Author: hannah

415am Ventilator keeps alarming. Respiratory rate increasing. Gave a .25 bolus of dilated (for pain) to get the ventilator to do its job (he’s already on 1 mg IV). At the start of the shift he was maxed out @ 300 mg of Esmolol (for BP). It’s been decreased to zero. We wanted to get him off of it as it’s a dilator of blood vessels and it affects the ECMO flow.

10am Dr said brain is stable, will just be lung and ecmo doctors now. He’ll do another brain scan on Monday just to check.

4:15pm No bronchoscopy today. They will reevaluate tomorrow. One of the devotions I read is about 3 different kinds of tears we have and each has it’s own chemical make-up. First is continuous tears that keep our eyes moist so we can see clearly. Each time we blink, fluid oozes from the glands above the outer side of each eye. It washes away dust and germs, has lyzomes to prevent bacterial infections, and special oils to help reduce evaporation. The second type are reflex tears, which contain a lot of antibodies which protect from irritants, ie onion you are cutting, smoke from campfire and pollen. The third type are emotional tears ie sadness, frustration or being overwhelmed with joy. They contain hormones caused by or related to stress or pain. Some of these actually leave the body when you cry, so having a good cry really does help.Psalm 56:8 reads: You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book? This verse emphasizes God’s awareness and recording of the sorrows and hardships of believers. It assures them that even their tears and struggles are not forgotten by God.To God be the glory of how much he cares for you!-Darcy

Devotion exerpt from Without Excuse, the Compelling Evidence for Creation

According to the nurse it’s been an uneventful day with no doctors orders other than increasing a blood pressure med. He’s on 3 different ones in tablet form (crushed and put into water) and one on IV. Neurology lowered the sodium goal from 145-150 to 140-145 (currently 142). Sodium tablets have been decreased. So, yay for a better day!Dave brought some books from home to read to Seth. I hope he is enjoying listening to 1001 Cool Jokes. Another one is the Tale of the Three Trees which happens to be the perfect book as it’s Good Friday tomorrow. Here is a link to the summary but I suggest you get get the book with the full story: https://biblicalviewpoint.com/2021/12/10/the-tale-of-three-trees/

For those of you following the list of patients and families around us, I’d like to give a few updates that we know about. Danita now has a blood infection but is off her breathing tube.Trey’s mom reported he has opened his eyes and has followed a couple commands.Silverio was given last rights 5 (?) days ago but now is doing better from an infection in his stomach.Jesse Jr was awake but can’t feel his hands. He had surgery to put a plate put in his face. I’m sad to report that Todd passed away last night at 10:20pm. He wasn’t able to be put on the liver transplant list. We now look forward to meeting Todd in heaven. Others we met just once or never met: Vincente, Wendy, Lex, Derek, Lindsey, Michael. We will keep praying for them though.We know of 2 more people on Seth’s floor that need extra prayers, Gwen, and the man in the room next to Seth. He has Valley Fever and has been there for at least 3 weeks.Last one, please pray for a 16 year old boy, Caleb in WI. He was in a motorized scooter accident with severe head trauma and had a craniotomy right away. They are past the 72 hour swelling mark which in our case seemed like 72 years. I’m following his Caring Bridge updates and he is progressing well. They hope to have his breathing tube removed tomorrow and his CT scan looked good. Pray for continued progress and healing.All of these people have different reasons they are here and each case is extremely complicated in it’s own way. We are thankful for the teams of doctors and nurses that are caring for them.

Dear Lord, we thank you for the gift of doctors, nurses and all those in healthcare. We pray for their wisdom, compassion, and strength as they care for their patients. Guide their hands and minds, grant them perseverance in difficult cases, and help them to find direction and satisfaction in their work. We ask for your blessings and well-being upon them, their families, and their patients. Amen.

-Darcy

Psalm 55

Listen to my prayer, O God,
do not ignore my plea;
hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
because of what my enemy is saying,
because of the threats of the wicked;
for they bring down suffering on me
and assail me in their anger.

My heart is in anguish within me;

Evening, morning and noon
I cry out in distress,
and he hears my voice.

