January 27, 2010

I'm not sure how best to share this with all of you as my hands are shaking so badly and it is the last thing that I would want to be saying.

Emily passed away and went to be with Jesus this morning, January 27, 2010.

My heart wants to stop right there but my head tells me to keep going.

January 11th (Monday): Emily went into the hospital in Lubbock with pneumonia.
January 18th (Monday): Moved to the ICU because she couldn't breathe very well and was panicky.
January 20th (Wednesday): After being on antibiotics, she just couldn't kick it and was intubated and placed on the ventilator.
January 23rd (Saturday): She had some swelling in her face and the team @ UMC felt that it would be better if she was transferred to UAB in Birmingham. The thought they had tried everything they could do and in case they were missing something, they suggested she be moved. The life flight picked her up around 5 AM and transported her to Birmingham.

Once at UAB, she was responding pretty well overall. She had issues with a blood clot in her arm from her pic line, some digestive issues, some bleeding in her stomach related to an ulcer, but as far as her progression on the vent, she was doing really well. Her oxygen saturation and blood gasses were all heading in the right direction.

January 27 (Wednesday-Today):
12:00 AM Midnight: Emily's heart rate dipped really low (below 60 beats per minute) and although the doctors were not too concerned, Jason was, as Emily usually runs a pulse of 90-110. So, this was really low for her.
3:00 AM: Jason woke up to find 3 nurses in the room. Emily's heart rate was now over 200 beats per minute and her blood pressure was spiked extremely high. The emergency crash team was called in and was able to regulate both her heart rate and her blood pressure. Although a very intense time period, she settled back down.
~7:00 - 8:00 AM: Jason thought he might have slept a little more and woke to a nurse checking Emily's vent settings. Everything looked good. The nurse then did a routine check of her pupils and they did not dilate or respond to light. The immediately took her for a CAT scan of her head and found a large brain hemorrhage.

At this point, they brought in a neurologist to do a function test to test the activity of the brain. They tested each region with no response. The final portion of the test looked into the brain stem and tested her breathing, swallowing and gag reflex...again, with no response.

~11:00 AM Emily was pronounced brain dead. Jason and his Dad were invited into the room to say goodbye. Jason was able to be with her for about 10-15 minutes while she was still on the vent but knew she was already gone. At that point, he asked for them to take her off the vent. She did not take another breath on her own after it was removed. Her heart beat for a couple more minutes and he stayed with her until her heart stopped beating.

The doctors do not know why all of this happened. It does not really make sense and it could be a number of things. They have several theories but all they know for certain was that the spike in blood pressure is what was the ultimate cause. Since she was on blood thinners for the blood clot, they think when her blood pressure spiked, that it put too much pressure on her vessels and a vein in her brain ruptured. It was not the blood clot. But they are not sure why the blood pressure originally spiked. After the 3 AM incident, all of her other settings (heart rate, breathing, oxygen, vent settings) were all completely normal. The vent was what was keeping her alive.

Jason is currently driving back from Birmingham to Lubbock with his Dad. They should arrive around 4 AM tomorrow morning. Stephanie was supposed to fly to Birmingham today but will remain in Lubbock. Jason is making plans to have Emily's body brought back to Lubbock and will be making funeral arrangements tomorrow. Please check back and I will post them once I know what they are.

Please be praying for Jason and his Dad's safe travel as well as his conversation with Faith about her sweet Momma who will not be coming home. Emily is in heaven breathing in the sweet aroma of her Savior. Please direct your prayers for the loved ones that she has left behind. Jason as always is a strong husband and a loving Daddy. Pray for him as he makes decisions and leads his family. Pray for Emily's family who was not able to be with her in her final days on this earth. And pray that God would be glorified in her death and in our grieving and celebrating her precious life.

Psalm 71:20-21 20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. 21 You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.

I found this over the weekend and when I posted this on her blog, I wanted it to be true on this earth. In the depths of my heart, I think I knew that it was going to be true in heaven rather than on earth.

Now she is revived. Now she is brought up. Now she is comforted. Again and forevermore. Thank you Jesus.