April 6th

In lieu of flowers, if you would like to make a donation in Jerry’s memory, you can send a check to:

PHA, 801 Roeder Road Suite 400, Silver Spring, MD 20910

and include a note that it is in Jerry Wojciechowski’s memory.

You can also go online to make a tribute donation, http://www.phassociation.org/donate/ (click on “one time gift” and fill out the form.)

Betty Lou
*This is the day that the Lord has made - I will rejoice and be glad in it!"

April 5th

The services will be held on Monday, April 9th

10:00-12:00 We will have an "Open House" viewing @ O'Connor's Mortuary 25301 Alicia Parkway in Laguna Hills

A memorial service will be held @ 1:00 @ Mission Hills Church
24196 Alicia Parkway in Mission Viejo

April 5th

Thank you all that have continued to go this road with us and all of your
prayers and support. In case you haven't heard, Jerry's battle is over. We
will post information on Jerry's website, under "Betty Lou's blog," as
details are finalized.

http://www.myworldbeyondthedoor.com

Betty Lou
*This is the day that the Lord has made - I will rejoice and be glad in it!"

April 3rd

Today started out ok but the numbers soon dwindled. Getting jerry's oxygen up to an ok level was a struggle and he had to be put on BiPap which is a forced oxygen mask.

The real problem now is that his blood pressure...usually somewhere between the high 80's and low 90's over 50's......is in the low 80's and bounce down to the mid 70's over 30-40's.....In order to keep it higher, we can't give pain meds, or give him the warming blanket and the head of the bed needs to be lower than the foot of the bed. He is alert, but keeps his eyes mostly closed as he is cold and very tired. A miracle could turn things around maybe. Thankfully, Mark and Michelle have been here all day Monday and most of today.

I'll be reporting daily until there is a major change one way or another...of course Jerry's always told me that he'll be fine, no matter how things turn out.......he is a fine, strong man who won't give up. So neither will we nor his doctors or nurses. More soon. Thanks for your continued thoughts, prayers, etc.

We love you!
Betty Lou

April 2nd

Sorry it's been a couple of days...what day is it, again??


It was a rough night....quite a few icky numbers....scary! Now, however, the doctor is taking a different direction. His belly was accumulating fluids and pushing up on his lungs keeping him from easy breathing. They drained 2 and a half liters of fluid from him today. He's still on dialysis around the clock and his numbers are holding. He is so much more comfortable, too with the fluid gone. We will again try food tonite and see how it goes. We have a long, rough road ahead of us if he is to leave the hospital. So we patiently (or not too patiently, sometimes) take just one minute, one hour, one day at a time, holding God's hand.....or letting him hold us in His hands! I have a bed to sleep on in his room now so getting better rest, except for last night! Our kids are here everyday and my sisters and sister in law are here or running errands for me daily. Thanks for your prayers and wishes. Though Jerry's not up to visitors, I'd love to hear from you via email or phone anytime.


Thanks for standing with us!


Love,


Betty Lou

March 31st

A new day, a new story!~


So, Friday they indeed did take Jerry off the respirator. It was quick and relatively painless. He then struggled for several hours trying to maintain his oxygen saturation. Finally that is under control and he's not on 100% oxygen but on a regular O2 cannula. Then there was what they call the ICU neurosis....that was weird. Several hours where he had no idea where we were or why, was paranoid about the nurses and wanted me to get him out of here!


He is now resting comfortably, has a great night nurse, all the tubes and wires are in place as they should be. Turns out that without kidney function, the pain meds just stayed in his system and confused him. Also, when he was on the vent, they never really got him to a deep sleep so he was restless the whole time. SO>>>>>>>he is exhausted now!


More in the morning! Thanks for your continued prayers, calls, cards, and love!


Betty Lou

March 28th

Today's update is a short one.


Jerry spent the entire day on the ventilator.


The docs and nurses and resp. therapists and dialysis nurses all worked on removal of extra fluid built up in his blood.


Kidney's still not functioning.. Dialysis is continuous for now.


Sometimes he gets so cold his temp drops to 95.7.


He can open his eyes but can't swallow or talk plus his hands are held down with soft restraints so he won't pull out his ventilator tube by mistake. But he's had several visitors today who could see him open his eyes, wiggle his eyebrows, give them a thumbs up sign, or shake his head yes or no.


