God reminded me that I am not alone. I received these pictures from the singles group at my church  last night. And was reminded that I am not alone! I am so thankful for all of you who have prayed for me and supported me! Words really can't express how much of a blessing y'all have been. 

From the plastic surgeon

Just got home from the plastic surgeon! He removed the sutures from my chest (it felt so weird when they came out!). But anyways, we believe to have reached some what of a break through concerning the reason behind my incision opening! This is a huge praise because we have been constantly asking why and not getting any answers!

After removing the sutures the doctor explained that there is 1 of 2 things happening. Either my body was rejecting the sutures, or my body is rejecting the wiring in my sternum. I have a follow up appointment with that doctor next week. If it was indeed just the sutures my body was rejecting then by next week there should be a significant difference in the healing of the wound. However if there is no change then we will proceed to having a CT scan done to check the wires and my sternum. If it is indeed a problem with the wires then it will not heal until they are removed in which case I will need to travel back to Minnesota to have that taken care of.

Yes it is indeed a lot to take in! However it is a break through on why all of this is happening and for that I am praising the Lord! Do I want to have to be opened back up again most certainly not, however I know the Great Physician I know that He has a plan through it all! If His plan involves my return to Minnesota and an additional surgery then I am ok with that. I will rest in His arms knowing that He has a greater purpose for all of this than I can every imagine! I know this because He said that for the His names sake He allows things to happen in our lives. But He also says He will never leave me nor forsake me. This new turn is for His names sake, He wants to use me, I may not enjoy all of what I go through during that time, but He will be with me through it all!

Thank you for your continued prayers!
I am praising the Lord for this new break through! And I am also praising the Lord that about 5 days ago I took myself off all my pain meds and have only taken on pain pill since then!

3 Weeks Down!

I don't have much of an update but I did just get home from my 3 week check up. It's really encouraging knowing that I have 3 weeks behind me! I can't thank y'all enough for all of your prayers, cards, calls, and support! There are still three main things in which I would ask for your prayers.

First off for my lungs. The doctor did a chest X-ray today, and nothing has changed. The lower portion of my left lung is still collapsed. The doctor still has me on my incentive spirometer every 30minutes with hopes that it will inflate soon.

Secondly my for incision. The over all cleanliness of it is looking much better. The doctor said he believes the infection is cleaning up some. However the opening of the incision it is growing in size. My doctor set an appointment up with a plastic surgeon hoping that he will have some ideas on how to close the hole or at least prevent it from growing any larger. I will meet with that doctor on Wednesday.

Lastly the doctor still has some concern with my blood pressure. I am still having anywhere from 1-10 episodes of low blood pressure, nausea, and near passing out per day. I am on 2 blood pressure medicines currently, but the doctor lowered the dosages on them today in hopes that it will help. The medicines are necessary due to the nature of my surgery, however he is thinking that they are lowering it to much and it is causing the problem. He sent me home with a blood pressure machine to check it a few times a day and see if anything changes.

Other than those things everything seems to be healing up well. I am still struggling with sleeping at night due to back pain but it is getting better.

As far as Kiribati goes the church is going well, God is blessing and they are growing. Please continue to pray for the church as well as the missionaries there. I cannot wait to be able to serve with the Daku family! The doctors said I should be able to leave in 6 months!

Thank you for all of your prayers and support!
Preparing to serve Him on the Equator,
Candace

From the 2 week check up!

Just wanted to take a moment to update. God is good and while there are something's that are not so great there are a great many blessings I have to share. First off I have to say that I am beyond thankful for my wonderful family! I cannot imagine what I would do without them! They have set aside so many things in their lives to help make this situation as smooth as possible for me. My parents have gone above and beyond to make me comfortable, come in the middle of the night when I have had muscle spasms, taken care of my doctors appointments and so much more! I could ask for anything more! I am so thankful for my sister Amanda who willingly put her family and life on hold to be able to travel all the way to Minnesota with me and be there with me as I went through everything. Siting with someone after surgery and trying to patiently work with them, comfort them, and even just hold their hand as tubes are taken in or out isn't easy, but my sister went through it all with me! My brothers have been just as wonderful. It has been such a blessing to see my little brother be my right arm, he helps me up from bed every morning, from the chair every hour. He walks with me everywhere as I am not very stable on my feet, he even picked me up the other day from the kitchen floor. And as much as I don't always enjoy it, he keeps me accountable with all my meds and brings me something to drink every hour. Brandon has been a huge encouragement even though he could not be here with me he has called several times to check on me, and facetimed several times so that my niece and I could talk which lifted my spirits so much!

