Simon Says

8/22 Marissa Update

Marissa got a little better Thursday, which seems to be the thankful trend.  Although most of the day she was running a fever, tonight that broke for a time, but was back up as I was leaving.  We discovered she gets “free” pay per view movies on her TV, although we all know it’s probably included in her daily bill.  Because this stay’s so cheap, right? So she fell asleep tonight watching “The Nanny Diaries.”  She’s very happy, to say the least, to be in her own room.  She’s also happy to be on a liquid diet.  She says the jello, popsicles and Sunkist soda are the best things she’s ever “eaten.” 

Her catheter came out today.  Pretty impressive for someone who showed up here last Tuesday in kidney failure.  Her chest is very sore.  She’s been coughing a lot, which is a good thing, to get all the infection off her chest.  Just, obviously, not all that comfortable.  As I was leaving they gave her pain medicine, which has knocked her out for the night.   

No real big medical updates today from her doctor.  She’s on less IV “stuff” then previous days.  That still includes a mixture of antibiotics, tube feedings, steroids and fluids.  Her blood sugar’s been a little low for a change. 

As far as physical therapy, she wasn’t able to walk the halls but she was able to walk around her room.  While she still feels extremely weak, she knows how important it is for her to “work out” a little but more every day.  That’s the "medicine" if you will to bring her swelling down.  She appears to me to look much better.  I think that little bit of movement brought down some of her facial swelling. 

We set up her own blog tonight.  Here’s the address:  http://mbsimonsays.typepad.com/marissas_maze/

Keep that one in your bookmark bar, as my updates will be ceasing after this one.  Apparently, myspace, facebook, and other social networking sites are blocked here because they don't want patients networking.  Go figure.  So if you want to talk to her while she's in here best thing to do is leave her a comment.  That's easy.  Just go to the bottom of the entry each day, and when you want to comment, just click on "comment."  She continues to appreciate all of them.  Tomorrow she'll be starting her own updates, as soon as we can find her computer charger.  It accidentally was left in her old room.

I also checked and she's allowed to get balloons and flowers.  Here’s her contact information if you need it.
She’s at Birmingham’s St. Vincent’s Hospital in room 481. 
Her phone number: 205-939-7481
Her address:
Marissa Simon
c\o St. Vincent’s Hospital
810 St. Vincent’s Drive
Room 481
Birmingham, AL 35205

That’ll do it for me.  I fly back to Anchorage later today.  FYI, this web page has been averaging about 250 hits a day, since I started.  All of us sincerely appreciate the care, love and concern for Marissa.  And I’ll surely talk to you down the road.

8/21 Marissa Update

Marissa has officially moved out of the ICU and into her own room, 481 west.  That means no more visiting hours, no 2 person in the room limit, and I think she can receive flowers.  Although hold off for now on sending them until I ask if she can get 'em because of her lungs.  There's more freedom period, which she'll really like.  I'll have an update on her condition later tonight.   And FYI- because I fly back to Anchorage tomorrow afternoon  Marissa will be taking over this blog on her myspace page to write her own updates.  I'll post that address on here later tonight, so you  can check that when you want.  Talk to you then.

8/20 Marissa Updates

11:00 PM- When we showed up tonight she was yelping in pain.  Pain will likely be a big part of her recovery.  I explained to her while that’s not a fair thing, it’s going to be a reality for a while.  The doctor has taken her off IV pain meds, and she’s actually taking pills.  He’s calling that “tough love,” meaning they’re giving her something for pain, but they’re not going to completely cover it up.  Tomorrow her nurse says they want her to be up and much more mobile in physical therapy, meaning they want her walking with a walker up and down the halls.  They say that will not only help her regain her strength, but relieve some of her belly discomfort. 

Know how she was so hungry.  Well after that first popsicle, she really couldn’t eat anything more.  She feels full now, and says everything tastes bad except for water,  I had the same thing happen to me after having my tonsils out.  Think there’s something in all those drugs that messes up your taste buds.  Anyway, her nurse thinks it might be because she’s on that nourishment treatment from 6AM-6PM I mentioned in a previous entry.  So that will be mentioned to the doc tomorrow.

