Day Two

Good evening,

Happy Birthday Jennifer!!! She got the best birthday present this week! A new life is coming and I am super excited about it. I know that Greg and Teresa are too! And from the amount of support on facebook, the comments on this site (sorry if you posted a couple days ago, I didn’t know that I had to approve them to be published), and the calls and texts, you all are too. I know that all of us are sending out updates and responding to calls and texts as fast as possible! If we haven’t got back to you, we will!

We got to the hospital about 7:30am and got back to the hotel about 8:15pm. Jen had a stable day. They weren’t really able to wean her oxygen needs like they were hoping. I know that to move to pressure support on the vent, the numbers on the machine need to read 50 or less on oxygen and she needs a peep of 5. When we left, she had an oxygen of 60 and a peep of 10. Jen had a bronchoscopy this afternoon, which after reading some blogs online, is normal after this surgery. They cut the nerves that really allow us to cough with a lot of force, so this procedure helps clear the mucus. Plus, the doc can see so it is very precise in getting the goo out. They said depending on her levels tomorrow, that she may need one each day for the next few. I remember reading online, that one person had to have one for like 12 days straight. Hopefully we don’t have to do that! Dr. Mulligan came through this afternoon too. He said the same thing that pretty much every other doctor said, and that is to “just give her time”. Somehow it seems better when the news is coming from him. He said that all her other organs are functioning perfectly. They will continue to try and pull fluid off her body with medicine, but they have to be careful because they do not want to make the kidneys work overtime. He said we should know more in the next 48 hours. He said that the body heals itself on the inside the same way as on the outside and it just takes time. Not Dr. Mulligan, but an example one doc gave was that this issue is like a cut on your arm. After you stop the bleeding, then the skin will turn a red color around the wound before it scabs over and heals. Her lungs have to go through a healing process too. Dr. Mulligan said that everyone’s case is different, and that we are waiting for her body to say, yep! time to get rid of this fluid. Probably on the ventilator over the weekend.

I am to understand that in the operating room Wednesday, the central line that they had in Jen’s neck failed, so she has a central line in her groin area. They have to move that one to a new site very soon. They tried to put a PICC line in tonight, but after she had that blood clot 9 years ago (or so) they just can’t seem to get it right. The nurse tried tonight, but wasn’t able. Basically, a PICC line is an IV above the elbow in the upper arm. What makes it differen,t is they thread a line up the vein, around the shoulder, and have it stop just above the heart. With Jen, once the line goes over the shoulder it either wraps around to the armpit or goes up the neck. I guess tomorrow they are going to take her to a lab to try and re-place the line. They are able to use magnets to guide the line. My thought on that is, how are they going to get her there? I mean, three IV poles and a ventilator. No way! The nurse tonight told us, “believe me, the amount of stuff in here right now is about half what we can get in this room” WOW! Anyway, back to my story…they have to move that line in her groin so they can get her up and in a chair and start physical therapy. When that line is in her groin, she can’t have her upper body elevated more than 30 degrees. Hopefully that happens tomorrow!

Thanks to everyone for their support through this! I know Jennifer feels it too. She makes sure she says goodbye to everyone at the end of each day. She even gave the Courtney the “I love you” sign tonight as it was her last day at UWMC. She is a great nurse and we will miss her. Best of luck to her and her family on the move! Teresa read her a couple text messages from Emily Bruggeman today and lots of other people. I told her happy birthday from all of you that sent me a text!

Jen had a good day! There was lots of interaction with us today. The nurse tonight, Jim, was going to up her sedation slightly so she could rest. I know she’s resting good right now! It’s 9:23, so I will be resting now too!

Happy Birthday Jennifer! New lungs are going to make my present look pretty pathetic! Love you bunches!

Kerry