Day 23

1/24/08

Today, Laurie joined her heavenly Father and savior Jesus Christ.  She is now watching over us all, free of pain and sickness.  Laurie and her family appreciate all of the cards, thoughts, prayers, and love that she received during the past three weeks.  

There will be a memorial, reception, and celebration of her life at on Sunday 2/3/2008 at 2:30.  We invite all who knew and loved Laurie to attend

Covenant Presbyterian Church

2881 Canton Road

Marietta, GA  30066

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to:

HOW Place Inc.

PO Box 2459

Acworth, GA  30102

Monies contributed in Laurie's name will be used in the construction of a new meeting place for Laurie's AA group.  This group was one of Laurie's great passions and made the last 2+ years of her life a joy for her and her family.

For those who still want to send flowers, we would appreciate that they arrive the Friday and Saturday before the service so we can bring them to the reception.  Please send them to us at:

3069 Saddleback Mountain Road

Marietta, GA  30062

Day 22

1/23/08

H A P P Y     B I R T H D A Y     L A U R I E ! ! ! ! !

We will have the actual party when Laurie is awake and can enjoy visiting with family and friends.

Laurie had an uneventful night.  They lowered her oxygen to 30% and took her off of sedation in the morning.  The only medication she is receiving by drip is the blood pressure medicine which helps to control her heart rate.

They are going to attempt to insert a PIC line again, this time in radiology.  Hopefully this time the procedure will be successful.  She may also do another CT scan to check her progress.

Amy visited with Laurie in the morning.  Nina, Julie, and Marie also came by to read to Laurie.  They brought a big birthday cake and a prayer chain.  We hung the chain on the door in the back of Laurie's room.  Brad brought greeting cards that had been send to the house to read to her.  He also brought emails from Laurie's brothers, Mark and J.C.  These will be read to her throughout the day by visitors.

The doctors talked to us after the CT scan and the news was devastating.  Laurie had suffered many strokes over the last 48 hours and over 80% of her brain was affected.  It was explained that the affected areas of her brain were starting to swell which could cause cardiac arrest.  Even if there was no swelling Laurie would never be conscious enough to know of our presence.  They told us she probably had no more than 24 hours.  Laurie requested to be an organ donor, so they are keeping her on life support at this time.

We appreciate all of the visitors that came to pray for the Laurie and the family and give us their support.  Thanks also to the callers and texters that sent there love and support.  Laurie was touched by so many people and she has touched so many others.  I thank her for giving me over 28 years of love and companionship, and four beautiful children, whom she will now watch over from above.  We are also blessed to be a part of the Mac Rae family and for the love of her parents, brothers, sister-in-laws, nephews, nieces, and friends on the west coast.  We will always love you and be part of your family.

Day 21

1/22/08

Last night, the nurses put Laurie back on the blood pressure medicine Esmolol because her heart rate increased. They stopped the pain medication drip this morning, so Laurie is now using the 72 hour patch for pain control. She remains on the sedation medication Propofol.

Tomorrow is Laurie's "belly button" birthday, so please write comments on this blog for her, or send emails to ljbaden123@yahoo.com or jbbaden@gmail.com. We will have a reading of the comments and emails in the evening. There is also a big card at the hospital to sign which we will also read.

Anyone is welcome to come up to the hospital tomorrow and see Laurie and read a card to her or just talk to her! We believe she really enjoys being read to! it appears to relax her! We hope to see you tomorrow!

Day 20

1/21/08

This morning, they started Laurie breathing on her own again with assistance from the ventilator.  Her breathing is a little heavy, but because her carbon dioxide levels are remaining low, they are going to let her continue to breathe on her own.  She is receiving 40% oxygen from the ventilator.

Laurie was taken off of the blood pressure medicine and they removed the EEG leads from her head.  Now that there is nothing on her head, they were able to shampoo her hair.

Tonight at 10pm, they are going to cut her pain medication drip in half, and then tomorrow at 10am they will stop it all together.  They have already placed a 72 hour narcotic patch on her to take over pain management.  They continue to wean her of of the sedation, monitoring her vital signs for agitation as it is decreased.

The doctors and nurses have talked about Laurie's next level of care.  If she can get to the point where she can breathe on her own and does not need continuous medications, she will be able to be moved to long term care.  This is great news that Laurie is recovering.

Day 19

1/20/08

Last night, Laurie's breathing became short and rapid as she tried to do it on her own.  This was kind of like hyper ventilating, so her carbon dioxide levels increased.  The nurse decided to sedate her again to let her rest because she was just working to hard.  They are now completely ventilating Laurie to help her rest.

Laurie was taken down to have another CT Scan.  Nothing changed since the scan a couple of days ago.  This shows she is not getting worse which keeps us in a positive mood.

They are still slowly taking her off of sedation, reducing her oxygen supplement, and reducing her medications.

We all appreciate Doris Marcus and her daughter Casi for buying dinner for us.  We also loved the gift bag full of goodies.  Doris is Jessica's boss at Ott & Company.

Day 18

1/19/08

We arrived at the hospital today to find that Laurie had had a CT scan without contrast dye.  We believe this was to determine if she will get a permanent drain placed in her head.  The nurse also told us that they had clamped the EVD to see if her body could manage the intracranial pressure.  The had also increased her oxygen to 100% which was keeping her Licox oxygen level at 20 (20 and above is good).  By noon they had lowered the incoming oxygen to 90%.  All of her other vital signs are good.

We talked to the doctor today.  They are planning to take out the EVD and all of the Licox leads from her head because she is able to manage the intercranial pressure on her own.  The are starting to wean her off of all medications and sedations to see how her body will mange to take care of itself.  We were reassured that her heart has not shown any ill effects being at elevated heart rate and pressure.  Laurie is over the hump of concerns of vasospasms.  This is a step forward in her recovery.

The doctors removed the EVD and Licox connections.  Laurie is no longer wearing her party hat.  The only leads coming off of her head are for the EKG machine monitoring her brain waves.

Both of her feet were responding to pinching.  Her arms are posturing which is a result of her strokes a week ago.  Her right eye remains half open.  We wonder if she sees movement while she is sedated.

Later in the day, Laurie received 2 units of blood to give her more hemoglobin to carry oxygen to the brain.

Day 17

1/18/08

Today the nurse increased the oxygen level that Laurie was receiving to keep the oxygen level up in her brain from 50% to 70%. She also increased the External Ventricular Drain (EVD), which is the rate that blood and fluid is drained out of Laurie's cranium.

This morning a nurse practitioner tried to install a new intravenous PIC Line, used to withdraw blood and inject medications needed by Laurie. It can be used over and over for a long period of time and it will keep them from trying to find a vein over and over. However, since she is so full of fluids, her veins were narrowed and they could not insert a ware into her vein. They will consult and determine what to do next.

Her vital signs remain in a good range. Her right eye is opened slightly, but not far enough to see anything.

While Laurette and Katie were in Laurie's room, they took her off of sedation and tested her limbs for a response.  Both of her feet responded.  Her arms responded, but they are not sure if that is from pinching or if her body is just posturing.

Thanks Laurette for taking me out to dinner.  It was a nice break for me.

Laurie had several visitors today that read to her and some noted an apparent response from her. We also appreciated the pizza from Jim.