Wonderful news... thanks for the update.
Kelly Prayer Update:
Yesterday was pretty grim. I stopped the Intensivist in the hall and asked him about how Kelly was doing. He looked at us and said that she was not doing very well and that she was probably not going to be taken off the respirator and was going to have to have a tracheotomy. That hit us like a ton of bricks, but we then refused to believe it. We worked with the respiratory therapist and got her to get the doctor to do a drain on the fluid build up around her liver and after they did that her breathing started to improve.
Thankfully that was the last day the “Dr. Pessimist” was her overseeing physician. We got a new Primary in the ICU who was a pulmonary specialist. Today the Renal Doctor said her kidneys were doing good, and the nurses were saying her white cell count was down. Her O2 arterial blood gases were coming in good so they decided to do another trial to take her off the ventilator. They started early in the morning and about 12PM the respiratory therapist indicated that she thought that she might be a candidate for extubation. The doctor came in and did a few tests and looked at the ventilator numbers and said that she was not quite where they wanted her. BUT, he said that he thought that it would be a good day to take her off.
They then brought in the respiratory team and they removed the ventilator. The nurses were all choked up because they said that most of the time when people are in the ICU on a ventilator, they are not able to successfully extubate them.
They took her off and wheeled the ventilator out of the room as we all cheered.
Kelly was able to breathe normally and her O2 saturation continued to be in the high 90% range for the rest of the day.
She started talking again and the first thing she wanted was “ICE”. The doctor said she shouldn’t have anything to drink for the next 24 hours, but he conceded that she could have a couple of ice cubes (very small ones) to chew on but to make sure she didn’t choke on them or swallow them before they melted.
The next thing she wanted was to be taken out of the bed and put in a chair. They weren’t able to do that, but they did order a chair for her for tomorrow and they are supposed to start physical and occupational therapy tomorrow.
She is still very very weak. She can’t even push the buttons on the TV remote at this time since she lost most of her muscle tone after being in bed and in a semi-coma a regular coma and being on a ventilator for more than 2 weeks and being in the hospital in bed for more than 3 weeks.
Her liver is still a big problem but she is breathing again and should be talking better by tomorrow. Right now she is struggling to speak and at this point all she wants is ice (which she can only have in tiny bits) and to get out of the bed.
We crossed a major hurdle today and it is truly a miracle. Her doctor yesterday had indicated that what happened today was not going to happen. But it did! She’s off the ventilator and hopefully by this time tomorrow she will be sipping ice water through a straw.
Praise God and thanks to all who have participated in praying for her recovery. I believe we have witnessed a miracle. On our way home from the hospital tonight we witnessed one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen. I decided to accept it as a sign from God that we have our miracle.
There is still a very long road ahead, and she is still listed as critical. Hopefully that will change soon. I would like to get her out of the ICU, but the room is so nice (compared to the general hospital rooms) and the nursing staff is so professional I hate to see her leave.
BTW, last night, after we left, Kelly’s boyfriend was keeping the vigil at her bedside and a nurse came in that her boyfriend had never seen before. She said she comes in every night, and tells Kelly to be strong and fight and that she is going to be OK. When she left the room, he looked out to see where she had gone and she was.... gone.
I have been praying for ministering angels to watch over her. Could this have been an angel? Maybe. That was last night, and today the whole picture turned around.
Faith,
Marlowe