US Patent  7,742,930  was issued!   We filed this application over 10 years ago and it was finally issued last month!

7/19/2010 - Brian pushing Caroline in stoller. He doesn't quite have the steering part down yet.

7/11/2010 - Brian walking in the back yard

Mikayla's 7th Birthday party at Colonial Candies in Bolton, MA

To start the auto slideshow, click the arrow.
Click here for full screen slideshow.

Jennifer's 1st Grade class at Parmenter Elementary School has been practicing for today's Patriotic Performance!

Charlie Baker is running for Massachusetts Governor and made a campaign stop at the Franklin Country Club. Our neighbor, Mary, who works with Paul, went to meet Charlie with us.

To start the auto slideshow, click the arrow.
Click here for full screen slideshow.

5/4/2010 - Full rainbow outside our house, with double rainbow at the end!

Easter Bunny with Jennifer and Caroline

3/26/2010 - Jennifer, Emily, Morgan - Party in the USA - live from the Horace Mann Auditorium in Franklin, MA

3/14/2010 - Applause from Brian

Brian

To start the auto slideshow, click the arrow.
Click here for full screen slideshow.

1/17/2010 - Brian learning to eat solid food.
Not so easy when you don't have teeth!

Brian learning to crawl.  Not quite there, but almost!
Tip: Click HD in lower right corner for higher quality, and click arrows for full screen.

Brian

To start the auto slideshow, click the arrow.
Click here for full screen slideshow.

Granny and Poppy meet Brian, grandchild #12

To start the auto slideshow, click the arrow.
Click here for full screen slideshow.

Well that took a while, but we’re all home!  

Brian is a little bit jaundice and the pediatricians wanted to make sure that was under control before he was discharged.  Everything seems ok, so we got the go ahead to come home.  We didn't get home until about 7pm, but we're happy to be spending the 1st night with all FIVE of us under the same roof.

Jennifer and Caroline were beside themselves to see Brian when we got home.

Jennifer, Caroline and baby brother Brian at Mt. Auburn Hospital

To start the auto slideshow, click the arrow.
Click here for full screen slideshow.

Jennifer and Caroline meet their new baby brother on his birth day.

To start the auto slideshow, click the arrow.
Click here for full screen slideshow.

Brian Michael Grous - moments after birth

To start the auto slideshow, click the arrow.
Click here for full screen slideshow.

Brian Michael Grous - moments after birth

To start the auto slideshow, click the arrow. Click here for full screen slideshow.

It’s a BOY!!

Brian Michael Grous

Arrived on Thursday, May 7, 2009
9:15 AM

10 pounds, 0 ounces
21 ½ inches long

With love,
Beth, Paul, Jennifer and Caroline Grous

Bag is packed.

Have to leave home at 5 to be at the hospital by 6am for the 8am "appointment".

Jennifer and Caroline become big sisters tomorrow.

Time to fire up this blog again.

This time it'll be to update everyone on baby 3, due in only two weeks from now.  As with Jennifer (5) and Caroline (2), we still don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet.

Here's a few ultrasound pictures:

9/16/08 - we call this one "stick"

12/12/08 - head profile

2/27/09 - 30 weeks - 3D profile of face

The baby is measuring at 40 weeks and is an estimated 8 lbs already.

We'll post updates and pictures here.

In August 2002, Beth and I were married at the Trustees of Reservations Crane Estate, a Boston-area landmark, located on the Atlantic Ocean in Ipswich, MA. 

The Crane Estate is 1 of 25 landmarks selected to compete in the Partners in Preservation contest for a $100,000 preservation grant.

You can help the Crane Estate win the $100,000 grant for historic preservation by voting here - http://VoteCrane.org

Thank you!

(click green arrow above to play a very special video greeting!)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Dad's went home on Monday.  He's very happy to be home.  And, quite frankly, we're all just glad he showered.

He got up yesterday at 8:30am, had a bowl of Cheerios and OJ.  He sounds very good and is gaining strength, but gets tired quickly, which is normal, but frustrating to him.

