I know it’s been over 3 months since I’ve written anything here on the blog.  I guess several things have come into focus or been resolved, so if anyone might still be reading this, I’ll try to give an update.

One of the reasons for no recent blog is that I started working for VNA (Visiting Nurses Assn) in mid-September. It has been over 17 years since I worked in the hospital - equipment and machines have changed, treatments and meds have changed, so it’s been a bit stressful catching up. 75% of our patients are Medicare, so I’m getting to see first-hand what a government-run healthcare system would feel like – an incredible amount of paperwork! We nurses are given laptops to use in the field as we visit patients in their homes, so the paperwork is actually computer work. I love getting to meet and visit people in their homes all over the county, and I am really enjoying the people I work with at VNA. God has been so good to provide for our family through everything that has happened. At first, I really resented being in the position of having to work at a stressful job, but God knew that I needed something to focus on to get outside of me and my loss, and the position has given me a renewed sense of confidence and purpose. I am a caregiver by nature and by profession, and as always, God has provided what I and our family needed.

I have been attending a weekly grief support group called Grief Share. It is an international program based in North Carolina consisting of 13 weekly videos to help those who have lost loved ones. Both trained Christian professionals, as well as every day regular people, talk about their grief experiences, what is normal, what is not, and what God has done in their lives to help them through this process called grief. The group and the videos have been extremely helpful for me in working through all the normal, but extremely powerful emotions everyone goes through in losing a loved one. I would highly recommend the series to anyone seeking help and resolution after losing someone dear to them.

Daniel and Becky are doing well. Daniel is in his first semester at Cabrillo, our local community college, and is doing a good job of rising to the demand of college schedules and responsibilities. He’s still deciding whether to continue next school year at community college, or possibly go to Seattle Pacific University, where Scott graduated from, since his chosen major is still uncertain. He continues to really enjoy volunteering at church helping out with both the Jr Hi and Sr Hi tech teams. Becky is working hard on her senior high school year, and all the necessary testing and application processes to go to college next year. She doesn’t know yet what she’d like her major to be, but her dream is to hopefully get into UCLA, and maybe at some point, be able to study abroad in Europe if the opportunity arises.

One of the biggest uncertainties after Scott died was all of his outstanding medical bills from UCSF that fell in-between the two insurance coverages because of lengthy delays in all the billing processes. I had applied to UCSF in August for finanial aid, but it wasn’t until this past week that I finally heard their decision. ALL OF THE $22,000+ IN MEDICAL BILLS HAS BEEN FORGIVEN! Once again, God has been so amazing in His protection and provision! Thanks to so many, many of you who have faithfully and consistently lifted up prayers to God for His help and intervention that the debt would be erased. After all, forgiveness of our ‘debts’ has always been God’s specialty!

One other piece of news that I’d hoped would be in place by now, but isn’t yet due to unforseen delays, is the Memorial Bench for Scott here at Mount Hermon. Mostly family and a few close friends donated funds for a bench in Scott’s memory this past summer. It is ready to be installed, but the original location became unavailable, and a new location had to be chosen. Hopefully within the next few weeks, it will be placed. The new site will be across the bridge and over the little stream at the far side of the Meadow (Rec Field). There is a small, cathedral-like grove of redwood trees where it will be situated in a very peaceful, comtemplative location. It will be a wonderful place to go, sit still, and remember him.

My last piece of news is also exciting for me to anticipate. As many of you may remember, in February of 2007, Becky and I had the incredible priviledge of going to India on a 2 week mission trip to give out Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes to some of the poorest children in the slums of Delhi. It was a life-changing experience for both of us, and the children of India still tug at my heart. So, God willing, I am planning on going again this coming late February to mid-March with a team from our church. If any of you are interested in giving prayer support, and/or financial help, please e-mail me at the address I still am using – scotthalverson@sbcglobal.net , and I will send you the info if you would like to know more.

Little by little, we are picking up the pieces and moving on to what God has for us. We miss Scott terribly, and he is never far from our thoughts, but God IS good, even though life is hard, and He has never let go of us. For all this, we are thankful. And for such supportive friends and family like you, we are eternally grateful.

