My parents got a call today that the doctors want to put a trach tube in for Andie - as opposed to the tubes that go down her throat to help with breathing. This was something that was mentioned as a possibility early on so it's not big surprise. They'll do the operation tomorrow morning and then she should be able to breathe better and the irritation of the breathing tube will be alleviated. Everything else is pretty much the same. They took her off the general anesthetic propofol (the Michael Jackson drug) since there's a nation-wide shortage and are using another one instead. There seems to be no difference in Andie with the new drug.
We're supposed to get more snow tomorrow on top of the huge storm we just had if things at the hospital are still the same I'll decide in the morning about going up to Allentown then or waiting until later in the week until the snow is done and the kids are tied up with hockey games anyway.
Either way, I'll keep posting here if there are any changes.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
No change
Things at the hospital are still the same, I'm planning to call the hospital for our morning update from here early tomorrow since my parents will be on their way to their church when shift - change is done and the nurses are settled in for the day and have a moment to talk on the phone.
I am grateful for our - Andie and I did grow up there and I know I feel very much at home there - church family at St. John's in Fullerton for the support for my parents and me during this trying week. Pastor Becky's news buoyed my spirits as I heard of her grand daughter - just born at the same hospital where we waited and waited for some good news. Andie also has a beautiful prayer shawl in her room and it makes me feel connected to all of you.
Looking forward to a positive up date when things improve for Andie.
I am grateful for our - Andie and I did grow up there and I know I feel very much at home there - church family at St. John's in Fullerton for the support for my parents and me during this trying week. Pastor Becky's news buoyed my spirits as I heard of her grand daughter - just born at the same hospital where we waited and waited for some good news. Andie also has a beautiful prayer shawl in her room and it makes me feel connected to all of you.
Looking forward to a positive up date when things improve for Andie.
Snow day!
Here in Glenmoore we have 18.5 inches of snow so far and they expect it to keep coming down into the afternoon. Before I decided to come back here I spent time at the hospital yesterday and though it's hard to predict exactly what will happen the nurses seemed to think that things with Andie could stay like they are for up to another week. They said that two weeks like this is not uncommon since it's such a traumatic surgery.
She's still sedated and still has tubes everywhere still on antibiotics and still waiting for the cultures to grow to see which area is causing the fever. They have her on a chilled blanket and fans on her to keep the fever down and when they pause the sedation down she still doesn't have the reflexes that they're looking for and she still doesn't follow commands - "put your thumb up, hold up two fingers". It's hard to walk out of there when she's still in that state but at this point it's going to take time for her to heal. I made it here yesterday in time to see the first few flakes of this storm fall as I came up my driveway. A friend who's a respiratory therapist will be at that hospital next Tuesday so I'm going to be there by then to get her into the NSICU so she can see what's going on it can't hurt for another set of trained eyes to check things over. My dad called this morning to check in and my parents are close enough and there's so little snow up there that they'll be able to get out to the hospital today.
She's still sedated and still has tubes everywhere still on antibiotics and still waiting for the cultures to grow to see which area is causing the fever. They have her on a chilled blanket and fans on her to keep the fever down and when they pause the sedation down she still doesn't have the reflexes that they're looking for and she still doesn't follow commands - "put your thumb up, hold up two fingers". It's hard to walk out of there when she's still in that state but at this point it's going to take time for her to heal. I made it here yesterday in time to see the first few flakes of this storm fall as I came up my driveway. A friend who's a respiratory therapist will be at that hospital next Tuesday so I'm going to be there by then to get her into the NSICU so she can see what's going on it can't hurt for another set of trained eyes to check things over. My dad called this morning to check in and my parents are close enough and there's so little snow up there that they'll be able to get out to the hospital today.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Feb. 4, 2010
Andie's condition remains the same.
I was told by today's nurse that "it's only been a week, and this was a major thing."
Well, today as my dad and I spent time organizing at her place he noted that a week ago was when he got her call that she was in the hospital. What a difference a week makes and how a week can crawl by. I know each case is different depending on the person and the circumstances but I was expecting to have her wake up and be responsive in maybe a day..... and here we are....
They still reduce the sedation each hour or so and test to see if she's responsive. Both of her eyes were open today - but still staring and she's not following commands. The left eye had been swollen shut, a normal thing in a case like this - and an ice pack was on her when I first got there today but once it was removed things seemed much better in that regard.
Today I spent time with Andie early and mid day (my parents later on) - the woman at the NSICU desk knows me now so I'm buzzed in without a badge. Hard to believe it's gone on this long and hard to predict how long it'll continue.
With the pending snow storm I'm torn now between heading back to Glenmoore to see Chris and the boys once they return from their Vermont ski trip and staying here with my parents closer to the hospital. In the morning I'll go over to the hospital again - watch, listen and decide what to do.
I was told by today's nurse that "it's only been a week, and this was a major thing."
Well, today as my dad and I spent time organizing at her place he noted that a week ago was when he got her call that she was in the hospital. What a difference a week makes and how a week can crawl by. I know each case is different depending on the person and the circumstances but I was expecting to have her wake up and be responsive in maybe a day..... and here we are....
