The Lamoreaux Family: Thanks for this Thanksgiving

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Thanks for this Thanksgiving

What a Thanksgiving Week. On Tuesday evening I found out that my dad would be going in for surgery for his Aortic dissection early Wednesday morning. I had been trying to decide whether to go down or not, and that made up my mind immediately. We knew that this surgery was an extremely complicated and risky surgery and I wanted to see him before it happened. I threw my stuff in a duffle bag and Bob and I headed down. I'm so glad we did. My dad wanted Bob to stay with him, and I was able to help my mom a little bit.

I think the doctors took time to slowly let us realize how amazingly complicated an aortic dissection is. Dr. Schorlemmer told us that there is no injury to the body that is greater than this. The aortic artery supplies blood, nutrients and oxygen to every part of the body. Placing a graft inside this artery is very risky, but without the surgery my dad would have always run the risk of it splitting further which could cause death.

After the 8 hour surgery, it is just a waiting game to see if all the systems of the body are going to function normally. Everything was without proper oxygen and blood for a long time. The first day they were worried about paraplegia. He did have loss of leg function for a while, but he is slowly regaining it. He has to strain with all his might to wiggle the toes on his left leg. His right leg has more movement.

Watching my father suffer memory loss has been difficult. This electrical engineer whose daily reading includes topics like atomic theory can't remember what 7 x 8 is. He couldn't tell us who the president of the U.S. is without a choice between two options. He asked Bob to read the Book of Mormon to him, and Bob asked where he would like him to read from. "Chapter 18," he replied. Bob asked him which book, and he had no concept that there are different books in the Book of Mormon. He is improving though. All this is really normal after such a long surgery.

His kidneys are operating amazingly well. We're waiting to see if his gut and digestive system will function.

My dad has never taken a prescription drug that I know of. But, he'll be on blood pressure medicines and medicines to slow his heart rate for the rest of his life. He is willing and grateful for all that the doctors are doing. He will never be able to do intense exercise again.

This week was long and stressful. Bob and I were away from our children for Thanksgiving. But my heart is so grateful.

My Dad is alive. I love him and am so grateful for that.
His surgery went really well - they were able to put the graft in from his heart down to his groin, and the area below that looks like it will be all right. They had talked about doing 2 or 3 surgeries, but right now it looks like the one surgery will be enough.
His paraplegia was temporary. He still has really limited mobility, but we're so thankful for those small leg movements.
Lots of friends made my children's Thanksgiving so special. They had two Thanksgiving dinners, and pie at another home. They had lots of other offers to spend Thanksgiving with other friends. I don't think I am ever that thoughtful. I need to change that!
Our backyard neighbors were going to their relative's home for Thanksgiving, but the Mom felt a prompting the day before to prepare an entire Thanksgiving dinner even though it would be way too much food for their family. Then when she heard that we were gone, she was ready to invite our children over for a Thanksgiving lunch before going to her relatives for dinner. Our children literally went "over the river and through the woods" for Thanksgiving. I think they were almost glad that we were gone. They got to make their own schedule, spend time with friends, and rent movies.
My dad is improving. He is strong and determined and optimistic.
My mom has had enough strength to make it through this. She does not have good health, but she has been sustained.
My brother mentioned that when he heard that dad's life was in danger, he was glad that he didn't feel like he needed to rush to his bedside to make amends. They already have a good relationship. I feel like my parents and my siblings all could say that we love each other and are on good terms. We are all best friends. What a rare blessing!

For more information and updates on my Dad's condition, go to: http://emilhahn.blogspot.com

1 comment:

Vanessa said...: Oh my! What a week your family has been through. It sounds like your Dad has a lot ahead of him. I know watching my dad with Parkinsons at such a younge age has been rough. Sometimes it is so hard to be mortal. Your Dad will be in my prayers! Glad your kids were well taken care of in your absence!
Vanessa; December 1, 2013 at 9:59 PM

Fill the spiritual needs

“some parents become so expert at filling every physical desire for their children that they begin to suppose that all is well in this life and that their eternal stewardship is progressing right on schedule. … I believe that we must pause and take a careful inventory to determine how well our families are doing spiritually. We could ask how well are we feeding, nurturing, training, and exercising the spirits of our children; or how well have we taught, trained, loved, and inspired our children to build their spiritual muscles and strength? … Remember, eternity is now, not a vague, distant future. We prepare each day, right now, for eternal life. If we are not preparing for eternal life, we are preparing for something else, perhaps something far less.”

–M. Russell Ballard

Pray with your little ones

"Behold your little ones. Pray with them. Pray for them and bless them. The world into which they are moving is a complex and difficult world. They will run into heavy seas of adversity. They will need all the strength and all the faith you can give them while they are yet near you. And they also will need a greater strength which comes of a higher power. They must do more than go along with what they find.