God bless you all,

Lynne, Daniel, and Becky

Hello to all our faithful friends and family who continue to support us spiritually, financially, emotionally, and practically in so many, many ways. Scott is making amazing progress after 2 weeks out of the ICU, and the case worker and medical staff are deep in the process of making all necessary preparations for him to be discharged to home soon – possibly within the next few days to a week if all details come together.

He’s been 2 days now without the feeding tube, and has been able to take in enough oral nutrition (with the help of high calorie and protein drinks) to keep the tube out. PT is working hard at increasing his mobility and endurance, and today he was able to sit up high in the neuro chair for over 2 hours – longest time up since before he went into the ICU. His room is up on the 14th floor of UCSF and at the end of the hall facing towards the Golden Gate Bridge and Park. We rolled him in the chair out to the wall-to-wall floor-to-ceiling picture window where he had an incredible view and ate lunch. No fainting or dizzyness – yay! So this is another huge step in getting him mobilized and upright.

There was some discussion of possibly closing up his trach before he went home to let him breathe through normal channels, but the ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) docs feel he is not yet able to handle the respiratory secretions adequately to prevent pneumonia from occuring. Evidently, respiratory sequellae and problems can occur for up to a year after a patient having pulmonary clots of the magnitude and seriousness that Scott had. Hopefully, as secretions do continue to decrease (which they definitely are), he’ll be able to have the trach closed at some time in the not too distant future.

Within a few days we’ll be getting several items of medical equipment delivered to our home, including a hospital bed, oxygen tanks, and much more. We’re hoping Scott will be ready for a reclining wheelchair before he leaves the hospital, because if he’s not, there will be no way to get him out of the bed and bedroom for a change of scenery. Please pray that he’ll be strong enough in time, otherwise it could be weeks at home before there’s enough documentation to justify ordering it (and insurance paying for it!).

Speaking of insurance, there are still a lot of things that need to fall into place in the right order and right timing in the transition between the old and the new insurances. We are trusting that God in His sovereign power will pull all things together at just the right time to provide for our needs, as He already has so many, many times through all of this.

Another prayer request would be for the whole issue of help for me at home with caring for Scott’s many needs – that it will all be figured out in the right timing. There are several possibilities being looked at, but no certainty or definite decisions available yet.

Enough for this blog note, but hopefully, if he has adequate energy and time, the next blog might even be written by Scott himself!

God bless you all, and our deepest gratitude to all of you.

Much love, from Lynne for the Halversons

It’s Thursday morning, April 9, and 17 years ago today, our daughter, Becky, was born at 7:30 in the morning. Happy Birthday, Becky!

Sorry to have taken so long to update the blog, but I’ve been so busy that I just haven’t had the chance. Scott has been out of the ICU now for 1 week as of today, and he is doing really well. Secretions in his lungs continue to be a problem (and will be for some time to come with the pulmonary clots), but the staff are doing an excellent job of giving him regular breathing treatments and suctioning. Thankfully there’s no sign of infection (pneumonia) so far, so hopefully we can keep him free of respiratory illness.

The other issue of the open area at his tailbone is resolving wonderfully. With the new bed, consistent nutrition, and regular bandage changes, it’s healing and closing in beautifully. At this point, he is probably able to take in somewhere around 30-50% of his needed nutrition by eating, and the rest has to be by tube feedings, mostly at night. The main problem is just that it takes so long and requires so much energy to carefully chew and swallow around his trach, that just getting through half of a meal easily can take 1-2 hours.

One of the biggest goals is for Scott to be strong enough so he can come home, and to that end, Physical Therapy is working with him daily. He has been horizontal for so long, that even just sitting upright would cause him to essentially faint and lose consciousness. We’ve been getting him accustomed to being upright by raising the head of his bed up more often for more time. Tuesday, he was actually able to sit up on the edge of the bed (dangling) for 2 1/2 minutes, (without passing out) and then Wednesday, he dangled for a whole 8 minutes! The Physical Therapist, who is pretty non-demonstrative, was practically skipping out of the room because she was so thrilled with what Scott was strong enough to do. She shares a love of bicycling with Scott, and her mental pictures of how this feat is equivalent to Scott climbing a long, steep hill on his bike, were really helpful for him to picture as it takes absolutely every ounce of strength and energy he can muster right now just to sit on the edge of the bed.

Please continue to pray for all the financial/insurance/MediCal issues that we’re attempting to resolve. Unfortunately, it takes up a lot of Scott’s and my time together and much of his available energy trying to get it figured out.