Secondly I am thankful that of all of these meds they had me on (this is just the morning dose) I was taken off of two of them today!

Thirdly I want to thank The Lord for my church! I am so thankful for all of the love and support I have received from them! I am also so thankful for the technology available to watch livestream services! It lifts my spirits to be able to watch my church service as I am not able to go anywhere for church.

I am just so overwhelmed right now at how good. God has been to me! Thank you so much for all of your cards and calls, they have been helped me so much! I love Gods timing because every time I am having a rough time is when I receive a call or a card. For those of you who have asked my parents address is:

2674 Township Road 1087
Perrysville Ohio 44864

As for the most recent update on me. I am fairing pretty well. My pain has started to even out some as opposed to before when I would have random spasms. I went to the doctor today for my 2 week check up. My incision infection has worsened a great deal and the incision has opened some. We are
still praying that it will heal. The doctor said as of right now there is nothing they can do for the incision so I just need to keep it as clean as it can and pray it will begin to heal. As for my pneumonia they feel as though it has gotten better, however the lower portion of my left lung is collapsed and does not seem to be re-inflating. They are going to have me some back in next week to recheck that lung as well as the progress of the infection. Please also continue to pray for my dizzy/passing out spells. We are not entirely sure why I am having them, but something is causing my blood pressure and pulse to drop very low very fast and it is causing me to nearly pass out. (This was the original reason I ended up in the ER last week. After my shower my blood pressure dropped and I nearly passed out which was followed by vomiting.) Today in the doctors office my BP dropped to 78/64.
I will update y'all on any changes that happen.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support thus far!
Please continue to pray for the Daku and Snyder families as well as the iKiribati people!
Candace



.

We are leaving the er... doctor says slight pneumonia and slight infection. Two more meds to add to her collection...

Asking for prayer... Candace is having some possible complications. On our way to the hospital.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone

From Home Sweet Home

We are home. The trip was quite long and agonizing, but we have made it safe and sound. I can't express how thankful I am for all of your love, prayers, and support. I am not feeling wonderful but I know it could be worse. I will continue updating as I am recovering, please continue praying.
Candace

...from the hotel again!

Candace was discharged just before 2. We will head home tomorrow!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone

...from the courtyard

Sorry... This was yesterday's post that never decided to upload.

 

All the chest tubes are gone. The wound vac is gone. She is down to one iv line, but no medications going to it. Got to walk outside today. Hoping to be discharged tomorrow. O2 sats are still dropping slightly when she sleeps.

...from a regular room

Well, the doctors finally got Candace's pain under control. They also found out that her pain meds were causing the nausea. Now that they have that under control, she is feeling much better (as you can see from the "hand puppet" finger O2 sensor.) She also was able to take a shower and wear her own clothes today, which just made her day! Hoping to get her last chest tube out today.
 

Apparently nobody took pictures today... Sorry. Candace had to use an oxygen mask last night because she wasn't getting enough oxygen. She was able to get one of her chest tubes and the bulk of her IVs out today and was moved to a regular room. She has also been on a few walks throughout the day.

Sent from my iPad

Late update. Sorry for keeping you. Candace is doing pretty well from a medical standpoint. The echo came back good. She is still running a low-grade temp (which is to be expected) and says she is burning up, even though the AC is as cold as they can get it and the rest of us are freezing :) Her chest tubes are causing significant pain, which the doctors are trying to manage. Because of this, she was kept in the ICU one more night. When we left around 615 to catch the shuttle back to the hotel she had finally fallen asleep. Unfortunately, when she woke up the pain was significantly worse. It must be somewhat better now though, because a little while ago she sent us this picture of herself walking the hallway in front of her room for the first time.

