Did Not Extubate

Not been an encouraging day

Throwing up this morning

Really agitated

Needed lots of sunctioning

Gave more ativan to relieve her agitation

Hard to be patient

Need more time for dialysis to work

Waiting to pull tube until she is more stable

Keep praying

Prayer

Once again, we ask for your specific prayers...this time for Emily's kidneys to start working again.

She has already begun dialysis this evening after continued symptoms of her kidneys not functioning correctly. She has not been on sedation meds for awhile now and she is just now starting to wake up but is still very much out of it.

They had to put in a 2nd central line which is extremely painful and very difficult to watch her be in so much pain. The moments that she does have of alertness are spent reassuring her and reminding her that her job is to relax. She is responding well to her Mom and Jason (I'm not sure who else is there) and holding her hand. Extubation (taking the tube out) is still not out of the picture as her respirations are still good.

So basically the big item for prayer is for her kidneys to start working ASAP. The hope is that this is temporary and simply due to the large amount of stress her kidneys have been under.

Please pray.

Kidneys

Emily is once again facing an obstacle. Her kidneys are not working well it all and she was not extubated this morning. A kidney specialist is being brought on as her kidney levels are close to needing dialysis. She is off of all meds but she is not processing them correctly so she still has levels of meds that she has been off of for 5 days. Extubation has been postponed until the kidneys are addressed. She is still sedated even though she is not on meds.

Pray that they can identify quickly how to help her.

Extubate tomorrow?

Quick update as I am traveling...

* breathed on her own since 9.30 AM
* showed emotion for first time
* she is uncomfortable but ok
* plan to extubate in AM if all goes well

Pray to that end

6 Hours...

...is how long Emily breathed on her own today!!!! Are you kidding me?!?!

They turned off the respirator this morning around 9 AM and did not know if Emily would be able to last a couple of minutes, 30 minutes or an hour breathing on her own for the first time. And now, 6 hours later, Emily is just now getting some much needed rest. They have turned the respirator back on now but she is still having to initiate the breaths on her own. It allows her to rest a bit more and not have quite as much work.

The plan is to allow her to rest for the remainder of the day/night and try again in the morning with the hopes that they can pull the tube either later Wednesday or more likely Thursday. She is still sedated but is now completely off morphine and is now on a "3" for the other drug that helps with her nerves. They were both at 15, so this is a big adjustment. She was fairly alert today with eyes open and interactive which I know was a big relief and encouragement for Jason...but exhausting too as he watched his wife for 6 hours do things she has not done in almost 3 weeks.

She is resting well now so let's keep praying that continues with no interruptions. And let's pray that she can finally move past the need of this machine within the next 48 hours that has been breathing for her and get that tube out of her throat!

Ephesians 3:14-21

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Big Day Tomorrow

Alright everyone...it's one of the moments we've been waiting for. So let's be in prayer heavily on Tuesday.

Emily's sedation meds were cut in half today (from a 15 to an 8...but I'm not really sure what those numbers mean) to begin the process of waking her up. They want her awake enough to receive coaching from the nurses and doctors about how to breathe again with the hope that she can come off the vent. They are going to give her a chance to initiate a breath while she is still on the vent and see how she does. They tried today to see if she would breathe on her own and she did not take a breath when they turned the machine off but she was still not awake at all at that point. It was a scary moment for sure but today, she once again squeezed Jason's hand...YAY!

Right now, the vent is set to initiate her breaths for her but once she is alert and able to take instructions, they will change those settings to allow her the chance to re-learn what it is like to breathe after almost 3 weeks of being on the ventilator. So basically, tomorrow is a HUGE day for her in so many ways and will be a big determining factor of whether they proceed with taking her off the vent or doing a tracheotomy.

Specific prayer requests include...
* Emily to wake up without any of the "episodes" she has been dealing with
* A smooth transition off of the sedation meds (she's been on A LOT) and for there to be no long term damage
* Emily to receive instructions well and for her to understand and reenact what she is being instructed to do
* Patience and teamwork present for all involved
* Emily to initiate her first breath tomorrow
* Progress to be made towards full recovery
* A sweet "reunion" of Emily "rejoining" Jason, her family and friends
* Emily to be encouraged
* Jason & family to have hope & patience and for them to be encouraged as well

Please leave a comment to let them know that you will be praying for them on Tuesday.

