Good Evening ~ This should be the last one for tonight. Seth wanted me to report that he got up (with help) and sat in a chair for 1 hour and 5 minutes tonight! He was plenty tired when we got him back into bed. The surgeons were in again tonight (3 times today $$$) and they were very happy with Seth's progress. We have our favorite nurse back tonight. Her name is Mary Anne, she graduated from Bradley and worked at OSF. She said she loves University of Iowa Children's Hospital and so do we. They moved out here in 2005. She is really awesome and Seth really connects with her. The more activity we can get Seth to do the quicker his gut will wake up, and the quicker he will be able to eat and go home. :) No food since Monday night. His last meal was French Toast at 10:30 at night. (What a mom huh?) He's not complaining about being hungry at all. He's really not complaining about anything except the irritating sounds. Our nurse got us a box fan to turn on tonight to try and drownd out some of the noises. We both are looking forward to getting some sleep tonight.
I talked to Jeff. He made it home safely. He said the roads got really bad near Davenport Iowa. There were 3 accidents and one guy almost lost it right in front of him, the roads were very slick. He said the winds picked up near Galesburg and the roads were bad there too. We are thankful that he had no problems at all.
Chris Spicer you did a great job on posting! You may have yourself a new ministry in Pastoral Care via Blog. We love ya both :) Aaron thanks for the overnight offer on the ipod, that was a very generous offer. We have one coming on Sat.
Seth says HI to everyone at Peoria Christian and at Riverside. Good Night All, Vickie & Seth

Oh yea Liegh. Thanks for the info on the Ronald McDonaldHouse. We also just found out about the Helen Rossi House here too. We are on the waiting list for both of them for Jeff & the guys this weekend.

Hi everyone ~ It is 4:00 in the afternoon and Seth has had a long day. He has just fallen off to sleep, first time all day really other than a 5 minute nod here and there. They had to put him back on oxygen about an hour ago. Everytime he would try to sleep the alarms would go off because his oxygen levels would drop into the 80's. It is do to the moriphine he is getting through his IV for pain. It is preventing him from breathing deeply while sleeping. When he is awake he will be allowed to breathe on his own.
We got him up to sit on the side of the bed for a little bit. He did awesome and then actually wanted to stand for a little bit. He is really dizzy (blood loss) and so he didn't stand long. Perhaps later this evening we will get him up to sit in a chair.
The doctors had originally planned for him to walk today, but changed the orders after a 12 1/2 long surgery! He really really is doing great.
He is easily agitated with all the bells and whistles that are attached to him, and all the irritating sounds they make.
Hey is anyone is coming out here this weekend and you have an Ipod with cool music on it, that you could live without for a week or so, then perhaps Seth could borrow it to drownd out all the other sleep distractions. Just a thought. Actually it will help Jeff and I because he wants us to fix or put a stop to all the noises and so Jeff starts tamporing with the equipment and then I get nervous and well you can use your imagination and figure out what it is like in room 61!!
We love reading your comments...they are the highlight of our day....aren't we pathetic? Anyway please keep writing. We read all of them to Seth.
Jeff just left to go back home. He has to work tomorrow. Seth and I will really miss him. He and maybe Noah are coming back out on Saturday, just depends on the weather. Nick may come out on Friday. So it's just the 2 of us for a little while. I'll try to write more later tonight. V

Hey I have had this question asked a few times since my last post. "Can you and Jeff just sit by his bed and push the moriphine pump and let Seth sleep"? It is a great idea but that was one of the first warnings we got from the nurse last night. It was reinerated by the surgeons this morning "Not to do". It must be a common thing parents do. The reason not to is that we can od him. He knows when he is having the pain and we don't and by just giving it to him we could give him enough to make him forget to breathe. It really doesn't sound likely to me, but there must be something to it. We don't want to find out!
They are now giving him moriphine through his IV all the time, 2mg. and have changed the pump so that he can hit it every 8 minutes instead of every 10. Jeff and I just helped him to reposition. He has been flat on his back and this is very uncoftable for him. We shifted him to his left side slightly. Hopefylly this will relive some pressure. The surgeons removed some packing a little while ago which has caused "pain". He has heat packs on his stomach and we are encouraging him to try and sleep. All in all his is doing good. The surgeons say he is doing as expected and are still watching his Hemoglobin, we'll talk later. V

Good morning everyone, It is 8:30, Jeff is here from the hotel and has run down to the cafeteria to get me a cup of coffee. Seth had an ok night. He did sleep some but by doing so he missed hitting his moriphine pump and missed 3 doses of pain meds. That in itself caused problems. They didn't want to add anything else for pain to his IV and so he was hurting pretty bad. He has worked since to stay awake, he really needs to sleep. It is a catch twenty two.
The surgeons rounded at 6:45 and the next wave is on the floor now. Perhaps we can get some other pain redemies going.
Seth's hemoglobin is at 8, and they will transfuse if he becomes symptomatic. He is going on his 3rd day of no food, that is tripping him out. Not that he is hungry he says, but very empty feeling. His digestive system has been put to sleep and we are waiting for it to wake up before they pull the stomach tube. It is very dangerous to do this too soon. Well that is all I know at this point. Seth is awake and alert and enjoying the comments you all are sending him. Until next time... Vickie

