RICHARD FELIPE UPDATE #3: OFF THE RESPIRATOR!!!

Posted on September 14, 2008 by richard

Friends and Family-
Great news! Today was a HUGE milestone. Richard was taken off the respirator at around 11:15 this morning. His vitals were great and he was awake enough to have removed. All he could do was give me hand gestures indicating that he wanted to take it out the tube, which was another great sign of his alertness.

The day itself was no cake walk. He struggled with the pain of his soar throat, coupled with the fact that he has to continually cough up flem in order to clear his lungs. The pressure from the coughing had him wincing in pain all day long. Fortunately, he was gaining in strength and agility little by little the whole day through. He could talk, but he voice was so hoarse (from removing the tube) that it was just above a raspy whisper.

The majority of the day was a struggle for pain relief. Pain from his thoat, incisions, IVs, lower back and catheter. He has yet to find a position that gives him comfort for more than 6-7 minutes.

Your prayers are powerful and we’re living the evidence of that!! Richard is tying to get some sleep, but has yet to rest more than 15-20 minutes without having to cough up flem and suction it out (the suction is like the one you use at the dentist office, which allows him to remove the flem from his mouth).

In spite of the struggles, we KNOW that today was miraculous. I’m so thankful to be able to talk w/ Richard and to have him communicate. He did get off a good handful of jokes, in spite of having to catch his breath just to say them…. that’s Richard!

OK, I apologize if any of this e-mail reads oddly. It’s way past my bedtime and my eyes are heavy. ….just wanted to make sure you had the update before Sunday morning church so that you could add Richard to your praise report lists!!

Thanks again to everyone! I pray that you are richly blessed from above for the selfless prayers, help & support that you’ve given to us!! Keep ’em a comin’!

All our love & gratitude!

Maria
310-254-8578 cell

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RICHARD FELIPE Update #2: Get Me Off This Respirator!!

Posted on September 12, 2008 by richard

Hello all-
It’s 8:20am on Friday morning. I’m calling out for prayer to all of you. Richard’s vitals are excellent and the goal today is to get him off the respirator. At this point, they’ve taken him off the sedative. However, as he’s been on it for 3 days and there’s such a high volume in his body that he’s pretty knocked out. He responds to his name immediately by opening his eyes. He’s winked one eye at me several times this morning, which I’m pretty sure is his way of flirting even under heavy sedation [ He is Cuban through and through
😉 ]

PRAYER NEED: If we’re going to make today’s goal of taking him off the respirator, Richard needs to be fully awake on his own; breathing on his own without help of the machine. So, we need to pray that the sedative wears off rapidly and that he’s able to respond as needed.

TO KEEP IN MIND: As he comes out of the sedative, it’s expected that he’ll begin to fight the fact that there’s a tube in his throat. The doctors have said that it’ll be necessary to reassure him that he has a tube in his throat, where he is, and what exactly is happening.
They want to keep him calm so that he doesn’t attempt to pull at anything (mainly the breathing tube) or fight against the doctors.

Also, PLEASE PRAY that the trauma of removing the tube is little to none. We keep hearing that the removal will be uncomfortable/painful and that his throat will, no doubt, be irritated. Considering all the other pain/discomfort that we’re anticipating for normal recovery from the esophagenctomy, we’re praying that the reprocussions of the breathing tube are miniscule.

ONWARD AND UPWARD!! God has surely given me, Richard’s mother, Duke and Anne and immense amount of peace at this time. Though it’s been hard to see him sedated, we know that the healing has begun and that this is just part of the recovery process. I can’t wait until Richard is at least able to talk to us and let us know what he’s feeling/thinking.

On a high note, I’m attaching a picture that we took in Pre-Op, about an hour before he went into surgery. The cap looked like a beret and he was being silly… what’s new!?! I laugh everytime I look at it and can’t wait until he’s back joking in like manner.

Thanks again for you prayers, visits, offers to assist in meals, rides for Richard’s mom to and from the hospital and so much more!!

Looking forward to reporting on his post respirator condition….

—
Maria Abeyta
Richard Felipe in pre-op

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RICHARD FELIPE Update #1: Over the Surgery Hurdle

Posted on September 10, 2008 by richard

Hello friends and family!
I realize that you’ve been waiting for an update on Richard and I apologize for the tardiness of this update.

I’m writing from the Cariothoracic ICU at the Ronald Regan/UCLA hospital. Richard has been here since getting out of surgery on Tuesday and will be here until at least tomorrow.

First things first: Surgery went really well. The surgeon reported that all went as planned in regards to removing the tumor and esophagus, as well as reconstructing the stomach to come up and meet the remainder of the esophagus at the base of his neck. She (the
surgeon) did let us know that the tumor had a lot of scar tissue on it (as a remnant from the radiation treatments), so at times it was hard to determine where the tumor (that contained scar tissue) ended and where the regular scar tissue (w/out any tumor) began. She told us that there’s no reason to believe that all of the tumor wasn’t removed, but that the final pathology report would answer that question. SO PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY THAT THE TUMOR WAS COMPLETELY REMOVED.