Scott has been part of a four-some group of friends that have known each other since Jr. Hi. school, and have kept in close touch in spite of being spread out all up and down the West Coast – from the Seattle area to down below the Los Angeles area. The other 3 guys all flew or drove in today to be with Scott for a couple of days, so he’s been really excitedly anticipating their visit. Thank you, to Dan, Clint, and Marty for being such great, loyal friends, and to Amy and Shelly for letting your husbands come.

Thank you for all the continued care, love, comfort, prayers, and support from so many who are continuing down this path with us. When Scott is ready to come home, we will need even more helping hands to give him the care he will need.

With much love, Lynne, Scott, Daniel, and Becky

Scott was finally able to be moved out of the ICU this morning about 10:30am. The ICU medical team had started discussing the possibility last Thursday or Friday, so I hoped and expected it to happen one of the days earlier this week while I could be there. But, of course, it happened today when I had to be at home to take care of several things. Still, God provided friends who could be with him during this transition when I couldn’t. Thank you so much to Bill Fernald and Rene Gabriel for being willing to give him some company and comfort today.

The big goal now is for him to gain upper extremity strength and increased torso balance so I can manage him with transfers, and then he can come home! As of dinner yesterday, he was able to eat soft/pureed real food, and he was doing well with his intake, as long as he ate slowly and well so as not to choke. He will still need tube feedings for a while, since he literally just doesn’t have the energy to spend the time it would take to slowly eat all the nutrition he needs. Nausea, as one of the side effects still ligering from the chemo, is still often a problem, too. We don’t know yet how long until he will be ready to come home, but I can pretty much guarantee I will need a lot of help when that time comes.

Becky and I will be heading back up to S.F. tomorrow morning. It will be a little easier for her to handle now that he is out of the ICU. All the machines, monitors, and tubings can be pretty scary and overwhelming for anyone, especially if it’s your dad in the middle of all the above.

I haven’t actually seen the open wound area at his tailbone for a few days now, but the nurses reassure me they feel it is healing in a little better now with his new bed.

Would continue to appreciate prayers for all the headaches, pressures, documentation, and paperwork that go along with all the application/approval processess for the new insurance and for MediCal. Phone calls and searching for necessary documents and information seem to take up the vast majority of my time when I am home. As you can imagine, life over the past almost year and a half has been a little less than organized for us, so it’s often a great victory when I can find something I’m looking for.

Thanks from both Scott and myself, as well as Daniel and Becky for all the continued prayers and practical support. We truly feel that if we had to go through something as difficult as this, God could not have put us in a better place with better help and support than right where we are. All of you have been the hands and feet of Jesus helping us survive in all the necessary practical needs as they have arisen. We could not ask for more of an outpouring of love than we have experienced so continually from all of you through all of this.

God bless you all,

Lynne, for the Halversons

It’s Monday afternoon, March 30th, and Scott and I are hanging out in his ICU room. He’s tired, but reading a BusinessWeek magazine for something to do as another day goes by – at least we get to be together. He’s been listening to his “70′s” songs playlist on iTunes on his laptop, and several of the staff keep coming in to say how much they’re enjoying his various songs and music genres. Not their usual ICU patient!

He’s been having feeding tube problems again – not pulling it out, but it got kinked and out of position and had to be replaced. Fortunately, he’s been able to take clear liquids like beef or chicken broth, clear sodas, and juices, so he’s been able to do okay with some nutrition intake.

He’s been off the IV BP med (Dopamine) now for several days, and the oral med they’ve used to replace the IV med has actually been decreased also, so this is very good news. His body his taking back over the function of keeping his BP up adequately.

The open area at his tailbone is responding very well to the decreased pressure of his new bed, and as the pulmonary clots continue to slowly shrink, he’s having less respiratory secretions and generally breathing easier.

Thank you to friends Susan Schaaf and Marty Walker for taking the time to come visit and be with Scott yesterday while I had to spend a day at home catching up. It really helps keep his spirits up to have some occasional companionship and encouragement.