Really what he needs is rest.


The doctors agree that if his oxygen numbers improve by morning, he can be taken off the vent. If not, perhaps the next day. They are prudently cautious.


We must be patient and continue trusting God for his wisdom and timing.Thanks for your faithfulness and love and support. G'nite!


Love,


Betty Lou

March 27th

Hello dear friends and family!


Please join us in Praising the Lord!


I'll try to keep to the simple facts though there is so much to tell!


The great news is:


1. Jerry survived the procedure.PTL!


2. The GI doctor "fixed' the pancreatic anomalies and is sure his efforts have stemmed Jerry's abdominal pains...There was no actual stone...some calcifications and two tiny sphincters that were cut to allow proper enzyme flow.....the weird news is that the pancreatic duct which is supposed to be 2 mm wide was 2 inches wide...wow....overstimulated and no he didn't drink to excess to get to this place so the cause is also a mystery but it's OK now!!! PTL!


3. Jerry is now on a ventilator which is driving him crazy! The breathing tube down his throat is so frustrating, Itreminds me of my attempts at snorkeling!! So they are sedating him so he can rest comfortably.PTL!


4 The goal now will be to reduce the amount of oxygen he is on so they can remove the respirator and get him breathing on his own! (i am hoping for tomorrow but we'll see!)


5. Best of all, his O2 saturations are 97-100% now where before they were in the 80s and scary


and his Blood pressure and brain activity are also within normal limits-PTL!


More news when I get it. Thanks for standing in prayer with us today especially. It's been a long one. I apologize for the lateness of the email but he just finally got comfortabl at 10:30 pm tonite!


I was fully supported today, so don't worry about me...Michelle and Mark were here, along with my 2 sisters and a sister in law. Long day for all of us but on we go to the next advenrture.


He's not completely out of the woods yet so keep praying!


Thanks!


Love,


Betty Lou

March 26th

Finally, I think I get it.....Jerry's PH caused his heart to not pump enuf...that caused the anemia and kidney failure...they in turn caused his PH to worsen.... Pray for us for tomorrow and for the coming days.


Love,


Betty Lou

March 26th

Hello again!

Sorry to email again so soon but there are some major changes to this story.


The surgery will be done at 2:30 pm tomorrow instead of 6 pm .


The anesthesiologist came to talk to us...Jerry will have to be put on a respirator during the procedure due to his low oxygen saturation. Scary for us...Michael was put on a respirator and never got off. He also told us that because of the low O2 and the Pulmonary Hypertension that this is an extremely high risk procedure for Jerry, as he will be fully sedated.. But what choice do we have? The pain from the stone is excruciating and comes so often. We know God has brought us to this place at this time and trust in His sovereignty and ask you to pray for success for Jerry in tomorrow's endeavor.


Love,


Betty Lou

March 26th

Hi all!

Thanks for hanging in there with us. They got us again...Cedars DOES NOT have a bed for Jerry. We are all (drs too) not happy with this situation but have decided to cut our losses. We are all officially so OVER going to Cedars Sinai!!!

New plan:

Stay at Mission.

Today, get Jerry's oxygen concentration up so that he can just use the nosepiece since right now he's using the mouthpiece 24/7 and no one could do the procedure with him that way as they have to go thru his mouth!!! This involves:

1. breathing treatments to expand his lungs.

2. percussion treatments (a machine pounds on his back) to help rid the lungs of fluid.

3. a new CT scan with contrast so they can see exactly what they are doing.

4. sitting up in bed or a chair as often as possible

Tomorrow: continue the above 4 things then , wait til you hear.........

ERCP procedure here at Mission to try to remove the pancreatic stone at 6 pm TUESDAY 3/27.

The only downside to all this is that here they can't do the sonic exploding of the stone which they could have done at Cedars. So they'll have to maneuver it out! If it doesn't work, they next thing to try is real surgery....open him up and remove it surgically. Let's all pray for the former.

Thanks for being there for us. Will be in touch. email us or call my cell anytime!

