Larry's Journey: Latest Update...."On a Wing and a Prayer"

 

“On a wing and a prayer” is a saying that people add when they want to emphasize how little chance of success something has, and that the person is relying on basically luck to be successful. This expression originated during World War II. A pilot in the military had lost one wing of his plane, so he was trying to land using only one wing and a prayer. Well, we don’t base our hope on luck, but rather faith; however, we find ourselves living “On a wing and a prayer.”

 

I’m not going to give a complete recap in this post as to the journey we have been on since early September as it has already been summarized in other writings on this blog. I do however want to give an overview of where we currently find ourselves. So many of you have so graciously offered prayers on behalf of Larry, myself, and our family. Those prayers are great treasures and we pray they will give some hope and relief from our current situation.

 

Larry is suffering immense pain every-day that he is breathing. It is enormous and debilitating pain! My simple words cannot aptly describe or express the torture he is experiencing. He has been in excruciating pain in his hips and right leg since his 2018 vascular surgery that left him with very little blood-flow. He has barely been able to walk, sit, or even move without pain….but that pain fades in comparison to what he is now living through.

 

As I have mentioned before, Larry had 3 surgeries on his left leg within 10 days. Two of the surgeries failed to open the blocked vessel; therefore, a third more serious surgery had to be performed. A Cryovein, a cadaver vein, was put into his left leg via 4 incisions from groin to lower calf. By October 25^th, Larry began to throw-up and started running a fever; therefore, went to the hospital via ambulance. I have more details regarding our hospital stay in other blog posts.

 

Moving forward…..On November 17^th, we went to Larry’s new Vascular Surgeon in Birmingham, Dr. Robert Heidepriem, as a follow-up from meeting him while Larry was in St. Vincent’s Hospital from October 25^th through October 30^th. According to Dr. Heidepriem, although we have had issue after issue with the Wound Vac not working properly….the bed of the open leg wound looks good and shows signs of the healing process. Dr. Heidepriem wants Larry to be on another type of Wound Vac called a KCI Wound Vac. We still do not have it in yet, but hope to get it soon.

 

November 17^th was mine and Larry’s 36^th wedding anniversary. We were going to Chili’s to eat lunch after his radiation treatment for Prostate Cancer and appointment with Dr. Heidepriem, but he was too tired and it took most of the day to accomplish the treatment and office visit. So, after his radiation treatment on the 18^th, we….Ashleigh, Norah Jane, Larry, and I decided to go by Chili’s in Trussville for a quick lunch. Everything went fine during lunch; however, as we started to head toward Ashleigh’s home in Margaret, Larry had some type of episode.

 

Ashleigh was driving, Larry was in the front passenger seat, I was sitting behind him and Norah Jane was behind the driver’s seat. Larry said that he was seeing spots before his eyes. At first, I didn’t think much of it because I see spots quite often. However, He followed-up by saying, “I see spots, everything is blurry, now everything is hazy (like looking through a cloud), I have a sharp pain in my forehead across my right eye.” I told him to close his eyes and see if that would help him to re-focus. He later said that he lost his depth perception and thought that we were about to hit every car and object around us. It was very scary for him; therefore, he pretty much kept his eyes closed most of the way to Ashleigh’s house which was 30 to 40 minutes. When we arrived at her house, some of the symptoms had started to dissipate, but not completely. He sat down inside and looked out the window at the house across the street and the house was all hazy. And by hazy, not only was it like looking through a cloud, but also everything was colorless. In a few minutes, everything was clear and he had no residual symptoms. I called Dr. Heidepriem’s office and they said that he could have had a mini stroke and if he had another episode to go to the emergency room.

 

On this past Wednesday, November 25^th, we went to see Dr. Ben Plaisance, Larry’s Cardiologist, for a follow-up from meeting him in the hospital. As you all will recall from previous posts, we had no idea that Larry had any Cardiovascular issues until we were in the hospital for his leg. Yes, he has had 6 aneurysms and he has PAD, Peripheral Artery Disease, but no heart issues have ever been mentioned.

 

Ashleigh was with us at the appointment, but was not allowed to go in because of the COVID restrictions to only one person with the patient. However, Dr. Plaisance allowed Ashleigh to be on speaker phone and she was able to listen to all that he had to discuss with us. It was soooooooo much! For 40 minutes he discussed with us and disclosed information to us regarding Larry’s Coronary Artery Disease. I cannot begin to detail everything in this blog post, but I will try to give an overview that will capture much of what was said.

