ICU

We thought Donna was on her way. We thought that we had been through the worst. She started out Saturday so well. She had had some coffee, some yogurt and was resting peacefully. Later in the day, my parents stopped by to drop off one of the girls from an activity. We had decided that it would be good for the girls to do something fun, since they too had not really been out of the house much in the last few days. It has been so cold, they couldn’t play outside, and I’ve been busy taking care of Donna. I didn’t have the time to be able to take them out or do something fun with them. So, we decided they would spend the night over at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. They have cable.

Donna still had not eaten much and it was starting to get dinner time. I pushed soup on her, but it was too thick and peppery for her to really take in. Her throat was still very sore and tender, like she had strep throat. The combination did not do well with her. I got concerned when, again, she was not eating much. I let her rest some more. Every once in a while I would talk with her. Sometimes she would reply with an incoherent response. Sometimes she would just stay asleep. I noticed the veins in her neck pulsating away. But they were going very fast. Faster than they should. I got close to her face, so I could see them close up, and also notice she was very hot. I decided to take her temperature. The readout said 103.5. That can’t be right. She sat up for me to take it again. 103.2. This was the deciding factor. I was taking her in to emergency.

The drive to the hospital was somewhat slow, as we were in the middle of getting 5 inches of new snow. We arrived at emergency, and they got us right into Triage. They were also quick about getting us to a cubby in the emergency review area. Then came the wait…

We had arrived at the hospital at 9pm. It was now 10:45pm before a Dr. came to talk with us. A nurse had taken Donna’s information and history, but there were no IV’s until we’d seen the Dr. Her temperature was still pretty high, and he was also concerned with her high heart rate (142 bpm) and her low blood pressure (in the 70’s on the top). He examined her mouth and determine that she was fighting some kind of infection. He had blood work ordered, as well as other tests and also a couple of different antibiotics. They quickly got her IV in (through the port) and the tests underway. She also had an EKG done and later, a chest x-ray.

It was also decided that she would be in the ICU all night. They were going to monitor her very closely. This obviously concerned me, as I’m wondering why it was that urgent that she be in the ICU. The Dr. assured me that it was because she was septic, fighting some kind of infection, this was why the close monitoring would be needed (I’m thankful for that now).

They gave her Motrin in order to get her fever and her heart rate down. Although at first, we reluctant for her to take it, since we thought that might be the cause of some of the nausea she had been previously battling, but in the end, she took it.

Because her white blood count was so low, she was put in a special room that requires everyone to wear a mask to avoid spreading any germs. Her immunity is very low and would be very susceptible to picking up any germs or viruses. This is kind of nice, since she is the only one in the room.

They gave her 5 liters of fluid to start with, along with a couple of antibiotics. This helped bring her blood pressure up. Right now (Sunday night), has the following numbers as I write this:

1. Heart Rate – 113
2. Blood Pressure – 88/45
3. Oxygen – 91
4. Temperature – Normal

The doctors and nurses have been very thorough and accommodating. Donna is doing much better now. It had been one of the longest nights of my life. I just didn’t know what was going to happen. I prayed a lot. Didn’t sleep much. Only when I could see Donna’s stats were stable, then I would take a quick snoozer.

We had some visitors today, both parents came, as well as my brother and sister-in-law and our pastor. We all prayed together for Donna’s healing – however that is to come.

As far as visitors, I would ask that you call me first. She is going to need her rest. This is her first priority. I’m the gatekeeper. Right now, I think rest is the most important thing for her. Until she gets much better, I don’t think it is best for her to have many visitors. I’ll do my best to keep everyone informed through this journal.

Thank you for praying for her. I really believe she is going to pull through this just fine. It has already taken a lot of hard work and care from the doctors and nurses here at the hospital to make that happen.

The next step is to get her stabilized and moved out of the ICU to the cancer floor of the hospital. Not sure what the next few days are going to bring, but we are trusting in the Lord.