Off the respirator (day 21)

Hello again, from the most expensive hotel in San Francisco...

News continues to be good! I had a lengthy chat with her ICU doctor, and we're working towards getting her into a normal medical ward later this week. He thinks that, if everything continues going in the same direction, she might be able to move out of the ICU on Friday or Saturday. Nancy needs to (1) be breathing on her own most of the time, (2) continue to be stable, good blood pressure, etc., and (3) tolerate dialysis without any problems. So far, she is meeting all three criteria :-)

Nancy is off the full respirator, and now has a different machine that simply provides a little pressure support. They were wrapping up her respirator when I got here tonight, and the new machine will be used at night to make life a little easier for her.

She's had two hours of dialysis today, just finishing up in a few minutes. They removed more than 2-1/2 liters of fluid from her (!) without any blood pressure problems. That's a good six pounds.

The doc says that the team believes the infection is pretty well overcome now, which is why they can safely remove so much fluid. She'll be on antibiotics for another four weeks, of course, and her kidneys are still barely working, but everyone expects her kidneys to recover and everything else to continue to improve.

She still cannot talk. After she's been breathing on her own consistently for a few days, they can look at reducing the size of her trache tube, but that is a one-way change, and they won't do that until they are sure she doesn't need respiratory support. In the mean time, the respiratory tech is going to move her in the right direction tomorrow by deflating the trache collar inside her trachea. This will let her get some air past the trache tube, and perhaps give any swelling a chance to subside.

Everyone is pleased with her progress, especially me. She is tired, impatient, experiencing ongoing pain in her neck. And unable to move her arms much yet. So there is plenty of recovery ahead.

Today her sister Janet flew in from Connecticut, and visited this afternoon with her sister-in-law Kathy. Janet will be here for a week or so, and I'm happy she's helping. Other friends dropped by around 6, just before I arrived. She's had a busy day.

Love,

-tdc