Saturday, one of the hematology/oncology docs came in to see Scott, and Scott raised the question about when the stem cell harvest would be. I realized at that point that even though he was awake and nodding when one of the other docs had announced that there could be no stem cell harvest or transplant a few weeks ago, he had no memory of it now. So I had to break the unpleasant news to him all over again why there couldn’t be any stem cell harvest or transplant. It was hard for him emotionally to process the news – that barring divine healing, there was no longer any long-term survival option medically. We talked about it for a bit, and there were some tears on both our parts. He asked if his family in Seattle and Daniel and Becky knew yet about this decision, and when I told him that yes, we had all had a couple of weeks to process the news, he seemed to feel a little easier. I think it helped him that everyone knew and had been praying already.

He was pretty quiet and thoughtful much of the rest of the day, but before I left, I felt like he had found some strength, and was ready to trust God and deal with whatever happened, and to still fight with all he had to be able to get home for as long as possible.

The ICU medical staff have been talking for a few days, now, that he’s so close to being ready to transfer to a step-down unit, but then something else happens, and it’s delayed another day. Please pray that all would come together so he could be stable enough and ready to get out of the ICU. This coming Wednesday will mark 7 weeks in ICU, and 9 weeks total in the hospital.

I know sometimes I feel like a broken record when I say thank you over and over again as this long pathway continues on and on. But we are so truly grateful for all the prayers, comfort, help, and encouragement so many continue to give untiringly. God bless you all.

With love,

Lynne for the Halversons

It’s late Monday afternoon, and since he didn’t sleep very well last night, Scott’s been sleeping much of the day. Overall, though, it’s been a really good day for him. The PET scan was bumped to tomorrow morning, but I just found out that before today is over, he will be getting CT scans of chest, abdomen, and pelvis, which they can then compare with the PET scan tomorrow.

He got a “swallow” test by a speech therapist today, which he passed with flying colors. They will wait and repeat the test tomorrow, and if he continues to do as well, he’ll be ready to try some soft food. YAY! He’s been telling me for at least 2 weeks now that he’s hungry for real food.

He’s been off the ventilator continuously since Friday morning, and has the speaking “button” in pretty much all the time now. We’re doing a lot of laughing because of his weak voice and my laryngitis voice. I often have to whisper in his ear for him to hear me over the roar of the oxygen blowing at his trach. I’ve been offered a speaking “button” by some of the staff, just in case it would help!

They’ve been able to turn the IV BP med (Dopamine) way down, but it’s still not quite off yet. Many improvements and answers to prayers. Some staff are saying that if he continues as well as he is doing, there’s a very good likelyhood he’ll get to be discharged from ICU to a step-down floor perhaps by the end of the week.

I feel like I both do and don’t want to know the results of the CT and PET scans. He’s been doing so well and progressing so unexpectedly rapidly that it would be hard to hear really negative results. But since they’ll obviously need to know the status of the cancer to plan for his discharge from ICU, as well as hopefully eventually home or to rehab, they will be very important indicators.

Please pray for the results that they would be helpful in his prognosis. I would of course LOVE to see everything come back NEGATIVE and clear, but more than that, just pray for us to keep trusting God’s love and provision for us no matter what the outcome.

Many thanks and many blessings on you all,

Lynne, Scott, Daniel, and Becky

Sorry to take so long to bring an update. I’ve been sick with a head cold which turned into another sinus infection and laryngitis. Fortunately, antibiotics can turn things around quickly, but I still don’t have my voice back yet. Thankfully, our friends Ted and Jane Hutchinson were able to stay and be with Scott for a few more days so I could rest and recuperate longer at home until I was no longer contagious. Thank you to Scott’s cousin, Ann Gunderson, for being willing to entertain and house strangers (T and J) without my being there to introduce them.

A quick update about Friday when Daniel and Becky came up with me: unfortunately, Scott was too sleepy to really be able to hold any kind of a conversation without him dozing off after a few words. Hopefully, with how much progress he’s making, they’ll be able to come up again soon and we’ll try again.

Scott was off the ventilator and just on humidified oxygen for all day Thursday and Friday, just going back on at night. Right now he’s been off for 2 days and nights, and even though it’s wearing, he’s been able to hold his own. He still has a fair amount of fluid in his lungs because of the clots, but his cough is stronger, and he’s pretty much having the speaking “button” in all day. It is SO nice to be able to talk with him. Unfortunately, my laryngitis isn’t helping anything – we’re quite the pair trying to talk with each other.