They must lift the world, and the only levers they will have are the example of their own lives and the powers of persuasion that will come of their testimonies and their knowledge of the things of God. They will need the help of the Lord. While they are young, pray with them that they may come to know that source of strength which shall then always be available in every hour of need."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

Be Wise In Our Diet

“…let us consider our relationship with ourselves. We must each take proper care to see that the little things regarding our personal life are in order. We must learn to care for our health and our mental well-being. Do we maintain proper exercise to give us the energy and alertness of mind necessary to keep our spirit strong & our attitude positive? Are we wise in our diet? Do we avoid the unnourishing snack that might keep our stomach full but our health quite empty?

–Joseph B. Wirthlin, Finding Peace in Our Lives, p. 59

Turn it off, walk out...

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:

“Tragically, the same computer and Internet service that allows me to do my family history and prepare those names for temple work could, without filters and controls, allow my children or grandchildren access to a global cesspool of perceptions that could blast a crater in their brains forever. . .

“Along with filters on computers and a lock on affections, remember that the only real control in life is self-control. Exercise more control over even the marginal moments that confront you. If a TV show is indecent, turn it off. If a movie is crude, walk out. If an improper relationship is developing, sever it. Many of these influences, at least initially, may not technically be evil, but they can blunt our judgment, dull our spirituality, and lead to something that could be evil. An old proverb says that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, so watch your step.” (Place No More For the Enemy of My Soul, April 2010)

Only a teacher

"If any parent needs added inspiration to commence his God-given teaching task, let him remember that the most powerful combination of emotions in the world is not called out by any grand cosmic events nor found in novels or history books—but merely by a parent gazing down upon a sleeping child. That glorious biblical passage, 'created in the image of God,' will acquire new and vibrant meaning as a parent repeats this experience. Home will become a haven called heaven, and loving parents will teach their children 'to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.' (D&C 68:28.)"
--Thomas S. Monson

Quote

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. …”
--C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Raise up patriots

The importance of teaching & training

"In 1904, President Joseph F. Smith said to parents: “Do not let your children out to specialists … , but teach them by your own precept and example, by your own fireside. Be a specialist yourself in the truth.

… Not one child in a hundred would go astray, if the home environment, example and training, were in harmony with the truth in the gospel of Christ, as revealed and taught to the Latter-day Saints.”

The ideal way to transform your home into a house of learning is to hold family home evening faithfully. The Church has reserved Monday evening for that purpose. In 1915, the First Presidency instructed local leaders and parents to inaugurate a home evening, a time when parents should teach their families the principles of the gospel.

The Presidency wrote: “If the Saints obey this counsel, we promise that great blessings will result. Love at home and obedience to parents will increase. Faith will be developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain power to combat the evil influence and temptations which beset them.”

President David O. McKay gave the same promise in 1965 and added that the youth will gain power “to choose righteousness and peace, and be assured an eternal place in the family circle of our Father.”

In 1976, the Presidency reaffirmed that “regular participation in family home evening will develop increased personal worth, family unity, love for our fellowmen, and trust in our Father in heaven.

Considering these glorious promises, we would expect every faithful member to be exceedingly diligent in following this prophetic counsel. But, of course, we are all human, and our best plans don’t always materialize. Why not? Let it not be for lack of commitment."

--Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Spiritually Strong Homes and Families

Our Health Duty

“I am grateful to understand that my physical body is an eternal component of my eternal soul, and that I have a duty to honor and respect and care for it, and to refrain from knowingly imposing upon it any treatment or substances deleterious to it. While I could not choose nor govern the condition of the body into which I came, I have the responsibility to give it the best care I can, and if I do not I am acting in derogation of a great gift of God.”
--Marion D. Hanks, “For Man is Spirit”

Come to the Temple

"The season of the world before us will be like no other in the history of mankind. Just as this is the dispensation of the fullness of times, so it is also the dispensation of the fullness of evil. There is no safety in the world: wealth cannot provide it, enforcement agencies cannot assure it, membership in this church alone cannot bring it. We must come to the temple for light and safety. There are hosts of unseen sentinels watching over and guarding our temples. There will come a period of time when even the elect will lose hope if they do not come to the temples. They will long to bring their children here for safety's sake. The covenants and ordinances will fill us with faith as a living fire. In a day of desolating sickness, scorched earth, barren wastes, sickening plagues, disease, destruction, and death: we as a people will rest in the shade of trees, we will drink from the cooling fountain. We will abide in places of refuge from the storm, we will mount up as on eagle's wings."
--Vaughn J. Featherstone