 

A Reminder: God can restore Larry to health and can give life to his weary body.

 

After having a Cardiac Catheterization, we were told in the hospital that Larry had 3 blockages…2 at 90 percent and 1 at 100 percent. We were also told that he had had a “mild” heart attack and that it had left the heart muscle damaged. Dr. Plaisance kept repeating himself over and over by stating that Larry has A LOT going on and kept motioning with his hands over his heart. I knew, from that much-repeated statement and his hand motions over his heart and chest area, that we only knew a bit of the whole story.

 

Dr. Plaisance went on to say that he had talked about Larry’s case the day before with Dr. Cox, the doctor who did the heart cath. He said that Larry’s case stood out because he had SO MUCH going on at one time. We have to work in order of what has to be done first, second, third….and so on. We were shocked to learn the severity of Larry’s heart condition. He does not have 3 blockages, but rather he has 4 major blocks that have to be addressed…..plus he has other issues going on with vessels around his heart. Dr. Plaisance told us that Larry’s vessels were so thick with plaque, Dr. Cox had to literally push his way through in order to get pictures.

 

Dr. Plaisance stated again….as they did in the hospital….that Larry was not a candidate for stents. He has way too much going on and it would be extremely risky. Because of Larry’s open wound in his leg and the fact that he was in Septic Shock in the hospital, nothing can be done to his heart until the leg is completely healed and no infection present. Otherwise, the infection could easily travel to his chest and that would be catastrophic. According to Dr. Plaisance, Larry is living in a “ticking time-bomb” scenario. Larry has so many life-altering, life-threatening illnesses, it makes for a very complicated plan of treatment. Larry could have a massive heart-attack while waiting for his leg to heal.

 

A Reminder: Even when worries overtake us, Scriptures like Philippians 4:6 should remind us that we have hope. We are reminded that “prayer and petition” and thanksgiving are the spirit through which we can and should approach our Father.

 

Dr. Plaisance is calling in Dr. Leland Allen who is an Infectious Disease Specialist. We have to know that not only the leg wound is healed completely from the inside out, but also that it is free of any infection. Dr. Allen should be contacting us soon to set-up an appointment.

 

Regarding Larry’s leg, we received some extremely sad and shocking news from Dr. Plaisance. Dr. Plaisance said that when Dr. Cox did Larry’s heart cath, he also checked Larry’s left leg. He said that it showed the Cryovein was closed off. In other words, the surgery failed and the bypass did not work. Now, all of this horrific pain, torture, a huge open leg wound, a wound vac, sepsis….and so on….is all for no good. Now, he has two legs and hips with very little blood flow. Larry’s feet, ankles, and toes are giving him almost constant pain because of the lack of blood flow. His left leg and foot remain twice the size of his right leg and foot.

 

A Prayer for Larry: “Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you.” 2 Thessalonians 3:16

 

Regarding the ordering of events that are in our future….first the radiation treatments will be completed, then we pray the leg will heal completely and without any infection going on deep in the leg. It continues to occasionally release some yellowish-green fluid….along with the normal, more clear/milky fluid that drains through the Wound Vac tube. The longer the Bypass surgery has to be prolonged, the longer the possibility of a major heart event. Dr. Plaisance does NOT, under any scenario, want to be forced into having to consider putting in stents. That would only be an option IF the open-heart surgery has to be put off for too long. He said if it comes to that….we will have to have “that conversation”….a very serious conversation and odds will have to be considered. In other words, Larry’s odds of survival are extremely low.

 

Another issue is the fact that he has such an in-depth case of Peripheral Artery Disease and he has a long history of aneurysms. Every treatment and every surgery to repair or replace damaged vessels from his hips to his feet have ALL failed. That begs the question….will the heart bypass surgery even work? Will the bypasses hold up? In addition, another situation that the surgeon will have to face is Larry’s lack of available “good” vessel tissue to use for bypasses. Originally, in the hospital we were told that he only had enough for 2 bypasses….now, they are saying he needs 4 bypasses. Dr. Plaisance, again, said that if Dr. John Richardson cannot do all 4 bypasses, we will have to go back and look at stent options on the blockages that cannot be bypassed. IT’S JUST SO MUCH!!!!!

 

I was thinking that we would not have to look at open-heart, bypass surgery until after the first of the year. I wanted for our family to have this Christmas together. We need to be able to enjoy this Christmas! Last year, this time….I was still on my deadly oral chemotherapy and just completed my 6 months of it right before Christmas. But, if the leg heals without infection before Christmas….and that might be a huge IF….the surgery will have to be done. They do not want to delay any longer than absolutely necessary.

