Update on St. Pat’s day
Last week the neurologist recommended three plasma pheresis sessions. They seem to be helping her gain strength.:D
We went to see Carolyn yesterday and found her out of ICU and on a telemetry floor. She had been off the ventilaor for two days, a little problem with very low BP (72/48) but that seems OK now. She’s still on the feeding tube. The nurse in ICU told us there’s something called ICU psychosis where the patient starts imagining her bed moving, etc. and Carolyn had this the past few days with much anxiety and crying. Yesterday she slept most of the day but was in a good mood for the most part.
This morning my wife went to see her while I had the children and she found her crying. :confused: They had Carolyn sitting up for a little while and she wanted to go beck to bed but the nurses advised her that she still had ten minutes. I think she feels bad enough she can’t control her body but now she can’t even control her environment. I know they want her to sit so her blood doesn’t pool so much in her legs and her BP drop which makes my daughter “dizzy” from the low BP. I aso understand her frustration. She says she’s thirsty but still has the trache so she can’t drink. They capped it for about 20 mins today and she felt OK. They say tomorrow they’ll try to cap it for an hour.
When my wife, Kathi, got home she said the pulmonary doctor (who sent Carolyn to rehab and she had pneumonia 12 hrs later and she almost died before an emergency trache – don’t ask why he remains her doctor) said perhaps today she would return to rehab. I question the wisdom of this especially since she’s not been perfectly healthy in ICU!
Her stomach “bloating” has gone down. One of the nurses said that most people rid themselves of gas by movement during the day and Carolyn’s immobility can be the reason for the bloating. BTW, her arms are now able to move and yesterday I asked her to give me a push when excersizing her legs and they were a little stronger than the day before. Of course, she still has no feeling in her feet or toes. We’ll see what the next few days bring.