It is 10:40 and Seth has been in his room for about 40 minutes. The prayers and pain meds are working. He is alert and talking a little. I just read him all the comments on the blog, it made him smile. His throat is very sore from the breathing tube so we 're giving him some ice chips. He won't be able to have anything by mouth for some time, he has a stomach tube coming through his nose (he hates it). He is on oxygen but shouldn't have to stay on it long. He also has a few drains. They had to open with a small incision (about 4 inches) in addition to the other 5. There were a few complications, but the surgeons said they just had to use patience and eventually all worked out, (they hope). We will pray it did. They say he will have to get out of bed tomorrow and walk at least 4 times. This will not be easy. Again PRAY please. Jeff is going to head back to the hotel and get some sleep, and I am going to hit the couch, yes can you believe it I have a couch and pillows and blankets. The nurse said they just redid the unit. We also have internet, a flat screen, play staition II, and voice mail. This cruise ship is all that!!! Till morning then. Good Night and We Love You All. V

Seth is finally out!

Please pray that Seth's pain subsides.  The current pain medication hasn't worked.  He will be hooked up to a morphine pump once he returns to his room.  Additional information will be posted once my parents are able to get back to their laptop.

-Noah

Seth has been out for almost 11 1/2 hours and we still have no word as to how much longer he'll be in surgery! :(

Latest Update: We just got the first update since 1:28. It is now 5:00 PM. They report that Seth is fine, that the process is going slow and that they have no time frame now. He has been out for 9 1/2 hours, please pray that his systems stay STRONG and that there are NO complications with the anesthesia. Jeff and I have been feeling very anxious for the past hour and have made some calls to ask for the above request specifically. We'll let you know when it's over.

Hi Troops~ We have had 2 updates since my last post. The last one came in at 1:28, they are still working on the Colectomy, reconstruction hasn't started yet. They report all is going fine and they are still working from laporscopic incisions (5 of them) and have not had to do a total open. Please continue to pray this way. The less invasion of Seth's body the better and the easier the recovery will be. Jeff & I are tired, but really doing fine. 'til next time. Love, V.

Hi agian, The receptionist in the Surgical Waiting room came out and told us they actually got started on Seth at 8:45. Everything is going fine and the 8 hour count down started at the 8:45 mark. We will update as we get news. Love , V

Good Morning, It was a very short night for the three of us. We were in bed for 4 hours but sure didn't sleep that much. We arrived at the hospital a little before 5:30, and they took Seth into surgery right at 7:30. He was very nervous, please pray. They will up date us if necessary and will definetely call us if the surgery is to go longer than the 8 hours. Jeff and I are very tired already. It is going to be a LONG day. We thank you all for your prayers! A speial thanks to the Polk's and White's as we opened our gifts from you guys this morning just before we left for ICH. You guys are amazing!! Love you all. V & J

Good Morning, it's Tuesday Morning and plans have changed since last night. Seth is not able to go to school today due to the different kinds of medications he has been prescribed to prepare for tomorrow. He is only able to have clear liquids all of today and after midnight nothing by mouth. It's going to be a long day.
With the threat of bad weather starring us in the face, we have decided to leave this afternoon. We have a Blizzard warning and are driving west into it. Please pray for safe travel. I am going into work for a couple of hours and then we'll be on our way. Until next time...

Less than 2 days to the BIG day

It's Monday evening and Seth is doing one of the things in life he enjoys most, playing Volleyball. It will no doubt be the last time for him to play for sometime to come. I hope he comes home with a smile on his face. That will no doubt tell me they won and he had a great time!
Upon arriving home he will do another thing in life that he REALLY enjoys doing and that is Eating. That too will be something he will not be able to do after midnight tonight for some time to come.
We will leave tomorrow for Iowa City after Seth spends his day at PCHS (Peoria Christian High School) and then goes to his last Scholastic Bowl meet until next year. The team has an awesome record of 21-1 and Seth doesn't want to miss any marches if he can help it. We will hit the road right after the game. It's a 3 hour drive out, we'll check into a hotel and hopefully get some sleep.
We are to arrive at Iowa City Children's Hospital at 5:30 AM and take elevator H to the 5th floor and register at the desk. Seth's surgery is scheduled to begin at 7:30 AM. We are asking everyone to join us in prayer. His surgery will take approximately 8 hours. It will be a long day! Seth especially needs to be bathed in your prayers and if Jeff, Nick Noah and I come to your mind, we'd like gladly take a sprinkle or two :) We'll keep you posted. We love you all. Vickie