-David

A brand new day! I heard on KLove yesterday that Easter reminds us of the new life we have in Jesus. God continues to heal Seth’s body one cell at a time. 2200 One of his drs stopped by and the nurses talked to him outside the room. They updated him that his BP’s are a little higher (>160). At the time he was maxed out on his Esmolol. Order received to call the doctor through the night if unable to go down on this, if Hydrolozine was given (on top of other 2 BP meds he’s on) and BP was still >160. This morning he is on Esmolol 100mg instead of 300mg. Nurses said that the Neuro team would like to get him off his drip, so they may play around with his BP meds today. 2230 Last night one of the trauma nurses stopped by to check on Seth. She told him, “Seth, the trauma nurses came to check on you. Glad you got your bolt out!” 2335 Some of his electrolytes were low, so they gave him supplemental Magnesium, Phosphorus, and Potassium. Sodium levels were all good, at 148, 146, and 148. Neuro wise, he is still trying to bite on the suction when they put it in his mouth. This morning, his gaze would go to the right and to the left (as before). At 0520, he opened and closed his eyes. Nurse asked him to squeeze her hand. He didn’t respond, but she said he’s been here for a while, so he may just be too weak as well. Temp was up in the eve to 37.8, but is normal this morning. WBC count is 28, so just barely changed from the 27 yesterday. 0145 I woke up to 4 people standing around his bed. Turns out this doctor was just doing rounds. Nothing else dramatic like last night. 0525 Tidal volumes down on the ventilator (from 50-60’s to teens and 20’s) meaning Seth is taking less deep of breaths. They had to go up on the ECMO sweeps from 6 to 7. So currently, it is doing more work for him. Nurses called the doctor and she came in, who changed the chest xray to stat. Could be that they may just be mobilizing some of the fluid in his lungs from repositioning etc. Nurse checked that his chest tubes were draining, and they are. SPO2 stats still good 92%. 0610 Doctor that rounded in the middle of the night came back and said his xray looked more “whited out.” Want to do another broncoscopy now to help clear some of that fluid out of his lungs. 0635 Nurse came and got me and said they were done with the procedure. They did get some fluid and mucous plugs out. Gave him a little Propofol for sedation during for comfort (will not stay in his system long).

Prayers for today:Improved tidal volumes of lungs More signs that Seth is waking up Stable BPs Lung infection to clear

-Aunt Kerry

PS, Kerry has been so amazing with helping with night shifts, day shifts, taking detailed notes and explaining all these medical issues in layman’s terms. When doctors and nurses ask if we have any questions, we all turn our heads towards Kerry because she always knows what to ask. Kerry is my younger sister by 2 years and is a NICU night nurse, which is why she can stay up all night and keep good watch. We all love you, Kerry, and thank you from the depths of our hearts for supporting us during this time.

-Darcy

Seth had a pretty low key day today. Tonight they are keeping an eye on his BP that is a little elevated. He’s on 3 different BP meds and a 4th that’s given as needed to keep his BP <160 (parameter used to be <150). I’ve been told he was hypertensive before the sedation meds, so just residual effects of his brain injury.Temp is elevated at 37.8 Celsius. The nurses exchanged the water out of his ECMO machine to help cool him off more. He’s on the same 2 antibiotics that he’s been on the last 3 days. The sensitivities showed that they should cover the bacteria that was growing in his bronchoscopy culture a few days ago. So just need to be patient and let them work.Seth is still off all sedation meds, but we are waiting for them to get completely out of his system so he’ll start waking up more. Still receiving Dilaudid for pain, as well as Kepra for seizure prevention. Most meds they dilute and give him through his NG tube. Fewer drips now than before.Sodium level was 145 at 5pm, and this evening was 148. His parameter is 145-155, so right where we want it. They are checking less often now, every 4 hrs instead of every 2 hrs.He’ll have his routine chest xray in the morning. He’ll open his eyes just slightly, but not on command. He has a cough reflex too when secretions start building up in his trach tube.He has 3 nurses tonight, including another one learning how to do ECMO. One of them told me I could watch the TV in his room if I wanted (but I won’t). Waiting for Seth to tell me what he wants to watch. I think I’ll read him some poems that his friend, Emma wrote as his bedtime story.-Aunt Kerry

PS, We’ve been blessed to receive meals at the hospital which we eat in the healing garden. Tonight’s delicious meal came with a small thoughtful gift of 5 stones with Bible verses on them.It reminded me of the biblical history of David and Goliath, where David, armed with five smooth stones and his sling, defeats the giant Goliath. The stones represent David’s reliance on God’s strength and guidance rather than his own physical capabilities.May we also rely on God second by second for strength and guidance.-Darcy

Dr came in he said hole in lung has healed up and it’s been a few days. He says pneumothorax is slightly worse today but better than several days ago, he expects it to go back and forth. He said that he thinks the lungs at this point are not the limiting factor at this point and he is optimistic they will heal. They did ultrasound of his liver and spleen today just to check (results pending). He also said Seth looks like he is coming to himself and is starting to show facial expressions. His respirator shows that he is breathing 70 ml of air. We need that to start hitting triple digits.