Pretty much the same

Emily has basically maintained the same status since the last time I posted. Her oxygen is still at 40% and her PEEP is still at a 5. All in all this is a very good thing. Yesterday during the late afternoon she did have a very random heart rate increase that shot up to 160 to which they had to give her a med to bring it down which made her blood pressure low again. However, they were able to get her stable fairly quickly and it seemed to be an isolated incident.

Jason believes the doctors will probably make a decision on Tuesday or Wednesday to start weaning her off the vent or do a tracheotomy. So let's keep praying for Emily to improve and for the doctors to have wisdom and discernment to make the best decision for Emily's care.

Heading in the Right Direction

There is a big smile on my face as I get to share some encouraging news and some answers to prayer!

Emily's oxygen has been moved down to 40% (where it should probably stay) and her PEEP is down to 5. These are the key numbers that indicate the possibility of coming off the vent! Everything should probably stay the same today but the may take down some of the other machine settings on the vent as well that should make her breath rate go down (another big step in the right direction).

There is not an official plan in place from the doctors to start weaning her off the vent but the nurses are starting to talk about it more and everything seems to be moving that direction. From what Jason has gathered, the weaning off process can take a few days rather than being a quick change so we are still looking at next week at the earliest. And all of this is not a guarantee of getting off the vent but things are definitely much more in favor of that than they have been.

A funny anecdote from today...Emily had the nurses and her Dad laughing a bit this morning. She was kind of awake a little bit today when the nurses needed to move the tube a little bit further down in her throat. This actually happened twice. Emily decided to bite down on the tube so that they could not push it down any farther. When the nurses could get no further they asked her "Emily, do you understand that we need to put the tube further down your throat?" to which Emily nodded yes. "So you need to stop biting down on the tube, Emily." To which in true Emily fashion, she shook her head no. Of course the nurses won but it is so encouraging to know that she is comprehending, making choices, and that even the stubborn part of her personality is shining through. :-)

All in all, Jason is very encouraged and asks that we pray that she continues on this path and that everything keeps heading in the right direction. Yesterday marked two weeks on the vent and three weeks in the hospital. There is definitely a lot more work to do even after getting off the vent involving rehab, etc but it is wonderful to see some drastic improvements right now.

Tim and Jason are both doing fine and Emily's sister Callie may come again. Stephanie will come as soon as they take the vent out to help with rehab. AND, sweet Faith is doing really well too. She has a couple of times a day that she is sad and asks for Mommy & Daddy but grandparents, aunts & uncles, cousins, and the lovable dog Maggie are dong a great job of keeping her entertained and doing well.

So spend some time praising the Lord for what He has done and keep praying for Emily and her family.

Thursday

Quick update...hopefully many more details tomorrow. :-)

Emily's feeling a little bit better today. Her PEEP is down to 10, her oxygen is down to 70% and her O2 sats are staying in the mid 90s. She is able to rest well. The hope is that she is over a hump and will continue to get better. Let's pray to that end. Not much else has changed at this point.

Wednesday

Today was a little bit better than yesterday. Still not much to report. Emily's vent settings are at 90% oxygen and she is back to holding steady in the upper 90s for her O2 saturation which is much better than it has been. This should make it easier for her to breathe.

I'm rereading that paragraph over and over and just not sure what else to say...partly because I don't have a lot more info and partly just because I just don't know how to say anything else. I'm so thankful that Christ paid it all and promises to never leave us nor forsake us.

Romans 12:12 - Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

I miss you Em...but I'm rejoicing in the hope that we'll get to talk to you again soon and the truth that we will have new bodies in our future home...I'm doing my best to be patient in this process by trusting in the Lord and encourage you to do the same even when it's consistently tough (and I know it is)...and I'm constantly praying for your healing, for Christ to work through you, and for a miracle with your name on it.