There was, however, a setback during surgery. Apparently, Richard aspirated during surgery, which caused some of his stomach contents to go into his lungs. The surgical team immediately took a camera down into the lungs and suctioned what stomach debris they found.
Unfortunately, because this took place, it was necessary to put him on a respirator, which he’s been on since getting out of surgery. This is mainly because they want to continue to have access to his lungs for cleaning purposes. They cleaned the lungs again this morning and will determine tomorrow morning if the lungs look clean enough to take him off the respirator. The doctor’s are keeping a keen eye out for any infection, which has a higher percentage of occurring because of the fact that he aspirated.

So, up until now, Richard has been unconscience. He’s responding to our voices and to commands such as, “squeeze my hand or move your toes”, which helps the nurses determine that his reflexes are fine.
The doctor has told us that there’s a minimal chance that he’ll remember any of this time b/c he’s so heavily sedated.

It’s been great to see the medical team do what they do best. Richard has had 5 nurses over the last 36 hours, and all have been incredible,
as well as the surgical & pain unit staff. They are incredibly
pro-active and it has given us a great deal of peace to know that Jesus is doing a supernatural healing as well as allowing the medical team to facilitate the natural healing.

I hope to send out another update once Richard is awake and we have an idea as to the next steps of recovery. Stay tuned…

THANKS SO MUCH for all your prayers, inquiries, visits, offers to help, phone calls and e-mails. Your support has been amazing and I’m so thankful to have you in our lives. Please keep ’em coming!

All my love and appreciation!!

Maria Abeyta
310-254-8578 cell

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Almost at the summit – update #5

Posted on September 9, 2008 by richard

Hello friends and family,

It sure has been an interesting summer and I am so thankful I have had company on this journey. The bible says to carry one another’s burdens, which I have certainly felt from so many of you. The many words of encouragement have been like wind for my sails. Plus, I know all the prayers are being heard by our Heavenly Father and at the throne room of Grace. They are indeed availing much. I know from being a father that nothing pleases me more then when my son comes to me with all sincerity to talk with me with matters on his heart, he has my full attention. So, if I am the cause for anyone getting closer with The Father, I am greatly honored and encourage it.

Thusfar, it has kinda been like climbing Mount Everest and making it all the way up to the final base camp. Tomorrow we reach for the summit, the most challenging leg of the journey. I say the summit because once it is reached, the decent – the way home, begins. I go to the hospital tomorrow (Tuesday), at 4:45am for some repairs (surgery) to this rental car. I am expecting to get the necessary repairs so I can drive many, many more miles until I get a new one.

It has been a pretty intense emotionally for the past week or so. Fighting off anxiety and overwhelment that has tried to creep in from many different angles. Not fear of dying, but overwhelment to have everything in order, just in case. That was part of it. It was also just realizing the variety of discomforts that await me. Many times saying in my mind, “ I Pass”. When I first met with my surgeon she told me to not go on the internet because there is so much stuff out there it is only going to scare me. I pretty much have kept that advice, but last week I felt I needed to do some research on my surgeon, the procedure and look for some testimonies or blogs of people that have had this procedure. Transhiatal esophagectomy, abdominal thoracic lymphadectomy, gastric pull up, jejurosomy – possible open. Sounds expensive doesn’t it ? Some of the statistics I came across made me shake in my boots, my surgeon was right. We did have the opportunity to have a lengthy conversation with a gentleman that had the procedure over a year ago and, although it was alarming, he was alive and well and he gave me great insight of what to expect. Again, “I Pass”, but I worked through it.

I do have great PEACE from above right now, Thank God.

UCLA offers a Carepages website you can visit for updates. I am still working on getting a webcam for the surgery room, so stay tuned.
http://www.carepages.com/carepages/Richardisonvacation

I am not sure when I will be ready for visitors, but feel free to e-mail, text or call Maria to find out.
[email protected]
(310) 254-8578

I will be at the new UCLA Ronald Regan Hospital which still has that new hospital smell.
Address:
757 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095

Phone:
Hospital Information (310) 825-9111
Patient Information (310) 825-8611
There is parking in the 200 Medical Plaza Bldg which is next door for $10.00, or valet right in front of the hospital for $13.00.
There is also street meter parking on La Cont.

For any all the past updates, photos and more visit;
Richardfelipe.com

Thanks again for reading, and for all your prayers and support. 

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Richard & Maria are engaged !!

Posted on August 22, 2008 by richard

Yes, you read correctly! For those of you that already know, those that were anticipating this news and others who are wondering, “Who the heck are Richard & Maria?”…..

Richard Felipe and Maria Abeyta are officially engaged as of Tuesday night!! The question was popped aboard Richard’s sailboat (“The Slacker”), at sunset. There were flowers, cheese, crackers, fruit…. and a ring!! It was truly picturesque! Speaking of pictures, please click on the link below to see photo montage of the special moment. www.flickr.com

It’ll be like you were there!!

We’re so thankful to God for bringing us together and for the love, support, and prayers that we have from all of you.

Please keep ’em coming!

God is Good!
Richard & Maria (the future Mrs. Felipe!)

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