"For these simple gifts, we give simple praise"

Hey guys,

Leah here, reporting from Room 206 of the Thoracic Intensive Care Unit. Just wanted to give a quick shoutout to Thor's loving sister, Traci Higbee, for updating you guys on the daily about her brother via Facebook.

Before I begin, however, on behalf of Tony and my family,

📸: Traci Higbee

Video chatting together with Elder Hansen the day before Tony's surgery

we want to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers and fasts, visits, for your messages and texts of kindness, encouragement, concern, love and well-wishes, for feeding our family, for checking in with us, and for your incredible patience with us, and for your support and desire to be of any help to us. I can honestly tell you we have felt overwhelmed and humbled by your love and support through this whole ordeal. We are very aware that you all have lives of your own and that you have your own challenges that you are facing, so the fact that you have taken time out of YOUR lives, YOUR busy schedules, and time away from doing the things you would normally do to take time to pray, fast and care for Tony and my family just blows us away. Words will never adequately express our deep and profound love and gratitude for you. We love you, and we will be forever grateful for you. We pray for you during your storms and we rejoice with you in your successes. Thank you all for everything.

This Thanksgiving, we have MUCH to be grateful for, so I will just post it that way. In the beautiful Thanksgiving song/hymn, Simple Praise, I thought I'd post according to the lyrics in the song. If you ever get a chance to listen to this beautiful song, I hope you get to listen to it while you scroll down.

FOR A CANVAS OF COLORS

The view from his room on the day of surgery

FOR A CONCERT OF SOUND

Heading to surgery!

FOR THE UNFOLDING SEASONS

After having complications with his lungs after his surgery

THE EARTH SPINNING ROUND

FOR THE BIRTH OF EACH SUNRISE

The view from my home during the time he was home

FOR THE SKIES SET ABLAZE

FOR THESE SIMPLE GIFTS

Dr. John Doty, Cardiothoracic Surgeon who performed Tony's surgery
(Photo source: intermountainhealthcare.org)

Dr. Mark Goddard, Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Intensive Care, who has been attending to Tony while he has been in Thoracic ICU
(Photo source: intermountainhealthcare.org)

WE GIVE SIMPLE PRAISE

SIMPLE PRAISE FOR THE GIVER

AND THANKS TO THE ONE

WHO HAS GIVEN US BREATH

AND GIVEN HIS SON

(Photo source: https://media.ldscdn.org/images/media-library/gospel-art/new-testament/jesus-christ-39623-gallery.jpg)

TO THE GIVER OF BLESSINGS

One of our blessings, Greg and Cherry Rush, who came from NC to be with Tony

FOR ALL OF OUR DAYS

FOR THESE SIMPLE GIFTS 

WE GIVE SIMPLE PRAISE

FOR THE LOVE OF A MOTHER

FOR THE TOUCH OF HER HAND

FOR THE DEEPER EMOTIONS

WE CAN’T UNDERSTAND

FOR THE LESSONS WE LEARN

FOR THE TRIALS WE FACE 

FOR THESE SIMPLE GIFTS

Traci Higbee, one of Thor's beautiful sisters

WE GIVE SIMPLE PRAISE

THE HEART OF THE GIVER

THE HAND OF THE ONE

FROM WHOM EV’RY BLESSING

OF LIVING HAS COME

FOR MEASURELESS MERCY

AND LIMITLESS GRACE

FOR THESE SIMPLE GIFTS’

WE GIVE SIMPLE PRAISE 

FOR A CANVAS OF COLORS

Thank you, Robbins family!

Thank you, Janna Yancey!

FOR A CONCERT OF SOUND

Thank you,  Melissa Hickman! xoxo

Thank you, Gazdik ohana! 

Thank you, Monica Kauffman!

FOR THE UNFOLDING SEASONS

THE EARTH SPINNING ROUND

FOR THE BIRTH OF EACH SUNRISE

FOR THE SKIES SET ABLAZE

FOR THESE SIMPLE GIFTS

He sat in his chair for nearly an hour today

WE GIVE SIMPLE PRAISE

SIMPLE PRAISE FOR THE GIVER

AND THANKS TO THE ONE

WHO HAS GIVEN US BREATH

AND GIVEN HIS SON

(Photo source: https://media.ldscdn.org/images/media-library/gospel-art/new-testament/the-second-coming-39618-gallery.jpg)

TO THE GIVER OF BLESSINGS 

FOR ALL OF OUR DAYS

FOR THESE SIMPLE GIFTS

WE GIVE SIMPLE PRAISE

FOR THESE SIMPLE GIFTS

WE GIVE SIMPLE PRAISE

Looking forward to when he is out of this bed and ready to go home. :) xoxo

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. We love you with all our hearts.

