Friday Update

Copy of mass email, in case you missed it.


Once again, thanks to everyone who has called, visited or written. Nothing like being spoiled! :)

Yesterday was a blissfully uneventful day with Maddy resting, recovering from surgery and being weaned off the vent. This morning Glen's parents visited and we were so pleased to find that they had extubated her and she was breathing well on her own. I got sent out for a while so that they could put in a catheter and NG tube, and they said it wasn't fun to watch. So I went back out to wait for Pastor Liz (our choir director, worship pastor), who was coming to sit with me for a while. I was out there for about an hour, and then when I took Liz back in, I realized something was wrong--they had pulled a divider close to her "pod," the neonatologist on the floor for the day was right by her, and as we got closer, the nurse said, "There's the mother," and the doctor turned and looked pretty concerned. Anyway, my heart just about stopped. Evidently, right after they put her cath in and were turning her a bit to put in the ng tube, her heart rate dropped, her oxygen levels dropped and she stopped breathing. They tried to bag breathe for her, and that didn't work, so they had to put the vent back in very quickly. After they did (I think it was after, anyway), they pulled a huge amount of mucus out of her airways. They think that when they turned her, it knocked it loose and she wasn't able to breathe around it. She now has a heart murmur, too, that she didn't have at birth. They think that the flap will close off again, as it does at birth, but they have to keep an eye on it. I'm learning very quickly to roll with the punches! It's a day-by-day experience, for sure. I don't have the energy to flip out every time they tell me something else. I was so thankful that A), I wasn't in the room to witness the rush to help her, and B), that Pastor Liz was there when I found out. She's so calm and reassuring and I'm sure it helped me to regain my equilibrium a bit! Thanks, Liz! It meant so much for me to have you there.

I absolutely love the nurses that work with her for 12 hours on end. She has her own nurse and they are almost constantly working with her. That may annoy some people, but it makes me feel very reassured that Maddy is getting the attention and care she needs.

Thanks for hearing me out. All the medical details are probably a drag, but it's cathartic to report and then put it behind me! :)

Oh, so more thanks: Jed and Alyssa--um, the orange peel chicken from PF Changs was heavenly, divine, glorious, too-good-to-be-true after hospital food! And to Stan and Konny for a Frosty and french fries!!!!! And Pastor Liz for a yummy sandwich (after nothing to eat yet today) and the best steak fries known to man!

Keep praying for us!
Pam