The visiting nurse was going to visit him at home yesterday, but I haven't heard how that went yet. 

Today, he's scheduled to go to the cardiologist in Voorhees, for some blood work to check on the coumadin levels.

In about 7 to 10 days, he'll go for a follow up visit with the cardiac surgeon.

Thanks to everyone for your get well wishes!

Mom called and said that Dad was cleared to go home this afternoon.   I'm sure he'll be glad to get home after 2 weeks in the hospital.

Well, Dad is still in the hospital. The Cardiologist came in this morning and said he could not leave because he was only  up to 75% on his Cardiac Medicine and needs to be up to 100%. They said maybe tomorrow but I guess we have to wait and see.

Dad says he is feeling very weak. After feeling so good, he is disappointed with this setback. I try telling him he had a major operation and it will take time to feel back to normal.

Hang in there, Dad.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Carolyn says that Dad's A-Fib is under control and he'll be going home today.  That's a great present.  Glad he'll be home in time to see Tiger win another US Open and a Boston team win another championship, all in one day.

To all Dads out there, Happy Father's Day!

Mom's at the hospital.  Dad will be staying at Cooper at least another 2 days.  The atrial fibrillation is not normal.  It's not common but it's also not uncommon.  They are treating it and monitoring it.  He was sleeping when Mom called.

Here's some links on Atrial Fibrillation:
American Heart Association | Mayo Clinic | Dept of Health and Human Services (includes animation) | WebMD

Mom called Dad this morning to see if he heard anything about being discharged today.  He told her he felt awful and had some cardiac issues through the night.  I made a call to Dad's nurse and he didn't have time to talk but told me Dad went into A-Fib last night and he needed to get back in the room with him.  I will call later for an update.  Mom is on her way to the hospital.

In Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib) the upper part of your heart beats (quivers) faster than the rest of your heart.  If you could look inside your chest, the top part of your heart would be shaking like Jell-O or beating more rapidly than the lower section of your heart.  You feel an uncomfortable flutter in your chest or like your heart is going to jump out of your ribs or that your heart is "flip-flopping around."  Your pulse is irregular and/or more rapid than normal.  Someone described their A-Fib as "...like a motor idling too fast in my chest."  You may feel lightheaded, very tired, have shortness of breath, sweating and chest pain, and sometimes a distressing need for frequent urination (it isn't clear how A-Fib and frequent urination are related). 
   
Somewhere in your heart extra electrical signals are being generated which cause the top part of your heart to contract and quiver rapidly and irregularly (fibrillate) as many as 300-600 times a minute.

Mom will call me with an update when she gets to the hospital.

To be continued......

Mom visited Dad this morning.  He spent most of the time out of bed, sitting in the chair.

Carolyn and her son, Patrick, visited Dad around 6pm.   He was eating when they arrived.  After dinner, they walked around the hall.  Dad was walking very fast and was trying to step only on the colored tiles.  After he was done prancing around, he felt some pain from the incision and the nurse gave him some Percoset.  He had a slight fever yesterday and he felt like he was hot earlier today, but his temperature was only 97.

The two main things to prevent now are pneumonia and blood clots.  He needs to use the breathing tube frequently and blow big breaths to prevent liquid from building up in his lungs.  He has to keep moving around on his feet so he doesn't develop blood clots in his legs.

He will be discharged either tomorrow or Saturday.   A visiting nurse will stop by the house during the first two days.  I'm sure Dad will be happy to get home.

I went to visit Poppy this afternoon. He had a slight fever, 100.5. The nurse gave him more pain meds. This will also help reduce the fever.  Dr. Heinz came in & told him the bed is his enemy. You must get up & walk. So walk we did. We walked around the unit one and a half times. We even stopped at the scale to check the weight.  He gained 2 pounds. We even found the pantry with all of the goodies.

Amazing! Just 2 days ago he had heart surgery & today he's roaming the halls.

