Does nothing stand in this woman’s way?

I’m sorry it has taken me so long to put an update on here. I know people have been continuously checking, and I had hoped to do it last night.. but didn’t happen. I drove to Mom’s, to get computer access and to give you the latest. This could be another long post… so get comfortable.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26th ( EVENING)

Kerrie was taken to Neuro-ICU so they could keep an eye on her and start prepping her for Surgery on Monday. They were supposed to be giving her extra blood and platellets and doing some other stuff, which is why they insisted on moving her in the afternoon instead of moving her after surgery the next morning. Due to some emergency cases they were dealing with they were not able to start working with her as soon as everyone had hoped.

When she was transferred to ICU all her meds, feeding and pain killers were stopped and it was explained to us that they could not restart them until an ICU doctor wrote the orders… the orders couldn’t transfer from P2 and had to be re-written from the ICU Docs. Kerrie was taken for a CT-Scan and was in ICU by 7:00pm.  No pain meds and not very happy about it. She kept asking for dilauded, but the nurse let her know she couldn’t give them to her yet…

Around 9:30pm one of doctors came in and said “do you have any questions?” We just sat there dumbfounded, because we hand’t been told anything yet so of course we had questions. He was the on-call doctor, so he wasn’t able to tell us exactly what would be done and then he got a page to go assist with the other emergencies they had going on. Kerrie kept asking for dilauded and the nurse explained, again, that she couldn’t give anything with out the ICU doctors writing the orders… she was only doing what’s legal and what’s her job, so we couldn’t blame her, but Kerrie did not give up.

It was obvious to us she was really out of it, her speech had become much worse and she wasn’t really mentally with us ( we assume this was due to the absess and the swelling going on in her brain). She was hitting her nurse call button every 10 minutes and whenever someone walked in the room she would wave them over to the bed and say “can I have some dilauded”. It was happening so much it almost became comical. By 11:30pm she waved me over to the bed and said “Can you go through the door and see if someone else has some dilauded.” Not really funny, because she was in pain, but it was cute.

The doctor finally made it into the room at 12:30am, assessed Kerrie and was able to write the order for her pain killers, anti-biotics, blood, plattelets,etc. She would have been better off if she had been left on P2 for a few more hours, but it wasn’t their fault… just bad luck on timing.

 He explained to us that the Surgical Team would see Kerrie in the morning, meet with the BMT Team and would talk to us sometime around 8:30am – 9:00am.. then Kerrie would probably be taken for surgery sometime in the afternoon. When they asked if we had any questions I asked when she could get some dilauded :)  They gave it to her right then.. so she was happy for the rest of the night, so we went back to the Hospital Apartment and tried to get some sleep. This was around 2:30am.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27

Mom went to Kerrie’s room around 7:00am… I was in the apartment at 8:15am, had just gotten out of the shower and was on the phone with Dad when Mom called and said “They’re taking her for another CT-Scan and then directly to surgery.”  I barely had time to finish putting my clothes on before I was running out the door, wet hair, unbrushed teeth, etc… I ran all the way up to the hospital and made it onto the elevator, but it had to stop at every fricking floor on the way up… I made it to her floor and was running down the hall when I saw them pushing Kerrie in my direction.  I was just in time to tell her I loved her and that I would see her soon… she just looked up at me and said “ok”.

When I got to Mom she told me it all happened so fast there wasn’t any time to give anyone any warning and that they had also decided they needed to operate on her sinus area again. This time they would do all the sinuses. Where they had previously felt any type of brain surgery was too high risk, it was now to the point that if she didn’t have it there would be no hope.. so the risk vs. benefit thing was no longer an issue.