Removed EEG, so that means they can shampoo his hair sometime.

Ideally, sedatives will be worn off within next day or two and Seth will be awake and conscious. He’ll likely be very disoriented and not himself. After getting to assess his brain while awake, they’ll move forward on what to do and whether or not to keep him off sedation. Nurses and Drs also noted that Seth is blinking a lot more with his eyes closed since last night.

On another note, orange chicken is being served in the cafeteria today. Seth would enjoy that!

2:15 am Seth’s blood pressure dropped significantly in the 90s systolic. In a moments notice, 7 people were in the room. Echo done-ok, X-ray done-ok, Chest tubes-ok, ECMO-ok. Sodium 143. He was given epinephrine and sodium twice. BP then spiked (217/95) and eventually stabilized with BP med. They were perplexed why this happened when everything else looked ok.

7:00 am Propofol (for sedation) is off and is only on Dilated (for pain). There may some “neuro storming” which is his brain reacting to everything and responding to stimuli.

8:00 am Resident Dr said his BP has bounced back from last night’s drop. He’s making good urine, blood culture came back negative, but bronchoscopy showed culture is growing some staph (he’s on 2 antibiotics now and they will adjust when they get a clearer sensitivity result for staph).

WBC is 27 (yesterday it was 20); as long as he’s not looking clinically worse, they are ok with it for now.

Cell by cell.

Today is another day that the Lord has made!

-Darcy

I saw this flyer in the restroom asking for items for the behavioral health floor. If anyone is doing any spring cleaning, please consider them.

2:15 am Seth’s blood pressure dropped significantly in the 90s systolic. In a moments notice, 7 people were in the room. Echo done-ok, X-ray done-ok, ECMO-ok. Sodium 143. Given epinephrine when it was down.

2:45 am BP 217/95 HR 70

2:55 am BP 182/90 HR 90

3:25 am BP 156/62 HR 86

No explanation as to why. Cardene had been given

3:50 155/60 HR 85
They are keeping an eye on him

I didn’t share this before, but tonight it needs to be told. Two days ago, a technician was humming while she was drawing a blood culture. The nurse and I asked her what it was and she “Lord, if I need you”. There is a song titled, Lord, I need you but that wasn’t the tune I felt I heard her hum. I did some online searches, and to me, it instead sounded like the familiar hymn, I Need Thee Every Hour.

Fast forward to today. We found out there was a piano in an area of the hospital and Seth’s friend, Anika was willing to play for us. She played and sang a lovely song. Then she asked if we had a hymn request and as we were thinking she said, “How about I Need Thee Every Hour? I couldn’t tell if my heart stopped or was about to jump out of my chest, but I knew this was a God moment.

A total stranger hummed a prayer over Seth two days ago and today that same prayer was mentioned, played and sung by his dear friend. Never underestimate how God can put you in someone’s life and you don’t even realize it.

The only thing I would change about this song during this time at the hospital and at Seth’s bedside, would be to change the words from, I Need Thee Every Hour, to I Need Thee Every Second. Our last 13 days here have been measured by getting through second by second, minute by minute and hour by hour. And cell by cell. Please listen to my new favorite song, I Need Thee Every Hour :

-Darcy

Update: Sodium levels are lower than we want. The EMCO is still working good without him being on an IV blood thinner. Our nurses are wonderful!

Specific prayer: Stable sodium levels!

Seth is off all sedation now; although it’s still in his system so it’s still early to tell how things are. He’s still on pain and blood pressure meds.CT scan today was unchanged.A dance friend’s church made us several prayer shawls (thanks, Jim & Lise) and brought them to the hospital. The nurse found out and said it was ok to put over him. What a nice comfort to know that he’s covered with the prayers of so many and covered with Jesus’ love.-Darcy

Neurology Dr and team here. The EEG wasn’t showing remotely but it’s showing activity on screen. The EEG people came to fix the monitors on his head. His eyes are gazing right which he hasn’t seen Seth do before, so they may do another scan (it’s not scheduled yet, so maybe they will wait to see if it continues). It could be seizures or other brain related thing. Sodium is still low (144) so he ordered another bolus. We need to get his numbers up so the brain doesn’t swell more.

Specific prayers today:

That any head scans look clear

Sodium levels increase

-Darcy