I stopped by to see Dad this morning for 1/2 hour, then drove straight back to Boston.  Left at 11 and got home at 3:30.

2 observations about $4/gallon gas:

• 1) fewer drivers on the road, so less traffic, so quicker to cover long distances
• 2) fewer drivers on the road, so more deer like to wonder on the highways - saw 2 dead deer on the Garden State Parkway and 1 on I-84 in Connecticut

Dad looks great and more tubes are being detached from him.  Mom said he moved from the C-ICU this afternoon to a regular patient room on the 8th floor.   He'll stay there until he is discharged, which could be Friday or Saturday.

Well, Kristen, Addison and I are safely home.  The flight home was so much better than the flight up there.  We are exhausted but will continue to monitor Dad's condition from Florida.  I spoke to him briefly this morning and he said he feels a little better than yesterday.  The nausea is not as bad today.  He ate some Cream of Wheat for breakfast and was waiting for lunch.  We are so happy he is doing well.

Paul stopped in earlier this morning to see Dad before he left on his journey home to Boston.  It was really nice spending time with Paul and the rest of the family.  I wish the circumstances were better but nonetheless, it was time together.

Thanks again, Paul, for creating this blog. 

We hope you keep feeling better and better everyday, Dad.  You will be back on your feet before you know it.  We are amazed at your progress so far. 

Hugs and kisses from Florida.... 

Alice, Jerry and Paul went to visit Dad tonight in the C-ICU.  Amy is his nurse and will be in the room with him and the two other patients all night. 

We were talking to Dad and he got up out of bed, completely unassisted, and walked to the bathroom by himself.  He was very talkative and appreciated us coming up from Florida and down from Boston.  Alice, Kristen and Addison are flying back to Florida tomorrow morning.  That Addison is so darn cute.  I'm going to make a quick stop at the hospital in the morning and then drive back to Boston.

To encourage him and give him something to look forward to, I told Dad what his Father's Day present is - a Behind the Scenes Tour of the current This Old House project, the Weston House and lunch with the cast members.  The project will air starting in October.  Dad has watched Norm Abram on the New Yankee Workshop and This Old House for many years decades.  He idolizes Norm.  Beth and I won this "experience" in a WGBH Auction last week.  We won the same auction last year and wanted Dad to go then, to tour the Newton House.  He insisted that Beth and I go instead, even though we bought it for him to meet Norm.   We asked Norm if he would mind saying hello to Dad on the phone, for which I'm forever grateful.  Dad could hardly believe that Norm Abram called him and talked with him for several minutes.  Yes, Norm did give Dad some shop safety tips.  He was so happy to get that call.  I've always regretted that Dad didn't go, and when the same item came up for bid again, we said let's bid and insist that Dad go this time.

When I said that I was going to tell him what his Father's Day present is, he said that he already got what he wanted.  Well, you know what, I did too.

Carolyn is at the hospital and reports that a bed opened up, and Dad was just moved from the 3rd floor to the C-ICU on the 8th floor in a wheelchair.

His catheter has been removed, and before he's allowed to get in bed, he must first use the bathroom.

Here's a picture of Dad in the ICU this morning:

Mom, Alice and Paul went to visit Dad at 11am until 12:30pm.  Wow, he looked great.   He was just waking up when we got there.  He was able to prop himself up from a lying position  into a sitting position when we said hello.  We were pretty happily stunned to see that.  He's able to talk a lot more than yesterday, is louder but sounds like he has a sore throat, which he does.

Leanne said he was out of bed for 2 hours this morning and was able to move himself from a wheelchair into a recliner chair.  We're amazed that he can do something that physically demanding but he's a pretty amazing person.

