Day 13

1/14/08
Another day of rest for Laurie. The nurses just monitored her and kept her sedated and cool. Her heart rate fluctuated between 85 and 115 (the lower number being better for her).

We have noticed a lowering of her heart rate and a change in her breathing when friends and family read scripture or just talk to her. I want to believe that this means that she is hearing us and is comforted that so many people love her and care for her. So many people are praying for Laurie, and I know she senses this through her connection with God.

Craig and I enjoyed visiting with our HOW friends that visited and called.

Day 12

1/13/08

No real change in Laurie's condition today.  Her heart rate remains high, between 100 and 105. She is receiving a drug to keep her blood pressure elevated to push oxygen to her brain.   They are still keeping her sedated and cool to minimize brain activity and swelling.  She received a chest x-ray this morning, and when they took her off sedation, her heart rate went over 140, and the oxygen level in the brain went down.  So they immediately put her back on sedation and left her sedated for the rest of the day.

Laurie and the family had many visitors today.  We appreciated all of the well wishes, love, and food.  Thanks Betsy and Melissa for bringing pizza.  Laurette spent a long time talking to Laurie, and I am sure she heard every word.  Jim came in read scriptures to Laurie.   Wende said that Laurie's heart rate went down about 25 beats while he read to her.  Thanks Jim!

Katie and Wende are headed back to their respected universities. I know they will miss seeing their mother, and hopefully they can concentrate on their studies.

Day 11

1/12/08

Laurie opened an eye on command in the morning for the doctors, and did the same again later in the morning when Wende told her she loved her.  This gave the family hope that she is fighting to recover.

When the nurse took Laurie off of sedation, her heart rate went up to 141 beats per minute, so they put her back on the sedation.  It took nearly 45 minutes for her rate to return to around 100.  To minimize brain activity and swelling, the nurse decided to keep on sedation for the rest of the day.  She is still on the cooling pads which also keeps her brain function at a minimum.  The monitors are showing that the intracranial pressure (ICP) is around 4, showing that the sedation and the cooling is keeping the swelling down.

Laurie's lungs sound clear now, so hopefully the pneumonia is mostly gone, however her white  blood cell count jumped 3,000 to 21,000.  The nurse suspected another infection, so they took some cultures to the lab.  We are still waiting to hear the results from the lab.

The monitors are showing that the intracranial pressure (ICP) is around 4.  Anything under 20 is good, showing that the sedation and cooling is working to keep the swelling down.  They are also giving Laurie 100% oxygen to give the brain the maximum amount.

The nurse practitioner talked to us today, repeating the news from yesterday about the procedure and strokes, and she also discussed what Laurie's body is going through now and the risks ahead.  Her heart is working hard to move blood and oxygen to the brain, but also to the infection in body.  Since Laurie has had previous cardiac problems and has a stent, there is a higher risk of cardiac arrest.

So now it appears that it is mostly up to Laurie to fight and want to get well.  The doctors are mostly going to try to keep her from having infections and more strokes for the next week or two.

Again, we appreciate all of the visitors, food, support, love, and prayers.  Please keep it up!!

Day 10

1/11/08

They are keeping Laurie's temperature at 97.7 degrees, which is good for the brain.  Her skin seems so cold to the touch.  I know how Laurie likes to be warm, so I wish they could raise her temperature a little.  She occasionally shivers which is probably a good sign.

The doctors moved her feeding tube from her nose and throat, running it directly into her stomach.  The food is a cream/tan colored liquid that drips from a bag.

Overnight, the oxygen levels to Laurie's brain fluctuated, and her levels were high indicating vasospasms.  The doctors decided to perform another CT scan with contrast dye in the morning.  After the radiologists analyzed the CT scan data, they decided to take Laurie down to take a look at her brain through the catheter and either use drugs or a balloon angioplasty to open up the arteries to her brain.

The news from the doctors afterwards was not good.  They  were able to open her arteries in three locations, however the artery in her middle cerebral artery did not respond to the balloon angioplasty.  Laurie had also suffered two strokes, one in her right frontal lobe and the other in her left frontal lobe.  The frontal lobes control her personality, concentration, and wakefulness.  This means she will spend more time in the ICU so they can hopefully keep her from having anymore strokes.

We were so thankful that Nina, Terry, Nicole, and Emily were there to comfort us after talking to the doctors.

Day 9

1/10/08

Laurie had a pretty good night according to the nurse.  Her fever reached 102 degress, but was down to under 101 in the morning.  Because of this fever, they are now using a machine that circulates a cool fluid through some pads.  A few of these pads will be used to keep her fever down.

The Licox monitor is now working properly, and the oxygen level going into Laurie's brain is at a good level.  This is great news!

Day 8

1/09/08

Laurie's temperature this morning was 101 degrees.  This due to the Staff Pneumonia she has had for a few days.  In the evening her fever had reached 101.3 degrees.

They performed another CT scan with dye to view the diameter of the arteries that provide oxygen for her brain.  Dr. Cowley said that the scan showed a little constriction of the arteries, but not enough to warrant any procedures.

She had a successful tracheotomy performed in the morning, so now she does not have to have the breathing tube running through her mouth down into her throat.  The doctor also adjusted the leads in her head for the Licox monitor.  All of the readings are now showing up.  However, her oxygen level being provided to the brain is on the low side, so tomorrow morning the doctor will decide what to do to increase the oxygen level.

Katie and her dad went to lunch outside of the hospital.  Of course we had visitors while we were out, but they were still here when we returned.  Thanks for coming to visit Daniel, Donna, and Julie.  I know Laurie thanks you too.

Day 7

1/08/08

Today began with the doctor coming in to do his routine check and the nurses let him know that she was still not responding to their requests (squeeze hand, wiggle toes, and open eyes).  The doctor then ordered  a test for myopathy to be performed to test the response of mom's muscles.  The test indicated that her muscles were responding to the stimulus (needles).  The doctor let us know that the problem lies between her brain and her extremities.  He said that he does not see any permanent damage at this time and everything going on is not irreversible.

Later in the day the doctor's approached us to let us know they would be putting a device called Licox on her head.  This device has only been in the United States for one year but in the UK for two.  It is a very high tech device that measures the temperature of the brain, oxygen level in the brain, brain pressure, basal spasms, and small aneurisms.  We are very fortunate to be at this hospital as it is the only hospital in the Southeast with this device.  They had to drill another hole in her head to insert the leads for the Licox, but not as deep as the other hole that drains the liquid from her brain.  The leads come out of a cone on her head and we are calling the cone her "party hat".  The machine was not monitoring her oxygen level, so they will try to fix that problem tomorrow.

The nurses also let us know that the reason Mom had been running a fever was because she had developed Staff Pneumonia in her lungs.  They began to give her strong antibiotics right away.  They reassured us that it is normal for people that are intubated to get pneumonia.  We hope that the anitbiotics work quickly.

Tomorrow she is scheduled to get a tracheotomy so that she does not have the large tube going down her throat which cann irritate the vocal cords.  She is also scheduled for an operation to have her PEG feeding tube put directly into her stomach, instead of it running through her nose and down her throat.  Hopefully these procedures will make her less agitated when she is taken off sedation.

Occasionally Laurie's heart rate would jump unexpectedly, so they are trying to figure out why that is happening.