He is still on the IV med (Dopamine) to keep his BP up, but they’re trying to taper that off as they slowly increase an oral med for his BP. He’ll need to be off the IV med to leave the ICU. Speaking of leaving the ICU, maybe this week, if all balances out and remains stable. Tomorrow, Monday, he’s scheduled for a PET scan to check the status of the cancer, as well as another trip down to radiology to advance the feeding tube again since he pulled the other one out accidentally the day after his first trip to radiology.

Scott is having some confusion, especially in the early morning hours, but after being in an ICU for 5 1/2 weeks, a little ICU psychosis is hardly surprising. He’s doing the hard work of breathing on his own, as well as using a squeeze ball to exercise his hands to regain strength and coordination. He is weak, but he just keeps coming back. The docs feel he is doing better right now than they thought he would, so that’s encouraging. Right now (Sunday afternoon), he’s off and on dozing, but in between he’s watching a little March Madness on tv.

Thanks to SO many of you for your visits, notes of encouragement, and many prayers.

God bless you all, Lynne for the Halversons

It’s Monday morning March 2nd, here in the ICU. Scott is sedated and resting comfortably at the moment, and has actually had a busy morning already. Heidi, Scott’s favorite PT, was in earlier and sat him up on the side of the bed for about 3 minutes just before I arrived. She said he tolerated it fairly well, and she was pleased at how much trunk strength and coordination he still had. Good news!

He still has the breathing tube in place, and is on the ventilator, but now the plan is to give him what is called a tracheostomy, probably tomorrow. A tracheostomy is a minor surgical procedure to place the breathing tube into his lungs through his neck, rather than through his mouth. There are several advantages to having this procedure done that will help Scott recover and mobilize faster than if the tube remains through his mouth. Thankfully, there was space on the OR schedule for him tomorrow morning.

He’ll be able to at least communicate by mouthing words; he’ll be more comfortable so he’ll need less sedation; and it will be easier to assess whether he is ready yet or not to go off the ventilator without the trauma of taking the tube out and having to put it back in. All that has to be done is to close the tube from the outside, and he’ll be able to breathe and talk normally. If he can’t sustain and support his own respirations, they only have to reopen the tube and connect him back to the ventilator. There will be less trauma, irritation, and the ability to have a more rapid response if he again starts working too hard to breathe.

When he did have the tube out last Friday afternoon for about 3 hours, most of what he had to say was, “Let’s get this show on the road,” “get me out of here,” and “take me home.” I can’t blame him one bit for wanting to get out of here. Just by definition, being sick enough to need to be in an ICU means nothing is even remotely comfortable, no matter how hard the staff try – and they do try very hard to ease the discomfort.

Other than the respiratory issues, he is very close to being able to be discharged out of the ICU to another hospital floor. They did need to restart the heparin again in order to prevent any additional clot formation or any enlargement of the existing clots. They’re also keeping a very close eye on the digestive system bleeding. Since both upper and lower scopes found no obvious lesions or areas of bleeding, it’s likely just a diffuse, small amount of oozing throughout his intestinal wall as a result of the necessary heparin therapy. He’s not losing a lot of his red blood cells, according to lab results, so they are just monitoring everything often, and transfusing additional blood as necessary.

I talked with 2 of the attending hematology/oncology docs yesterday afternoon (yes, the bigwigs are here even on weekends!), and both were encouraging as far as they do expect Scott to recover well enough to make it out of the ICU before too much longer. As far as the cancer, once he’s stable enough to get off the ventilator, then they’ll want to start some additional MRI’s and other imaging to find out what the status is.

So, it’s one day at a time, since “each day has enough trouble of its own.” Thanks especially to Bill and Cathy Huckaby who spent the weekend with Scott to give him comfort and company, and so I could take some time to be with Daniel and Becky.

Praises are that he’s remaining stable, and his body is definitely kicking in to reproduce more of his own cell counts (white, red, and platelets), so he is recovering from the chemo effects.

Prayers would be:

1. For the safe accomplishment of the tracheostomy procedure tomorrow;
2. More breathing comfort and less sedation with the trach;
3. Continuing and more rapid resolution of the pulmonary clots;
4. Minimal and sustainable intestinal bleeding with the necessary heparin therapy; and
5. Continued healing with no infection of the slightly open bed sore on his tailbone.