With all our love,

Tony, Leah, Anela, Elder Hansen, Mark & Tia Hansen xoxoxo

TONY UPDATE (posted by Anela on Facebook)

It finally happened...Dad had his fourth open-heart surgery today.

He went into the operating room at 9 o'clock this morning and 12 hours later, it was finished. Prayers and hopes were heard and that wonderful, blessed man lived. He made it! He was on the table for the fourth time and his heart is still pumping! Even Dr. Dory acknowledged how miraculous this was. Apparently the tissue around the aorta was so weak, if they had waited even one more day, the pseudo aneurysm would have burst and started bleeding into his right atrium. They also didn't find any active infection, and while that means we can't ID the bacteria, it also means that whole month on antibiotics and hanging out in the hospital was worth it. However, Dr. Doty did mention that his lungs looked "angry" because they had been overcompensating for so long. We were happy and hoped to see him tonight, but were soon informed that his lungs were worn out from all the extra work they'd done and that they're saturated with a bunch of extra liquid from the operation. They were working so poorly that they actually had to reopen his chest to hook him up to a heart and lung machine. His heart is pumping and repaired and working well, but his lungs just aren't getting enough oxygen to him, so they're using this machine to oxygenate his blood and give him a break. As soon as they got that all set up, his oxygen levels shot up and his blood pressure stabilized. Dr. Doty wants him on the machine for 48-72 hours to let the lungs recover. In the meantime, he's unconscious in the ICU and his chest is opened but covered. Lots of tubes. Kind of crazy.

Getting to see him tonight was humbling...as we left last night he said he would see us tonight, but touching him and talking to him tonight without having his outreach in response was a little sad, even though he's stable and being looked over by very competent staff. Mostly though, we are so so grateful for the absolute miracles accomplished by modern medicine, for the doctors and nurses working so diligently for him, and especially for all of you. For the fasting and the prayers and the outreach and the hugs and the good company and for every every kind action we have been the recipient of. We love you! We pray that like us, your burdens are a little less heavy today than they were yesterday. We are excited and hopeful for what's to come with Tony and trust the hands of the doctors and the Lord that are keeping him well. We'll keep you updated ☺️

Endure it well

Hey guys,

Leah reporting to you at 3:21 AM from Room 409 of the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray. Yep, we’re back again. Tony came in on Monday morning to get his weekly CT scan done per doctor's orders. Even though we've enjoyed having him home, we know he isn't well. He sleeps a lot, he's winded when he walks up the stairs, his energy level is really low, and on Sunday at one point, his heart rate was at 39 BPM. I was concerned at how low it was, until he opened up a can of Pepsi and drank it and not long after that, his heart rate was up in the 70s again. He also got moving, took a shower, and his heart rate was much improved afterwards.

Getting dressed for CT scan

Anyway, Monday morning, we came to get a CT scan, learned that Tony's creatinine levels were high, which would indicate impaired kidney function, so before he even did his CT scan, he was given IV fluids for an hour prior to his CT scan, in addition to IV fluids given to him for another hour afterwards.

On IV fluids before and after CT scan

Not long after the CT scan, Dr. Doty came and told us that the pseudo aneurysm (or hole) had gotten bigger and that they were going to need to do something soon, so Tony was admitted. It looks like they'll work on putting in a "plug" to stop the growth of the pseudo aneurysm, and if that doesn't work, then they'll be doing open-heart surgery this week.

Cardiologists performed another test on him - a transesophageal echocardiogram, where they learned that he didn't just have one hole, but several, and so something is most definitely going to need to be done.

Post-TEE test

So here we are back in our "old room" (what were the odds of that happening?!), awaiting procedures to be done this week, and wow, this has thrown us for a loop. I seriously had hoped that the doc would've said, "you're clear for another week", you can go home now, but here we are with "you're staying here, we'll do a procedure on you, possibly open-heart surgery". 

Getting an EKG done so they can see what's going on with his heart

Nurses came in around 2:30 AM this morning because they noticed that something was going on with his heart rhythm and they didn't appear overly concerned, but it has been enough to keep me awake this time. It was not something scary to them, but it was enough to jolt me out of my sleep. And now that I've been awake, I hear running going back and forth outside in the hall of the hospital floor, and I wonder if they're going to come into Tony's room, so I think it'll be a while before I sleep.

It's easy for me to be on edge right now, probs because I'm tired, and I'm worried and I want to make sure everything is okay. But in my time of being awake and praying and writing this post and thinking on things, a thought keeps running through my mind: "Endure it well." 

In the 1828 Webster's Dictionary (check it out online here), endure is defined as:

"ENDU'RE, verb transitive [Latin durus, duro.]

1. To last; to continue in the same state without perishing; to remain; to abide.

The Lord shall endure forever. Psalms 9:7.