Dad and Joyce got there in time to see her in Pre-Op and then we went to wait in the surgical lounge while Kerrie went for a Craniaotomy ( Yeah.. can’t spell it). The surgeon felt it would take around 4 hours, but they finished in a little over two hours… They had to go in through the skull and were able to remove an absess about the size of the doctors fist. He said once they removed it he could see the brain relax as the pressure and swelling had been relieved and that she had done very well. Just thinking about this made me a little sick and I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to have part of your skull removed, so they can get to your brain. Not sure I want to see the stitches she’s going to have.

He also let us know that he was able to see the area affected by the stroke and that it went very deep into the motor skills area of the brain. He felt that it will take 6 months to a year to determine what motor skills she may be able to regain and how severe the damage from the stroke really is.. but she has already regained more than they originally felt she would!! Now we will have to see how she may have been affected by the surgery and if any furhter damage has been done.

The doctor told us they were switching over the OR, getting it ready for the ENT Team to come in to do the surgery on the sinuses, and that she should begin her next surgery within the hour. Kerrie finally finished this surgery at 4:15 and was back in the ICU by 5:30. We were very happy to see that she had been able to be extabated and they didn’t have to keep her on a ventilator. We were all worried about this along with whether or not she would survive the surgeries.  

When Mom, Dad and I walked into the room she was awake and waved at us. I was surprised to see her awake and even more surprised that she was talking.. or trying to talk. She looked horrible.. her face was swollen, her eyes were turning blackish purple and she had a bandage around her entire head that looks like a turbin.

By 9:00pm she seemed even more alert than earlier and was becoming somewhat talkative. Mom and I noticed, right away, that her speech seemed much clearer amd we thought she must be doing alright because she was already asking for her dilauded 🙂

At 10:00pm the nurse surprised us by walking in and saying he was taking her for another CT-scan. We didn’t know about this, but he said they had just called and were ready for her.. she looked at them and said “I already had one today.” When they told her she was going for another one she said “Well, I think I am going to surprise them, because I don’t think I’m supposed to be there.I already had one.” It was funny…

She rested comfortably the rest of the night and really amazed me that she was alert and wanting to talk.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28th

Kerrie looks much better today, though she’s still pretty swollen in the face, and is even more talkative than last night. While you would think she’d be complaining of a headache she says the head feels fine, but her right arm and leg still hurt an extreme amount. Fiesty little girl tried to kick Dr. Jana away, with her left foot, when Dr. Jana was touching her right foot.. so we know it still really hurts.

Her x-rays show no damage to the arm, and the pain has not been relieved by the brain surgery.. so the doctors feel it may be something that has been caused by one of her medications. They are starting a new medication today, so she may get a little relief.. but the also said that it could take several months for the pain to go away completely. That side of her body has been through quite a shock, with being paralyzed, and all the other stuff that’s gone on.. so it’s now wonder it hurts, but it shouldn’t be hurting as much as it is. Hopefully, this new med will be of some help.

The doctors are all very pleased with her and how well she is doing right now. She’s talking more than even before the surgery, her speech seems to be more clear and easy to understand and she’s pretty alert. They are going to try to start weaning her off the oxygen, resume the tube feeding and have even suggested she may be ready to leave ICU as early as tomorrow. What the heck? She has major brain surgery and may be able to leave ICU two days later?   Leave it to Kerrie…

She’s also started telling us she’s hungry and thirsty. It’s been more than a month since she has asked for anything of any kind, so this was a surprise. She’s still not able to swallow, so we can’t really give her anything.. but it’s nice to know she feels like she wants it.

Just like the last time she was in ICU, she attempted to take my coffee cup and drink my coffee.. I let her know she couldn’t have it, but I would get her a wet wash if she wanted some water. She could suck on that a little and wouldn’t have to worry about the swallowing. She said “Ok.. but I want hot water… or cold.. either one…” :)  As funny as it may sound, having her suck on a wet washcloth is a HUGE step… maybe swallowing will follow sometime soon.

Since I will have to return to Ohio tonight, I will have access to a computer and should be able to do updates more fequently over the next few days.

Considering what she’s been through, she’s doing well and would make everyone proud!

Jenn