Many, many, thanks to all of you who are faithfully and often praying.

Lynne, for Scott, Daniel, and Becky

Friday afternoon, here in the ICU. Scott’s still fairly sleepy and sedated, but he certainly still knows me when he’s awake. There are several very good things to report for him today.

Yesterday late afternoon, he had an endoscopy and a colonoscopy, under sedation, to look at both his upper and lower digestive tracts. They were trying to find any area that would account for the slow bleeding, but the oozing had actually stopped, and they couldn’t even find anywhere that looked suspicious. The final decision was that the bleeding was caused by the heparin (the anti-coagulant used to thin his blood to prevent clot formation), and stopped once the heparin stopped. This is a fairly common side-effect, so thankfully, nothing else was seen.

Also yesterday, Physical Therapy came in and had him briefly sitting up on the side of the bed. He wasn’t terrible comfortable, but the PT said she was very impressed with how much strength he still had in his arms – very good to know!

Today, they are little by little decreasing his ventilator parameters, hoping that if he tolerates it all well, they may even be able to extubate him today – and if not today, then likely tomorrow! Really excellent news!

It’s a little after 6 pm, and they kicked me out about 3:30 so they could take the breathing tube out. Yay! He’s breathing on his own! He’s still working hard to breathe, but so far, he’s holding his own. Hopefully, he’ll do well enough once they get him comfortable to be able to keep the tube out for the night. His voice is raspy, and he has some phlegm he’s trying to expel with a weak cough, but overall, he’s doing okay.

Our friends, Cathy (camp name – “Crutches”) and Bill Huckaby, both RN’s, are coming over tomorrow morning from the central valley to be with Scott for a couple of days and give me a break to be with Daniel and Becky. Thanks to both of you for being willing to spell me for a bit!

Please pray that Scott will be able to maintain his respiratory status and not need to be re-intubated. He is of course still pretty weak, but all other indicators are moving in good directions.

Thanks to all of you faithful prayer warriors upholding us before the throne of grace. It is because of God’s strength, and friends and family like all of you who are keeping us going during these very difficult times. Bless you all, and much praise and thanksgiving to our great God and Savior.

Love Scott, Lynne, Daniel, and Becky

P.S. It’s now after 9 pm, just got home, called the ICU, and unfortunately, Scott did need to be re-intubated not too long after I left. Not a big surprise, often happens this way – a patient is oh-so-close to being able to breathe okay without help, but not quite close enough. They’ll give him another day or two to heal some more, then likely attempt taking it out again.

Also tomorrow, they’ll resume the heparin, but at the lowest therapeutic dose possible to forestall any more bleeding problems. His own bone marrow is now doing well at producing the platelets and white blood cells that he needs.

Just wanted to put out a quick update note. Scott is definitely brighter, more awake and alert today. He’s stilll having some occasional respiratory issues, but the medical and nursing staff are great in diagnosing and treating problems right away. He asked to use his laptop and iPod today, so he’s definitely feeling better. His WBC (white blood cell) count still needs to come up so the inflammation in his mouth can heal, and so his digestive system can kick into gear again. One good sign is that tests and scans show no obstruction in his gut, and he actually said he felt hungry today, so that’s really good news – should start up soon.

I have to tell you all about another evidence of God’s timing in the midst of all this stress and chaos. I haven’t been home for almost a week. I literally had forgotten during the past week’s events that our good friends, Dan and Shelly Lawrence, had planned over a month ago with us that they wanted to come down from Seattle and be with Scott in the hospital for a few days to give me a break. They didn’t exactly expect it to be in the ICU, but were still very willing to come as planned. God knew I would need a break right at this very time, and set it up for just the right time when Scott would be stable enough for me to leave for a couple of days.

I’m home tonight, exhausted, but very thankful for God’s prepared provision ahead of time. He continues to go ahead of us on this long, difficult, and often very dark path, providing what we need to survive and not lose hope.

Some prayer and practical needs:

1. Continue praying for Scott’s increasing strength and improving respiratory status.
2. Pray his WBC’s will continue increasing quickly so many other areas can heal.
3. I desperately need some help with some housecleaning. If a few could come over as a group sometime later this week, please call Cindy Richie at 430-1230 to coordinate a time.

Thank you, and bless you all.

The Halversons