 

There is still the blocked Carotid Artery Disease to contend with; however, that will not be addressed at this time. They are blocked between 50-75 percent; therefore, nothing will be done until they are at least 80 percent blocked. It is possible that an oral medication will be attempted first before jumping into another surgery.

 

Nothing further can be done to Larry’s legs at this time because his heart is in the forefront of priorities. Dr. Plaisance said, “You can live without your legs, but you cannot live without your heart!” That was something that we did not want to hear, but knew it might come to that eventually. Thus far, every effort to save his legs have failed. But, that will be for another day…so for now, we will not consider it. However, it does leave Larry in almost unbearable pain without any true relief in sight.

 

We talked to Dr. Plaisance about Larry’s episode on the 18^th and he believes that Larry most likely had a mini stroke. He ordered a CT Scan of Larry’s head, but we were not able to get it scheduled until December 15^th. Dr. Plaisance wants to take a closer look to make sure what is or is not going on. Dr. Plaisance has changed up some of Larry’s medications and has strengthened his blood pressure medications, but Larry’s blood pressure is still running higher than it should. Larry has also been put on a new medication for his diabetes.

 

In the past two months, Larry has had 3 failed surgeries on his left leg. He also had a 4^th surgery in the hospital in Birmingham to clean-out the open wound bed from one of Larry’s 4 incisions (from groin to below the calf) from his bypass surgery that opened and set-up sepsis. Within the past six months, Larry has been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Prostate Cancer.

 

This is the list of issues presented to us after our visit with Dr. Plaisance:

 

Coronary Arteriosclerosis – Just found this out in the hospital stay for leg.

Carotid Artery Stenosis – Just found this out in the hospital stay for leg.

Peripheral Vascular Disease

Sepsis – This happened in hospital because of left leg wound infection

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Hyperlipidemia

Hypokalemia

Disorder of Vision (Possible Mini Stroke)

Congestive Heart Failure – We did NOT know about this!

Aneurysm of Thoracic Aorta – We did NOT know about this!

Acute Pain

Prostate Cancer

High Blood Pressure

Left Leg is on a Wound Vac

Anxiety

 

Larry has been extremely emotional and has been very easy to break-down and cry. He has always been a very strong “man’s man, but all that he has been through….all of the intense pain….all of the shocking negative medical reports….everything has broken him. He gets very little sleep at night. He can only take one pain pill before going to bed. Plus, with his Prostate Cancer, he is up and down all night having to go to the bathroom. He is so weak physically and emotionally. We have seen his health really digress in the past 6 months. His primary doctor, Dr. Charles Tompkins has prescribed him a one-a-day pill to help with Larry’s anxiety/emotions. He wants so desperately to heal, to stop hurting….and to live!

 

It is so difficult to see an earthly light at the end of this very dark tunnel. There are so many serious issues and some are potentially grave issues. We are so thankful that God is in control! That doesn’t mean earthly healing, but we know that He is and will continue to carry us through this valley of despair. We are all invested in caring for Larry and it is breaking our hearts to see him as he is today. Ashleigh, Joey, Michael, myself, and yes….our precious little grands….John, Jack, and Norah Jane are all doing what we can to care for all of his needs as best we can. Our grands LOVE their Big Daddy SO MUCH and he loves them with all of his heart. They are the best medicine….and especially on days when he feels he can’t make it another minute on his own. Tonight all 3 were his doctors. One did the blood pressure, one did his temperature, and one did his oximeter. John, our 8 year old, will sit with Big Daddy for hours….sometimes just playing on his iPad, but he wants to be close by.

 

It is important to remember that God holds the power not only to sustain us, but also to heal us. It is essential to keep the faith amid pain and uncertainty. We know from Deuteronomy 31:6 that the Lord our God goes with us and He will never leave us or forsake us. No matter what, we can have strength and confidence when darkness and the struggles are heavy. God does not leave us in difficult times of illness or health battles…His promise is to walk the journey with us.

 

May our gracious and mighty Father receive all glory and honor as we serve Him through this journey.

We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we definitely know Who holds tomorrow!

 

We plead for every prayer from everyone….. We need prayer warriors who will make a commitment to lift Larry everyday before our Father in a very bold way. Please pray very specific prayers. 

 

We love you all!