Dorothea became a little more alert this afternoon - the sedation is beginning to wear off. She was able to raise each arm and move each leg upon the doctor's request. She had a few times of being totally alert, eyes wide open, and obviously looking at us and listening to us. The first time she looked at me today with eyes wide open, it was such a good feeling. It has been 6 days since she has been too that alert. As soon as she tried to talk though, it just made me cry. I have been very strong these past two weeks... for those of who know how easily I cry - you would be very amazed at my strengh while in front of my mom! Anyway - it just made me cry to see her try to speak and not be able to make a sound. I cannot begin to imagine the frustration, fear, anxiety, and pain that she must be dealing with. She is such a strong woman!!!
The doctors decided that the blood in the renal catheter was being caused by the catheter, so they have removed it.
The respiratory therapist came by again this afternoon while I was there. He is very encouraged (and so are we) by her numbers today. He seems to be more optomistic than the doctor as far as how long she will need the ventilator. He feels that the doctor has given us really long estimates, so that way if it happens sooner, we will be thrilled! The respiratory therapist really wants to try to push her and see what she can handle. So far she is meeting or exceeding his expectations for her.
I think I mentioned in a previous post that they had stopped the feeding tube early this morning. They have still not started that back up. As of late this afternoon her stomach was not "working". I guess they can hear things with their stethoscope, and they are not hearing what they need to. They are telling us that they believe her stomach is still sedated, we need to wait for it to "wake up" - then they will resume the nutrition. Until that time, she will be just receiving IV fluids. Dorothea has a hard time getting sedatives out of her system - especially since her kidneys are not functioning.
The nurse summed today up as Harold was leaving the hospital - today was a positive day! She is right, and we need to cling to every positive step forward.
8pm - I just received a call from Harold - so I want to update information above. The bleeding has not lessened, so it must not be from the catheter insertion. The doctors will look into this tomorrow to figure out why she is bleeding. For tonight, they are giving her 2 units of packed red cells to increase her red blood cell count and her hemoglobin.
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