Appologies for not updating anymore yesterday. I spent the rest of the day in her room except when we went to dinner. A little more details on the results of her surgery: Once they got in there, not only did they not need to replace her valve, her tricuspid was not in nearly as bad shape as they thought! They did have to make some corrections on placement to get it working properly, but they did not have to "create" the third leaflet like they thought (most Epstein patients have at least one leaflet that didn't form properly and they have to fold and reform it). She did have one small hole that they didn't know about until they got inside, but it was an easy fix. They were also able to successfully remove part of her heart that had become enlarged so that it would be the proper size again. The surgery ended up taking only around 2-1/2 hours instead of the 4 they thought it would, so that was much easier and quicker than her procedure the other day.

They were able to take her off the sedatives around 3:30 yesterday afternoon and she woke up several minutes later. She really didn't like the cpap tube and fought to wake up enough to get it out. She was very drowsy though.  It took several hours before she was breathing on her own enough to take it out. They were hoping she would be sitting on the side of the bed late last night, but she was in a lot of pain and started getting nauseated after we left for dinner.

This morning at 6:45 she texted us this picture of herself sitting in a chair. She said she was in the chair for several hours and it was the most painful thing she has ever done (and that's saying a lot for miss clumsy who is constantly injuring herself). :)

Dad went over there early this morning to see her while the rest of us got some much-needed sleep. Even though yesterday was not nearly as long as Friday and Saturday, we are starting to run on fumes. Hopefully now that the big stressers are out of the way the rest of the trip will be a little easier. I know my parents are both much more relaxed since the surgery.

The last thing we heard is that they were taking her for an echocardiogram to make sure her blood flow through the heart has been corrected. We will be heading over there in a few minutes. As always, will keep you posted! Thanks again for the love and support. Nicole Garissi is heading into town this week to visit. You have all been so supportive, and I know both Candace and my parents have really felt and appreciated all the love.

...from the heart with PRAISE!

She's Done!!! A whole lot sooner than expected and not as much reconstruction as they thought. They are suturing her now. She did well. They will move her to ICU and watch her for a few hours before we are able to go up. This evening they will take her off the sedatives and allow her to wake up before removing the breathing tube. PTL for answered prayer and His guiding hand in the whole situation. We could feel your prayers. Thanks!

Waiting during her procedure...

Doctor Duraney (sp) telling us the good news!

The OR nurse communicator called a few minutes ago. Candace went to the operating room at 17 after and is now hooked up to the bypass machine (to keep her blood flowing to the rest of her body without going through the heart.)

(Picture from National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/hs/during.html)

They have wheeled her to preop. She was well prayed over before they took her back, and I'm sure you are all praying for her now and throughout the day as well. Thanks for the prayers. I know she appreciates it as well as my parents. Will keep you posted as we hear more from the nurse communicator throughout her surgery (though I'm not sure what pictures I will share for that). :) It will be a long day of waiting, so please keep us in your prayers too.

Update: She has entered the OR.

From the hotel room with updates...

Open heart surgery is tomorrow. PTL we don't have to be there until 7am! Pastor Dave Kohler from my parents' church come up this evening with one of their deacons. Bro. Dale Money from First Baptist and Bearing Precious Seed in Milford also flew in today. We had a good time of fellowship with them all at Red Lobster. Now Candace is eating what she can before her midnight fasting begins!

"I feel fine...I have lots of energy...I'm not sleepy at all."

Discharge!!!

Candace has been discharged and is back at the hotel now. As expected she's "fine" and wanting to act like nothing happened. Dad had to stop her from walking the 3 flights of stairs up to our room. Next stop medically is Tuesday for open heart to repair her valve.

