Monday, June 25, 2007
Continuing Slow Improvement
"Margaret's overall condition remained basically unchanged on Monday. She is heavily sedated now, and only wakes up momentarily about 3 times every 24 hours, when the nurses back off on the sedatives briefly to check reflexes and her reactions. She is mentally fuzzy, disoriented, obviously frustrated when awake, and tries to grab or pull the ventilator tubes. However, there is some good news. I slept in a chair next to her bed again last night and in the morning the radiology staff took another chest x-ray. About an hour later the ICU doctors came in. They said the x-ray image still shows congestion in the lungs, but much less than yesterday. Her lab tests and other vitals look better, her temperature is in the normal range, heart rate & BP is normal now. So, continuing with plenty of antibiotics through IVs, rest, sedation, and on Tuesday they plan to begin transitioning the ventilation to more normal breathing on-demand by the patient. If all goes well, the ventilator tubes might be removed by Tuesday evening or Wednesday. Then the sedation can be lifted and she can return to her normal alert self. I'll update more after Tuesday morning's discussion with the ICU docs." -Ken
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2 comments:
Thanks for your updates Ken. We are always thinking about Margaret, yourself and your family. I'm trying not to bother you wih excessive phone calls, please know you can call me for anything I can do. Remember I'm retired again, I have the time.
Hey, I appreciate James and all the other folks who, when they ask about Margaret, also are concerned about me and the rest of Margaret's family.
Just last night, my brother-in-law Alan called. He had gathered the latest update on Margaret from this blog and from an informal phone tree within my own side of the family. But he then called to see how I was doing, too.
Margaret's children are grown now, but they have really felt the strain as their mom's health has been threatened during this past year. They have been brave and supportive. The kindness of everyone who has communicated words of encouragement to them and to me has been very appreciated.
As for James... well, since he IS retired now, I may have home improvement project coming up soon that will cut down on dust around the Griffin Place. That will be important when Margaret returns home.
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