Love,

Betty Lou

March 25th

Hi!
Found a computer I can use to send an update tonite.
This morning, the docs found that Jerry had an infection in his blood.
They've been testing all day and evening to determine if it was an infection
in a line going into him, or a systemic infection. His blood pressure was
low (64/38) and his oxygen saturation in his blood very low too (80%s, even
on 10-15 liters of oxygen per minute!!) Scary! So they moved him back into
CICU at Mission. They started the antibiotics (vancomycin) and within a few
hours his o2 and blood pressure are nearly back to normal. Also the blood
tests show that the infection indeed was NOT sepsis (systemic) but rather on
the tip of the dialysis catheter!!! So they pulled that one out of his neck
and inserted another into his groin.
They hope to remove more fluid from his body with the dialysis tonite to
relieve the stress on the heart and kidneys. The better blood pressure will
help with the kidney function so we are somewhat encouraged.
Once we moved to CICU, the call finally came from Cedars...they have a bed!!
So if all goes well, sometime during the night or early morning hours after
dialysis, we'll be riding our way to Cedars Sinai Hospital in an
ambulance...what adventures we have in Wojo's World!!
He is scheduled to have the pancreatic stone removed on Tuesday and expect
to be transferred back to Mission Hospital by the end of the week so they
can finish evaluating kidney funcition, anemia, etc.
Will keep you informed as we get informed! Great doctors and nurses
here...wonderful care and attention...and I get to stay right by his side
24/7.....comforting.
Thanks so much for your calls, cards, prayers, thoughts, messages,etc. You
are wonderful! Rest easy and know that God has Jerry, as He always has, in
the palm of his hand. And yes, He is still in the miracle business!!
Love,
Betty Lou=============

March 23rd

Hi all!

Unbelievably, we are still waiting to be transferred to Cedars Sinai for the
procedure to remove Jerry's pancreatic stone. While we wait, he remains on
constant pain meds, liquid food (yuck)....daily dialysis, checks of his
glucose.sometimes getting daily shots of insulin, epogen (to remake the red
blood cells) etc. He seems comfortable but is asleep most of the time. Feel
free to call my cell anytime: (949) 230-9955 for further info.

Will let you know if status changes.

Love,

Betty Lou

March 15th

Dear Friends and Family,

Jerry was taken via ambulance to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo last Saturday night (3/10) due to severe abdominal pain that just got worse and worse for 3 hours….even the Paramedics’ morphine didn’t touch the pain.
We spent 8 hours in the ER where we found out several things….
Jerry was very anemic, again
He was in severe kidney failure and
A medicine called dilaudid finally helped settle him down.

They did a CAT scan of his belly and moved him to a floor. Within hours, they reevaluated his pain and his situation and got a team of specialists involved and moved him to CICU (Cardiac Intensive Care Unit-room 11…no,there’s no phone!~)
He was thoroughly checked out by the pulmonologist (who actually treats Pulmonary Hypertension patients and is familiar with the treatments); the internists, the GI guys and gals and the kidney (renal) specialists. As a result,
1. He was on 24 hr dialysis for about 36 hours. After that, his kidney function hadn’t returned so they planned for more…..
2. The CAT scan showed that the pancreatic stone, which the UCSD GI guy said was NOT the cause of his pain, was causing the pain, as it was causing pancreatic enzymes to leak down the insides of his abdomen and pool near the bottom where the pain originated each time.
3. His PH is pretty stable-still has pressures of around 80 (high but the same as a couple of years ago) and his cardiac output is about 4.5 same as last year.
4. After 3 units of transfused blood, his anemia is improving but still not there.
5. He now requires oxygen to keep him oxygen saturated even when he’s awake.
TODAY, Thurs, March 15th, he started daily hemodialysis (about 3 hours a day). They will re-evaluate how much and how long he’ll need that after every treatment.

Sunday, they will transfer Jerry to Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles to see a doc who specializes in pancreatic duct stone removal. It will be done thru and endoscopy tube with a camera. If all goes well, he will be returned to CICU at Mission Hospital 24 hours after the procedure. Transportation will be by ambulance.

Since I have no computer access at the hospitals, please send any email to Michelle @ sweitzerm@svusd.k12.ca.us

As always, thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Love,
Betty Lou


*This is the day that the Lord has made - I will rejoice and be glad in it!"