He shall hold it [his house] fast, but it shall not endure Job 8:15.

2. To bear; to brook; to suffer without resistance, or without yielding.

How can I endure to see the evil that shall come to my people? Esther 8:6.

Can thy heart endure or thy hands be strong? Ezekiel 22:14.

ENDU'RE, verb transitive To bear; to sustain; to support without breaking or yielding to force or pressure. Metals endure a certain degree of heat without melting.

Both were of shining steel, and wrought so pure.

As might the strokes of two such arms endure

1. To bear with patience; to bear without opposition or sinking under the pressure.

Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sake. 2 Timothy 2:3.

If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. Hebrews 12:7.

2. To undergo; to sustain.

I wish to die, yet dare not death endure

3. To continue in. [Not used.]"

While I was waiting for Tony's IV fluids to be finished, I overheard a conversation between a doctor and another family, where they were being told that a woman (I'm assuming it was their mother) had ovarian cancer, and he was explaining the procedure that was going to take place to remove tumors. Endure. I met a cleaning lady who'd moved here from Somalia only 4 years ago and has been working to make ends meet while trying with her husband to have a family. Endure. I met a Thai nurse whose father was murdered when she was 15, so she quit school to go and work to support her family, then moved here to Utah after she got married, and in 2005 became a US citizen, then worked on her GED, attended a local college to get her Associates in Nursing, and in 2014 graduated with honors from the University of Utah with a Bachelors degree in Nursing. Endure. Endure is one thing. Enduring it WELL, well, that's the stuff great stories are made of, right? Grateful for those of you who inspire me and the rest of us by your experiences of endurance. I hope you know that we're acutely aware that we're not the only ones in the world who are facing challenges at this time and who are enduring. Our prayers for you are that whatever you're all facing at this time that you'll be blessed with strength, wisdom and courage to not only endure your challenges and storms, but to endure them well. We're working to do the same as well. Glad to be in the same boat with you. :)

We're grateful for you, we love you, and we continue to pray for you all. May peace continue to be with you as you endure your trials well.

With love and gratitude all the days for you,

Leah

the joy of being home

Thorvald here, finally reporting from the comfort of my home.  They released me on Tuesday, and what a joy it is to be back!  I sleep better on the sofa here than I ever slept at the hospital.  There is indeed something special about home, and it thankfully, it’s a whole lot more than the comfort of a sofa. 

in case you needed a visual of dad sleeping on the couch, don't worry--we got you

Over the last couple of weeks and even to the present day, I have gotten so many encouraging messages.  I have no words to describe how much joy and strength these give to me.  Every time Leah reads me a message of how someone is praying for me or thinking good thoughts for me or doing anything to be supportive, I get quite emotional.  There are family members, neighbors, co-workers, friends, and sometimes even strangers who offer well-wishes and prayers.  To each of you who have done so, please accept my eternal gratitude.  Someday I hope to be able to thank each of you individually for the strength you have provided for me during this time. 

So, yes.  I am now home and determined to enjoy it while I can since we don’t know how long it will last.  I went into the hospital with some out-of-control fevers and they quickly diagnosed me with endocarditis.  However, despite being there 22 days, the nature of the infection was never determined.  We also learned through CT scans that the infection was doing some damage to my heart; in fact, it created a pseudoaneurysm inside the aorta.  After getting that explained to us, my understanding is that there was kind of a thin spot (like a weak spot on a balloon) on the wall of my heart and that this has grown and grown.  Sometimes they refer to it as a hole, but the blood doesn’t actually go anywhere.  It just collects in there.  It’s worrisome because it’s getting bigger, and if it continues to grow it could burst…which isn’t the outcome I’m looking for, in case any of you are wondering.

dad being in the hospital was actually a big cover up for him starring in dr. pepper commercials // coming home from the hospital !!!  

Even though I’m here at home, there’s a lot of work to be done. I’m taking all sorts of pills and IV antibiotics every day through a PICC line, and Monday I go in for another big test: another CT scan.  I’ve been told that if the results of that CT scan look worse than the last one, I’ll need to stay at the hospital.  I don’t know exactly what would happen then, but I do know that at least two of the options they have in mind are surgery (to repair the pseudoaneurysm, remove the infection and also possibly replace my mechanical valves) or using a plug to repair the pseudoaneurysm as they mentioned more recently.

 dad's favorite nurse. please note dad's super healthy danish cookies he ate as a snack

And thus, the waiting game continues.  It’s a weird feeling to experience—to have so much ambiguity and so many unknowns, yet also to feel so at peace with whatever happens.  I truly believe I have a purpose, that I still have work to do.  Wholeheartedly, I feel at peace with this process and again thank each of you for your prayers and kind thoughts.  It helps. 

Much love,

Tony