The blood leakage in his chest is subsiding and only a slight concern, but they continue to watch it.  He was given 2 units of blood overnight to make up for what he lost.  The attending physician showed me the chart and the leakage has been slowing at a steady pace, which is good.  It started at 100 to 150 ml per period (30 min periods, I think) and has tapered of to the 20 to 30 ml range now.  If it were larger amounts, like 400ml and increasing or holding steady at those high numbers, then they'd consider going back to the O.R. to fix the leakage.  So, it doesn't appear that will be the case for him, thank goodness.  Some leakage is expected and can be caused by a number of reasons.  A likely candidate is the vein taken for the bypass may still be healing with some capillaries leaking.  Too give you a frame of reference, a soda can is 355 ml. 

Carolyn visited him this afternoon and reports the chest tubes are now collecting into a smaller container, which is essentially a bulb somehow attached to his waist.  This way he can be mobile. 

Leanne said that he's ready right now to be moved to the C-ICU, the cardiac ICU, on the 8th floor.  But, all 3 beds there are in use right now, so he'll stay in the K-ICU until a bed opens up.  Fine by us.  He may move today, or tomorrow, all depends on that open bed.

We told Dad about the many get well wishes posted in the comments.  We read them all to him and he really appreciates them all, so keep them coming.  He'll even be able to read them when he gets more lucid and access to a computer.

Dad was getting nauseous and Leanne gave him some medicine for that, which made him immediately sleepy, so he turned to lay on his left side, then shifted to lay on his right side.  We covered him up with blankets and told him to get some rest and that we'd be back later.

Alice just got an update from the nurse.  Dad is doing fine this morning.  The surgeon called the hospital to check on him at midnight.

There's still blood coming out of the tube from his chest.  They are not doing anything about it, but are monitoring it.

He was sitting in a chair.  He didn't want to get up, but they made him.

He's complaining that he can't take a deep breath, which is somewhat normal.

He is not complaining of pain.  He was given a Percaset rather than morphine, which was making him nauseous.

He's drinking.  Had to in order to get the Percaset down.

His delicious breakfast this morning consists of a clear liquid diet.  Sounds yummy.  If tolerated, then he can move on to other solid foods.

Looking forward to seeing him later this morning.

We left the hospital at about 4:30 and got to Mom and Dad's about 5:00.

When we left, Dad was off the ventilator breathing on his own.  He was given some morphine to ease the discomfort of the surgery.  He could talk with us, but since his throat is very sore, he struggled to get a one word sentence out.  He was groggy.

The nurse suggested that he get some rest and it probably would be best if we went home for the night.  Better to save his energy rather than trying to converse with us.

We called the hospital just before the nurse Leanne went off duty at 7pm.  She said the bleeding in chest area that was being drained by tubes was more than they'd prefer to see, but were controlling it by giving him additional blood units.  Other than that, he was doing very well.

He feels the sensation of not breathing in enough, but that's exactly normal and expected.

Visiting hours for the ICU don't begin until 11am, so we'll head over and see him then.  Mom, Alice, and Paul will taken the "morning" shift.  Carolyn will head over in the "afternoon" shift, and Jerry will take the "night" shift.  We want him to know we're there for him, but not overwhelm him with too much activity.  We're expecting that he'll be fairly alert tomorrow, and possibly sitting up.  They will want him to move around so that he doesn't develop blood clots in his legs, since he's been lying in a bed for most of the week.

Carolyn just called the hospital a few minutes ago for an update.  They said he's doing fine and resting.  The blood from the chest area has subsided a bit.  The nurse said that she wouldn't be surprised if he moved out of the K-ICU tomorrow.

What a day!   It's not every day someone literally holds your beating heart in their hands.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.  They worked.

A request - patient deliveries are not permitted in the ICU.  Please don't send anything, especially flowers, to the hospital. 

Also, there's no phone in the ICU, so please don't call the hospital trying to reach him, just yet.   Even we've been asked to limit our calls to 1 person so they don't have to repeat the same status updates.  Leave comments here in the blog so Dad can read them later.

They asked us to give them about 20 minutes to see if they can test him more to determine if the tube can out.

It's been about 30 minutes, and Alice and Carolyn just went down to see him.  They called us and said that they did, in fact, take the breathing tube out.  He's breathing on his own now.   Excellent.  I'm sure that's much more comfortable for him now.