They still reduce the sedation each hour or so and test to see if she's responsive. Both of her eyes were open today - but still staring and she's not following commands. The left eye had been swollen shut, a normal thing in a case like this - and an ice pack was on her when I first got there today but once it was removed things seemed much better in that regard.
Today I spent time with Andie early and mid day (my parents later on) - the woman at the NSICU desk knows me now so I'm buzzed in without a badge. Hard to believe it's gone on this long and hard to predict how long it'll continue.
With the pending snow storm I'm torn now between heading back to Glenmoore to see Chris and the boys once they return from their Vermont ski trip and staying here with my parents closer to the hospital. In the morning I'll go over to the hospital again - watch, listen and decide what to do.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Feb. 3, 2010
Andie's still heavily sedated and therefore has been out of it for most of the day. She's still on antibiotics because of infection, now has high white blood cell count - cultures went out to be tested and in a few days they should have reason for that.
When they paused the sedation today to test reflexes we saw her withdraw in response to pain - more strongly on the left side vs. right side but still not sufficient enough to warrant keeping the sedation off. She would pull at her tubes and rub her eyes if she could so that's not good - And back to the same holding pattern we all go. The staff at the hospital seem confident that things will improve - wow, last week at this time I certainly didn't know as much about the human brain as I do right now.
While Andie's not aware that we're around my Dad and I have spent time at her place trying to figure out where her personal papers are. Things like birth certificate and insurance information are not things you usually chat with relatives about so this is like the ultimate guessing game. It's geocaching without clues, hints or coordinates. We're also doing quite a bit of cleaning and organizing to make things easier so she can come home to her place comfortably when it's time. I know I'm physically tired so Dad has to be too.
I must say, these blogs are not only a way of getting information out but it also makes me think it all through - the days are kind of muddled together at this point - and this makes me stop to organize my thoughts. I'm always touched that you guys care and will let you know when visits to the hospital are okay. Good Night.
When they paused the sedation today to test reflexes we saw her withdraw in response to pain - more strongly on the left side vs. right side but still not sufficient enough to warrant keeping the sedation off. She would pull at her tubes and rub her eyes if she could so that's not good - And back to the same holding pattern we all go. The staff at the hospital seem confident that things will improve - wow, last week at this time I certainly didn't know as much about the human brain as I do right now.
While Andie's not aware that we're around my Dad and I have spent time at her place trying to figure out where her personal papers are. Things like birth certificate and insurance information are not things you usually chat with relatives about so this is like the ultimate guessing game. It's geocaching without clues, hints or coordinates. We're also doing quite a bit of cleaning and organizing to make things easier so she can come home to her place comfortably when it's time. I know I'm physically tired so Dad has to be too.
I must say, these blogs are not only a way of getting information out but it also makes me think it all through - the days are kind of muddled together at this point - and this makes me stop to organize my thoughts. I'm always touched that you guys care and will let you know when visits to the hospital are okay. Good Night.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Feb. 2, 2010
Another day spent waiting for Andie to wake up. The good news is that the vasospasm was alleviated by going through her groin and shooting drugs into the area to make it stop. Well, that worked but while she was having it done her lungs were "giving her trouble". I was present while she had an EKG done and the guy that did that seemed optimistic about her recovery and the nurse said the results of that were good.
She's still zonked out from the meds they give her and they say she doesn't really know we're there but she does move around and I still think that increases when I put the ipod in her ear or when she hears our voices.
My dad and I spent time today cleaning up her place, doing laudry and getting it ready to live in when she's back. I also met with the financial person at the hospital and talking about working out those details. We now have to figure out where she keeps stuff like pay stubs, birth certificate and stuff like that. We've already found some of the papers but need to devote more time to that tomorrow. My thought right now is to get stuff like that done before she is aware that we're there and we have no time to do other things. Oh yeah, if you haven't already - let your realtives know where you have that kind of thing I feel like I'm trying to read her mind about where she would think it was logical to have put it.
It is a weird thing that when I'm NOT at the hospital I keep wondering if I should be even though she's not aware of us then when I am there it feels so weird... dreamlike and almost like a panicky fight - or - flight thing where I'm edgy and can't wait to get going again. Well, ok there's no one to really fight... but just get me outta here!! I'm also acutely aware of every movement and every sound so every moment is pretty intense. Still I know she'd be there for me and I realize that it could be me in that bed and she'd be there for me.
When I'm in her room I've been trying to calm my self and therefore the room, I hope ,by focusing on all the good thoughts you guys are sending and trying to be the connection to it all for her. She seems to move her hand in a purposeful way and maybe I'm reading into it what I want to see but I'm keeping up the positive thoughts while I'm there and look forward to the thumbs up from her that means something good.
They started her on antibiotics today since there seems to be somthing going on with her lungs. I know people want to visit but it's just not a good time to do it. She wouldn't want any of us to see her like this and she doesn't need more things for her body to fight right now. I'll keep you updated about when things are better and when the time is right for visits.
Thanks again for the good vibes, prayers and thoughts. Love to you all!
She's still zonked out from the meds they give her and they say she doesn't really know we're there but she does move around and I still think that increases when I put the ipod in her ear or when she hears our voices.