Candace is back in the room. Came in shortly after posting the last update. She says she was awake for most of the procedure just hanging out. :) For those of you wondering why a 4-hour procedure took almost 10 hours... they were having a difficult time inducing a tachycardia. Without a tachycardia they don't know where to ablate. But, they think they took care of everything eventually. Needless to say, it was an experience for her. Now she has to lie flat until 7:30. She is really looking forward to being able to sit up... so are we! Wiping her watery eyes and scratching her itchy feet is getting old. lol.

Note from Candace: "Thank you so much for your prayers. I'm thankful that we know the great physician because everything is going well and I feel great. I hate this thing (blood pressure cuff)!"

Nurses just came in a few minutes ago to let us know that they have finished the procedure and are pulling her lines out now. She will be heading back to the room after recovery in about an hour. Random picture, but I know she wanted a picture with every post and I thought the hospital architecture was really pretty.

...from the heart ward

 This is Amanda on Candace's behalf. It was another really early morning (left the hotel at 5:15)... as you can see in the picture, we were all pretty sleepy.

Well, they finally came and took her back around 9:30 for her ablation. It took until just a few minutes ago for them to find the source of her racing problem so they could fix the problem.

On a positive note... Our cousin, Jared, dropped by to see us (and Candace of course). It's been almost 10 years since we've seen him, so it was great to reconnect. Pray for him as he just finished hiking the Appalachian Trail and is heading back home to Florida via a canoe trip down the Mississippi.

Will continue to keep you posted as we hear more.

Happenings of the Day

Well my day started at 5am! All of my Pre-Op tests are done. I had two blood tests done, an electro-cardiogram, two different consultations with the doctors and surgeons and of course a coffee break in between!

Tomorrow I will arrive at the hospital at 530am. From there I will go into my ablation surgery where they will attempt to locate and correct the electrical problem that is causing my heart to race. The procedure will last anywhere between 2-4 hours, after which I will be hospitalized for 1 night. I will ask my sister to update tomorrow when I am in the procedure and when I come out.
Thank you so much for your prayers!
Candace

A few of you have asked for an address in where I will be staying. I am posting the address for the hotel in which my family will be staying. I will be in a few different locations of the hospital so it will probably be easiest to send anything to the hotel and have my parents bring it over. If I find of a more permanent address at the hospital I will update you.

GuestHouse International Inn and Suites
435 16th Avenue NW
Rochester, MN 55901

We are in room 315

Thank you
Candace

From the heart of the Guesthouse

We made it to Minnesota at about 4 this afternoon. We are beginning to settle into our temporary home here. Thank you so much for all of your prayers for our travels. The weather was great and everything went smoothly. Please continue to pray as tomorrow at 730 begins my real adventure. I have 4 tests/ appointments tomorrow.
Thank you so much!
Preparing to serve Him on the equator,
Candace

What is "...from the heart"

This blog has been created via the request of my wonderful supporters. I will still continue with my normal prayer letters but due to everything that will be happening within the next month this will be a better way for details to be given while I am in the hospital. What is the purpose of it? It has been created to keep a better connection between you and I. As my supporters both financially and prayerfully, you ought to be informed with what is happening in my life. I want you to be involved in what goes on while I am both stateside and overseas. For the time being the updates will mostly be concerning my health. My first surgery is a week from today and I would like to be able to keep you informed so that you will know how things are going and how to pray. I cannot thank you enough for your prayers and support thus far. It means so much to me to know that I do not just have my immediate family behind me, or even just my home church, but that I have people all over the world bringing my trials before the Throne of Grace.

The title of this blog is "...from the heart." There is a two fold purpose to this. Obviously the updates for the time being will be mainly concerning my heart as I will be facing these operations. But more importantly I would like to use this blog to share with you the things that the Lord is doing spiritually in my heart as I travel this journey. I want this to be a way for me to share with you the things I learn both during this trial and when I travel to Kiribati. As I spend my time in recovery I will try to keep updates on Kiribati as well. And I ask that you continue to pray for the Daku and Snyder families, as well as the i-Kiribati people.

Keep checking in for updates along the way. During the next few weeks there will be several updates, and I have asked my sister to keep updates going while I am out of commission.

Preparing to serve Him on the Equator
Candy