Dad - you're doing a great job.  You'll be sitting up tomorrow.  And in a few days walking around, and even could be checked out of here possibly by Friday.  Jerry and I are sitting here thinking how totally amazing that is.

We went from the ICU to the "Bistro" for lunch.  Then, we went back to the ICU.

Dad was much more alert when we came back.  He recognized us when we spoke to him and was responding to our questions with gestures.  We told him that he did a terrifc job.  He feels very uncomfortable with the breathing tube, but that's very normal.  Of course, it's easy for us to tell him that, but he's the one with it in his throat.

The breathing tube is causing him discomfort and he would like it taken out, but he can't come off the ventilator until he's breathing on his own.  The ventilator is assisting him right now.  We stayed for about 15 minutes, but we felt that we may have been exciting him too much as the nurses were trying to do a breathing test to see if they should take the tube out now, or sedate him for 4 more hours and take it out later.  They'd rather do it sooner than later, just better for his future sore throat.

I think they were going to take it out, and when asked if he wanted it he made the praying motion indicating "YES, get this thing out".

At 12:45 we were allowed to visit Dad in the ICU.  We stayed for 15 minutes.  Normally only 2 people can go in the ICU at a time, but the day of surgery is an exception.  All 5 of us were there.

He was very, very groggy but was moving his arms, legs and shifting around the bed, which was a very welcome sight.  He was responding to the nurse's commands like wiggle your toes and squeeze my hand.

He won't remember any of that visit, but it was good for us to see him moving under his own power.

Dr. Highbloom concluded surgery and just met with us.  He told us the surgery went very, very well and Dad is doing fine.

He had 3 bypasses put in, the 3 most important ones.  He's in the process of being moved to ICU, which will take about an hour or so before we can see him.

They did not have to take veins from his legs or arms, rather they took them from the chest / mammory arteries, which is good too, since they didn't have to cut open his legs or arms.

His heart is beating on it's own and was never stopped.  He's not on any medications or blood products (yet).  The intibation went well, no problems.  He'll be on the breathing tube until they determine he is strong enough to breath on his own.

He'll have all sorts of tubes and wires coming out his neck, mouth, chest, etc. 

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

We just got paged to go to the room to meet the surgeon.   We're here waiting for him to come in.

Leanne Mader just gave us a tour of the K-ICU ward.  Leanne will be Dad's nurse while there.  She showed us which bed (#19) he'll be in and told us what to expect.  Tubes, monitors, IV's, etc.

After surgery, he'll go from the O.R. to the K-ICU, where they have a 1 to 1 nurse patient ratio.  He's directly in front of the nurse's station and will be the only cardiac patient in the K-ICU.  He'll be there until at least tomorrow.

After K-ICU, he'll be moved to the C-ICU, the Cardiac ICU, on the 8th floor, where they have a 1 to 3 nurse to patient ratio.  He'll be in the C-ICU for a day or two, depending on how well he's recovering.

After the C-ICU, he'll be moved to a PCU room, also on the 8th floor, similar to the room he was in the past few days.  That has a 1 to 5 nurse to patient ratio.

That was nice of her to give us the tour.

We're in the waiting room.  Nothing new to report yet.  It'll still be a few hours until we find out anything.

Interesting that the hospital seems to block all but port 80 and 443.  I can't do much but check the web, but I'll take it over nothing.   No VPN, no remote desktop connection, no VNC.  iTunes works though.

Thanks to everyone for all the thoughts and prayers.

Dad was taken to the O.R. prep room and was given a good dose of something.   He's awake a bit loopy right now.  The anesthestiologist was there and explained what was happening.  He'll be in the O.R. shortly.

We were allowed to see him for hugs and kisses and now we're in the waiting room.  We have a pager, and the doctors will page us when they are ready for an update.  It should be about 5 hours or so.

We will be able to see him shortly after he moves into ICU.

Now, we're headed to the cafeteria.