“Late to the party today…want to say THANK YOU ALL SO VERY, VERY MUCH for all your loving words & support RE yesterday’s post.
“I went to see both my sick sisters-from-other-misters yesterday. The older woman & her daughter have made the heartbreaking decision not to pursue treatment because she’s so weak. Now comes the task of finding hospice placement in a nursing home.
“My young friend’s roommate & I saw her & her mom in the ICU. Physically she’s holding her own, doing some of her own breathing in addition to the ventilator. Her lungs are in good shape so they didn’t have to do ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation – the “heart-lung machine”), which is great news. She REALLY wants that bleeping hose out of her throat! & keeps making moves as if she’s trying to reach & pull it out, but she’s not ready for that yet.
“The not-so-good news is that her liver & kidneys have been damaged. We don’t know how badly yet. Also, she may have brain damage from lack of oxygen before they got her on the vent.
“A bit more good news: she’s been on every industrial-strength antibiotic in the book, & her temperature has come down to normal.
“She’s somewhat responsive when they dial back the sedative, able to nod & shake her head to yes/no questions, but she gets agitated & indicates that she’s in pain, so they’re keeping the sedation level up.
“Meanwhile, her mom hasn’t left her side & hasn’t slept since Saturday morning.
I posted late yesterday, so I’m reposting:
“Late to the party today…want to say THANK YOU ALL SO VERY, VERY MUCH for all your loving words & support RE yesterday’s post.
“I went to see both my sick sisters-from-other-misters yesterday. The older woman & her daughter have made the heartbreaking decision not to pursue treatment because she’s so weak. Now comes the task of finding hospice placement in a nursing home.
“My young friend’s roommate & I saw her & her mom in the ICU. Physically she’s holding her own, doing some of her own breathing in addition to the ventilator. Her lungs are in good shape so they didn’t have to do ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation – the “heart-lung machine”), which is great news. She REALLY wants that bleeping hose out of her throat! & keeps making moves as if she’s trying to reach & pull it out, but she’s not ready for that yet.
“The not-so-good news is that her liver & kidneys have been damaged. We don’t know how badly yet. Also, she may have brain damage from lack of oxygen before they got her on the vent.
“A bit more good news: she’s been on every industrial-strength antibiotic in the book, & her temperature has come down to normal.
“She’s somewhat responsive when they dial back the sedative, able to nod & shake her head to yes/no questions, but she gets agitated & indicates that she’s in pain, so they’re keeping the sedation level up.
“Meanwhile, her mom hasn’t left her side & hasn’t slept since Saturday morning.
“So…now we wait…”
(cont.)