DAY 5 -- SUNDAY, 17 JANUARY 2010

Four days in ICU and no major setbacks. No improvements, but no setbacks. Kathey still maintains good color. Her BP is still good, as well as her pulse rate. Her CVP [central venous pressure] is lower today, but I noticed she doesn’t have as many bags hooked up to her, so perhaps that’s to be expected. I learned that today, Kath’s bowels have been working since day one -- that’s a very good thing as it was a huge concern right after surgery if her small bowel (intestine) would work again after the surgery. So I was glad to learn that today. She didn’t open her eyes while I was there today. I’m actually glad of that as I think the more she rests, the less she’s aware of her pain and perhaps the more she’ll heal.

Grama was able to talk with Kath’s surgeon while we were there. She said Kath’s urine output was better, and that the other doctor may reconsider taking Kath off the ventilator in the next couple of days.

Kathey’s daytime nurse, Darlene, atleast she's the one she’s had thus far, has taken good care of her. Kathey is a neat-freak. Darlene brushes Kath’s teeth and puts drops in her eyes, washes her face, and more… These are things that we can obviously see that is getting done every day… I’m so thankful that she’s being taken care of while we aren’t there and really aren't able to do these things for her with all the hook-ups she has.

I seen that Kath is receiving FAT!!! I had to take a picture of it! Can you believe it??? FAT!!! Yes, fat, the stuff that most people want to lose! So I took a picture of it and a few other things -- and got in trouble… Bummer! I didn’t mean to get in trouble… But I just couldn’t resist the one of the bag of fat emulsifier! :-)

Please continue to pray for my Aunt!

DAY 3 -- FRIDAY, 15 JANUARY 2010

It’s closing in on the 48 hours and she’s coming out of the anesthesia. She’s waking up and feeling the pain. I don’t like that she’s so alert and aware of her pain. She’s asking to go home. I told her I’d take her home when she got better and tears came out of her eyes. Someone put me out of my misery. My heart is shattered and the pain is unbearable. I hate seeing my sweet aunt is so much dang pain!!! They’ve tied her hands to the bed! I’m claustrophobic and feel an anxiety attack building rapidly so I ask her nurse why she’s tied. I’m told that she took her NG tube out twice yesterday… But she allows me to untie her hands as long as I stay in the room with her. It’s a deal! So while her hands are untied I gently rub them and try to bend her fingers ever so gently trying to work the stiffness out of them. Her hands and fingers are so swollen. They are about 3-4 sizes larger than normal due to all the hydration she’s being pumped with. That and the lack of movement, I’m assuming. She’s a beautiful sight to see lying there breathing in and out!

Her pulse rate is down a bit, BP is up a bit and her CVP is up as well. Urine output is still too low, considering she received 14 bags of fluid yesterday. That must be why she’s so swollen. She also received 2 units of blood today. It was either because of yesterdays fluids that her blood was really thinned out, and Kath just needed a little extra. Or from the surgery, because there was a little blood in the stool and they didn’t know if Kathey had some internal bleeding… After a 2nd blood sample, [Thank you, God] we found there was no internal bleeding!

I’m staying the night with her -- as I cannot bear to leave her in case the pain meds wear down again and she becomes too awake and more aware of her pain.

Tonight I told her why she was in ICU… and in so much pain… I hope I didn’t make a mistake… She was looking at me with so many questions in her eyes. I’ve always been honest and open with my aunt -- I couldn’t lie -- she’d know if I was. Besides she deserved to know how well she’s been fighting a great fight!

DAY 2 -- THURSDAY, 14 JANUARY 2010

Day two, and she’s still fighting! Yeah! Her blood pressure is still too low and her pulse rate is too high… Her urine output is too low, but to be expected especially considering how dehydrated she was, is what the nurse tells me. Her CVP [central venous pressure] is a 3 and the nurse would like for it to be a 10-12 within the next 24 hours…. It’s a 3 due to the dehydration. Dehydration, again. She has bags hanging everywhere. Her face is so swollen as well as her fingers and hands. I’ve never seen so many tubes and wires in my life.

She’s still hooked up to an NG tube as well as the ventilator. I’m glad they are providing her with oxygen. I’m also glad, it’s not life support. I do have to say, that her color is much better than I expected -- could be an effect from the anesthesia or one of the meds she’s receiving… I take hope that it’s her color!

DAY 1 - WEDNESDAY, 13 JANUARY 2010

Grama asked Kath if she’d go to the hospital and Kath said, “Not yet, Mom.” Kath was hoping if she waited just a few more minutes the pain would go away. She hates going to the hospital. Though she is a retired nurse and spent many, many days, nites and hours in a hospital caring for the sick and injured she has always hated the idea of being the one in need of care. She’s independent like that. So in hopes that just 5 more minutes of waiting would bring comfort and release from the gripping pain, instead her blood pressure continued to drop unbeknownst to all.

Finally, she told my grama she was ready to go. So my grama asked her if she needed to call me from work or if she should call my son who happens to be home from work next door. My aunt Kath said call the squad (the ambulance), because she couldn’t stand up on her own. Grama knew she was even in worse trouble than 5 seconds before!

The ambulance arrived and true enough Kathey cannot stand up on her own. It took the paramedics picking her up, (she’s dehydrated down to not much over 100-pounds [our assessment is about 112]) and carried her outdoors to the stretcher where they began to take her vitals. The paramedic that took her blood pressure, was not happy at all and called it out 3 times to the one writing them down to assure he heard him. Her bp was 70-something over 40-something. They wasted no time getting her rolling down the road to ER. She was VERY dehydrated. I’m sure that by evening she would have been dead. She struggled to keep consciousness.

Dehydration is to be expected when one cannot keep anything down after several days of vomiting! Which was only a repeat of several episodes back to back week after week. She could never recover before she was repeating it all over again. Nourishment was a luxury she just didn’t seem to be afforded. She was withering away…

Day One found Kathey in the ER and eventually into surgery, where the Surgeon finds her small intestines riddled with scleroderma and necrosis. The scleroderma has been the root of the problem all along. All this time that she’s been having severe stomach pain -- it has been the scleroderma. With all the necrosis, the surgeon had no choice but to remove it -- infection had set in. Kathey had been running a fever. She took all of the diseased small intestine she could and left as little of it as she had to keep Kath alive. The risk is that the scleroderma could still be lurking around in there, as well as necrosis could still be residual in the fringes of what is remaining…. But no more could be taken. To take more was a death sentence. As it is, she only has a 50/50 chance of survival at this time. The first 24-48 hours were the most crucial for her….

Prayers are very appreciated!