My dad and I spent time today cleaning up her place, doing laudry and getting it ready to live in when she's back. I also met with the financial person at the hospital and talking about working out those details. We now have to figure out where she keeps stuff like pay stubs, birth certificate and stuff like that. We've already found some of the papers but need to devote more time to that tomorrow. My thought right now is to get stuff like that done before she is aware that we're there and we have no time to do other things. Oh yeah, if you haven't already - let your realtives know where you have that kind of thing I feel like I'm trying to read her mind about where she would think it was logical to have put it.
It is a weird thing that when I'm NOT at the hospital I keep wondering if I should be even though she's not aware of us then when I am there it feels so weird... dreamlike and almost like a panicky fight - or - flight thing where I'm edgy and can't wait to get going again. Well, ok there's no one to really fight... but just get me outta here!! I'm also acutely aware of every movement and every sound so every moment is pretty intense. Still I know she'd be there for me and I realize that it could be me in that bed and she'd be there for me.
When I'm in her room I've been trying to calm my self and therefore the room, I hope ,by focusing on all the good thoughts you guys are sending and trying to be the connection to it all for her. She seems to move her hand in a purposeful way and maybe I'm reading into it what I want to see but I'm keeping up the positive thoughts while I'm there and look forward to the thumbs up from her that means something good.
They started her on antibiotics today since there seems to be somthing going on with her lungs. I know people want to visit but it's just not a good time to do it. She wouldn't want any of us to see her like this and she doesn't need more things for her body to fight right now. I'll keep you updated about when things are better and when the time is right for visits.
Thanks again for the good vibes, prayers and thoughts. Love to you all!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Monday Feb. 1, 2010
So, I'm back in Whitehall and just back from the hospital. Andie's up and down and from what today's nurse said these cases tend to be this way. She had a scan today that verified that the surgery was successful in clamping the aneurysm but at the same time they also verified that she's in "mild" vasospasm. This was something that the doctor mentioned earlier that is not uncommon in people of her age and it can cause a stroke. They're doing three things to help push the blood through the brain in the area where the blood vessels are trying to clamp down. They're keeping her blood pressure up ( ironic since uncontrolled blood pressure was the cause of all this in the first place) They're also diluting her blood so it doesn't clot and cause a stroke and keeping her fluids up so the blood can move. She's also got a mild fever and it seems like an infection where the breathing tube is. Keep your germs at home...Since she's still not in a state that she'd want to be seen in I'm still going to say to hold off on visits until later.
I spent some time just sitting there with her reading while holding her hand - they say she can hear us but won't remember this all later on. I get the feeling she's kind of asleep at times then gets active other times so i take my cues from what she's doing and when she moves I talk to her but if she's still I let her rest.
She definitely tapped our hands and grabbed for hands when we held hers and then took it away for a second. Still seems like she's not using her right side the left leg and hand are the ones that move and the nurses indicate that the right foot is forcefully taken away as a reflex response to pain but not so much for the right arm. When she's with it they can ask how it feels - tingle? numb? and go from there.
Since I had my ipod with me I stuck one earphone in her ear while I listened to the other to hear the music she responded to and to be sure it wasn't too loud. There was definitely a response as she raised her eyebrows during high pitched parts of the music -mostly John Denver. I stopped into Friday's and updated the manager there and mentioned the ipod and they remember that Andie really liked 70s music when they played it so I think I need to put more of that on my ipod I'm going to take it in when I go and let her listen more. If nothing else it's stimulation and can't hurt.
Today's nurse was very informative about what might be coming up - maybe a trach tube to help her get more oxygen maybe another procedure to inject the blood vessels directly to stop the constricting which means opening that area up again. We shall see.
We'll be back there in the am and my Dad will call later on tonight to check in with the nurse just before we go to sleep.
I spent some time just sitting there with her reading while holding her hand - they say she can hear us but won't remember this all later on. I get the feeling she's kind of asleep at times then gets active other times so i take my cues from what she's doing and when she moves I talk to her but if she's still I let her rest.
She definitely tapped our hands and grabbed for hands when we held hers and then took it away for a second. Still seems like she's not using her right side the left leg and hand are the ones that move and the nurses indicate that the right foot is forcefully taken away as a reflex response to pain but not so much for the right arm. When she's with it they can ask how it feels - tingle? numb? and go from there.
Since I had my ipod with me I stuck one earphone in her ear while I listened to the other to hear the music she responded to and to be sure it wasn't too loud. There was definitely a response as she raised her eyebrows during high pitched parts of the music -mostly John Denver. I stopped into Friday's and updated the manager there and mentioned the ipod and they remember that Andie really liked 70s music when they played it so I think I need to put more of that on my ipod I'm going to take it in when I go and let her listen more. If nothing else it's stimulation and can't hurt.
Today's nurse was very informative about what might be coming up - maybe a trach tube to help her get more oxygen maybe another procedure to inject the blood vessels directly to stop the constricting which means opening that area up again. We shall see.
We'll be back there in the am and my Dad will call later on tonight to check in with the nurse just before we go to sleep.
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