My parents, Jim & Charlene Sullenberger celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary Feb 22nd 2015. They both have lived healthy, temperate lives & were considered healthy & vibrant by today's medical standards.

My mother is the 2nd of 10 children. She came from a hard background and worked hard to rise above her beginnings. She worked her way through college and earned scholarships and completed a major in biology and a minor in chemistry. Then she topped it off with a master's degree in Health Education at Loma Linda. By this time she had met my dad in graduate school and fallen in love. So, naturally, when they graduated, they got married. That was in 1970.

My mom never actually worked in her field of study. I remember asking her once, "why not?". She said it was a fairly new field & by the time a job opportunity was available--she had me. So, she chose instead, what she felt was the higher calling--to be a stay at home mom. I still remember coloring with her and wanting to know HOW she made her pictures look SO nice and Real! And she would patiently work with me until I could do it too! Whatever it was--baking, sewing, reading, writing, homework,  projects--even MATH--she would always patiently help you work your way to the solution--WITHOUT GIVING YOU THE ANSWER!!!!

My Mom has always been easy-going, ever forgiving, quick to smile, slow to anger and never lost her sense of humor.  She was my first friend and is my closest friend. We have shared SO much! We have given  each other strength to get through the rough times. She has been there for me, my brother & sister, our families and friends! Mama has given endlessly of herself to those around her. She has done it freely, as a natural outgrowth of who she is--and always with a smile!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/charlenesullenberger ‌

The link above will take you to a running & ongoing journal that we started just before my mom went in for open heart surgery on March 19, 2015. She had not had ANY symptoms of heart trouble prior to her surgery but she asked her doctor to run some tests anyway. Heart disease runs strongly in her family. She had lost 2 brothers in their 40's & recently had a younger sister who had to have a triple bypass (very successfully). At the age of 68, she felt it was time to take a closer look--just to make sure.

After all the testing, the doctor was surprised to find that my mom not only needed a triple bypass but also a mitral valve repair and an aortic valve replacement! Long and short, there were complications during surgery and she had a lot of bleeding. Suddenly a five hour surgery turned into a 10 hour surgery and a 10-12hr stay in the Cardio-Vascular Recovery Unit turned into a month with her on a ventilator, having issues with fluid building up in the plural sacs around the outside of the lungs. They had to "tap" and drain off that fluid build-up multiple times. Then, they were having trouble with the intubation tube irritating her airway and causing increased secretions, so we decided it would be best to go ahead with a tracheotomy--which did seem to help.  Mom was transferred to a Long Term Acute Care center (across the street from the hospital) where she worked hard, every day for 7 more weeks--with her speech therapists/nutritionalist/physical therapists & respiratory therapists--Until she was finally discharged home into my father's care on June 3rd.

Mom came home with a LOT of special equipment (walker, wheelchair, shower bench & commode modifications) and very specific care instructions. She no longer had the trach--so at least Dad did NOT have trach care to deal with! But they had to surgically insert a PEG tube (a feeding tube placed directly into Mom's stomach through her abdominal wall) because she was not able to swallow consistantly without aspirating (things going down the wrong way). She has a very weak cough reflex and can't move stuff up and out of her airway as forcibly as she did before. She went home on bolus feeds (a measured amount given at one time) using a hospital-grade liquid "food". She also came home with home health support from speech, occupational and physical therapy.  Dad takes care of giving all medications & documenting them as well as keeping track of all intake and output. He manages doctor appointments & grocery shopping necessities. He basically became a live-in nurse, 24/7 care-giver, overnight.

About a week later, on June 10th. She got choked on refluxed stomach contents. She coughed and coughed but couldn't clear her airway. She was admitted to the hospital with aspiration pneumonia and was immediately placed on oxygen and IV antibiotics. She responded well to treatment and was able to avoid ventilators and the ICU and was released home late on June 14th.

Slowly, under dad's constant care with support from home health (and a Lot of prayers), mom started improving and gaining strength.  She was working with speech therapy on learning how to swallow again (that can truly be tricky business!). She had lost a lot of weight, but they were working with her medications and dad was getting in as many calories as he could via bolus tube feeds.  She was doing very well with her walking--with the use of a wheeled walker for safety. Home Health was getting ready to discharge her to out-patient rehab services.

She had her 69th birthday on July 8th. Various parts of our family gathered together in the days surrounding her birthday to celebrate mom and ALL she means to us. It was hard--I couldn't bake her a cake (she couldn't eat it) and then I realized it was a chance for us to just spend TIME together--a truly priceless gift! 

Early on Wed morning, July 15th, my dad woke to the sound of my mom gurgling and choking. She had refluxed some stomach acid in her sleep and was trying to cough it up and clear her airway. She was not able to do so. Dad worked fast, assessing her oxygen saturation levels which were in the low 70's (normal is 95-100) and breathing  rate. She was admitted, once again, with aspiration pneumonia--this time to the ICU. By the next evening she had to be intubated and placed on a ventilator. After a week, mom was stable but not improving. We decided to contact mom's heart surgeon and pulmonologist at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center to get their input. We asked if they would consider taking her back on at Spartanburg. They both agreed after reviewing mom's case and consulting with the local hospitalist in Hendersonville. She was transferred to Spartanburg Regional Medical/Pulmonary ICU on July 23rd.

She still has a LONG way to go before she is even back to where she was before this hospitalization physically. FIRST:  She is still fighting pneumonia. Her chest x-rays look better than they have been looking...but she is still very sick. She has lost a lot of fine motor movements in her hands. She has limited range of motion in her knees and ankles now--which will affect her balance and ability to walk. She has only had limited physical therapy (range of motion) while she has been in the ICU--mostly due to the fact that she has been on a ventilator. Her range of motion has become very limited and the effects of  being confined to bed are already very apparent. She's going to have to really work hard to get back to where she was. I know she CAN do it--if she can just get the rest she needs to gain the strength to get over this and re-vitalilize her body.

She does have some skin break-down on her backside that wound care is currently treating with good results (now that mom's nutritional status is starting to improve).

Finances have been more than tight. Dad has not been able to work on the video business (Mom is the other half of the business and it is hard to do it without her help) so there is little if any income. And, in all honesty, we really don't know what Medicare and supplemental insurance will cover and what they won't. This has been (and continues to be) an exercise in faith. God has been providing--and will continue to do so--as He always does! We are SO Grateful to everyone who has reached out to give us/offer us a helping hand. Your generous spirit and open-handed gifts are Greatly appreciated!!! May your blessings be returned to you many times over!