Goodbye West Tower, Hello Rehab!

Goodbyes are always hard. For over 6 months our family has dreamed of the day that we would get to say goodbye to the West Tower of Ochsner’s hospital. I’ve said over and over “I won’t ever miss this place and don’t care if I ever see it again”. Although most of that is true, this goodbye is still hard. It isn’t because any of this journey has been fun or even enjoyable, it’s because the people we met along the way are ones we’ve come to love. We can not thank the staff of Ochsner enough. The Love you have surrounded our family with will never be forgotten and you will never be forgotten. You will forever be a part of our family. From the constant medical care to the “Holla if you can Swalla” parties to the Sunshine Therapy and “beauty bucket” gifts, we are blessed. We will never be able to repay you for the Love you’ve given my Mom and family. I wish so bad I could list out each one of you, but I couldn’t because I can promise I would forget someone. Just know that you guys are forever in our hearts and we love you so so BIG!

Today we celebrate because the prayers we’ve said and begged the Lord for have been answered. Mom is moving to rehab today. Emotional can’t even begin to explain me right now. A miracle. A complete Jesus performed miracle is what my Mom is. Through her, Jesus has shown the world just what He is capable of. We read stories in the Bible of the Lord raising the dead, the lame to walk, the blind to see, parting the Red Sea... but how often in today’s world do we get to see with our own eyes a complete unexplainable miracle? I can say that I have. I saw with my own eyes the Lord touch my Mom’s body and completely bring to life limbs that were dying. He’s steadied a heart that was beating too fast and out of rhythm. He’s stopped a bleed that couldn’t be stopped on its own. Y’all.. I could go on for days. What Has been done in her life can only be explained by Jesus, and the best thing about all of this is I have complete faith that He’s NOT done. We have so much more of Him to witness. Thankful. I’m so thankful.

Back when things were really rough with Mom. I was sitting on the floor in the ICU waiting room and I said out loud to the room full of people “If the Lord will just heal my Mom, I promise I will spend every waking moment of my life telling the world of his Faithfulness”. Recently, I’ve thought about that moment a lot and wondered if I’m living up to the promise I made Him.
I want everyone who ever reads this blog to know just how much Jesus loves you. I’ve always known He loved His children, but this experience has brought the greatness of his Love to a whole new light. I want you to know, that no matter what you are going through you never have to do it alone. Allowing Jesus to hold you in your worst and best times will be the best decision you’ve ever made. That is fact and something I can whole heartedly promise you. If you don’t know Jesus, I’d love to help you get to know Him. Please call me, text me, message me or just show up at my house. I’m never too busy to share with you about His Love and I promise I could talk about what He’s done in my life for hours. He’s so good y’all, and like I promised Him back in December, I will spend the rest of my life shouting His goodness to the rooftops!

Mom will be starting her rehab at Ochsner’s rehab for the first few weeks to be sure she is 100% ready. After she gets comfortable and Our Lady of the Lake gets trained in LVAD care, she will be transferred to Baton Rouge. The next few weeks will be extremely enduring for Mom. Rehab is gonna be hard. Please continue to pray for her strength and that we don’t encounter anymore complications. Mom still has a long road of recovery ahead of her. I have no doubt, though, that she’s got this and so does God. We love you all so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Brighter Days Ahead

These last few weeks have been extra hard for our family. So many milestones and events have taken place and each one is just as difficult as the one before. It has now been 6 months that Mom has been in the hospital. Six months that have both flown by and drug on. Part of me is shocked that it’s already been six months but then the other part of me is like “Is this nightmare ever going to end?”. I’ve come to realize that it’s not anytime soon. This is our new reality for the foreseeable future. Once we get Mom out of the hospital, we will have weeks and probably months of Rehab ahead of her. After that, we will start the waiting process for a

heart transplant. The days ahead are overwhelming for all of us, especially Mom. So, for now all we can do is live day to day and focus on the immediate goal ahead. For now, that goal is rehab. 

This week the doctors came in saying they felt Mom was ready to go to rehab. This is a huge win for us and something we are all celebrating. Tomorrow, she will be evaluated by rehab to see if they feel she is ready. Please pray that tomorrow is full of strength for her and that rehab will give us the green light. 

For months we have discussed where Mom will be going for rehab. Having an LVAD throws a huge wrench in choosing a facility. Technically, no rehab facility in Baton Rouge will accept someone with an LVAD as a patient. Our Lady of Lake is considering accepting Mom, though. It would be the biggest blessing to our family to get Mom to Baton Rouge. My Grannie and my Dad are killing themselves making sure Mom is never left alone. Getting Mom in Baton Rouge, would allow more of the family to help and give Grannie and Dad a break. Please pray that the Lord’s will be done in this situation. We absolutely want Mom to have the best care possible, but we also want her closer to home. My prayer is that we can have both.  

Mom is finally starting to seem more like herself. It is obvious to all of us now, that the abdominal surgery she had was a must. It completely changed the way she’s recovering. For the first time in six months, Mom is able to eat and enjoy food without awful stomach pain. We are so thankful that the surgery was successful and complication free. Praise the Lord! 

So many of you have gone above and beyond to bless our family. It never fails, anytime I go anywhere and see someone I know they ask about Mom. It means so much to me that people are still caring and praying. Many of you know that Mom is one of the directors of Central Community Theatre. She, Grannie and my Aunt Karen started the theatre in 2007 and have spent the years since pouring into and loving on every child that walked through that door. Mom adores her CCT kids and, y’all, they adore her. Days before her surgery those kids prayed fiercely over my Mom. I’ve never seen kids pray for someone like these kids did. They truly love their Cookie. After all of Mom’s complications, many of the CCT kids wanted to do something for her and they (with the help of Claire, Aunt Karen and Melissa Beatty) decided to host a Broadway Cabaret Benefit in honor of Mom. Aren’t they precious? The Cabaret will be June 8th and will be held at Abundant Life Church. You can buy tickets at centralcommunitytheatre.org and all of the proceeds will go towards things to help with Mom’s recovery. These kids have worked for weeks on their performance and let me be the first to tell you how amazing they are!! I’ve been shown “sneak peek” videos and these kids are rockstars. Let’s support “Cookie” and give them a packed house. 

We love each one of you so much. Thank you for your prayers and following our story. The Lord’s not done here yet and I can’t wait to continue to share with you the miracles He’s performing.