Today, her doctor was able to give her a better idea about her prognosis.  She asked about xigris, a new FDA approved sepsis drug.  Her doctors explained she’s too well at this point to even consider using that.  Her doctors told her they continue to treat her sepsis with antibiotics, but they have no idea right now how long it’s going to take to get her better.  That means they have no idea how long she’s going to be in the hospital.  But it does appear she will get to leave the part of the ICU she’s in now, and go to what’s known as a “step-down” room.  That means more freedom, her own bathroom, and best of all no visiting hours.       

We spent a lot time tonight reading all the comments a lot of you have left her, and she loves them.  We’re going to work on setting her up her own blog tomorrow, so when I go back she can keep you all updated.  Talk to you soon. 

4:25 PM- Marissa made good on her wish yesterday to get out of bed today.  Mom says she's been sitting in a chair, eating a popsicle.  She did more intense physical therapy today, walking around with a walker.  They also removed a tube from her leg.  She feels terrible today though.  She didn't sound as "good" as she had the past couple days.  That seems to be the case because her body is realizing the full amount of pain she's truly in.  The doctor told mom we have a lot of "tough love" days ahead.  Also, the drugs make her feel constant nausea.  I'll have a better idea of what's going on when I visit tonight.  An update will follow. 

8/19 Marissa Updates

11:00 PM- It appears as though we’re headed to a point where Marissa will be able to take over this blog.  Because she’s doing so well, I’m heading back to Anchorage Friday.  Right now she’s still too weak to do it on her own but was able to read everyone’s comments.  She asked me to thank everyone for their care and concern.

Right now they’ve taken out many of her tubes, except for her breathing and feeding tubes.  Tomorrow she’s excited she’ll be able to start what’s called a clear diet.  That means she can have things like popsicles, jello, and clear broths.  The poor girl is so, so hungry.  In due time, we keep explaining to her.

She’s started doing physical therapy already.  The therapist worked with her moving her arms and legs.  And she has this plastic thing she breathes into every hour to make her lungs stronger.

The pain continues.  She is now on a pain pump, so she can control that on her own.  Well to the best possible level.  I can tell it’s not covering anything.  I think the only real medicine for that will be time.   

Thanks again for reading, and remember she loves the comments so keep those coming.  Just look at the bottom on this post, and look for comment.  Click on it, enter your name and email address and leave her a comment.  Talk to you soon.

1:15 PM- This morning Marissa’s lung doctor took her off the ventilator, which is wonderful, awesome, great, (throw in your own word) news.  At the same time with how sick her lungs are I’ve pushed to find out how, exactly, she can get better without a respirator.  My mom says they felt comfortable taking it out because this morning they determined even though her lungs are horribly sick, she’s also at a level where she can breathe on her own.  I find that absolutely astonishing. 

Her medical team now thinks a combination of respiratory therapy and lots of antibiotics will be the keys to making her better.  The current state of her lungs is as follows: in normal lungs, like mine and hopefully yours, your air sacks open to take in and release air.  Marissa’s problem, the sepsis made those air sacks stiff, and now through rehabilitation, she must work to make those air sacks normal again. 

To understand the next part of what I’m going to explain you need to understand a little bit about the Chron’s disease Marissa suffers.  That disease has left a great part of Marissa’s digestive tract, from her stomach, to intestines, filled with ulcers. So, the doctor also told mom in Marissa’s septic state there is a possibility an abscess, meaning a pocket of puss, could form on those ulcers.  This is, again, why she’s on all those antibiotics.  Because the big picture is she is septic.  Her body’s been poisoned.  And so she will have to remain hospitalized for a while to get all that poison out her.

But what’s great is hopefully now that she’s off the ventilator she may be able to get moved out of the ICU soon. 

12:30 AM- A note: I published a new entry about 11:45 last night- probably after many of you went to bed.  A lot of good stuff there.  But at the bottom of each day, you can leave comments.  So if you want to send Marissa a message, or ask me a question, please write to us there.  I'll show them to her.  Updates to come later today.  So long for now.

8/18 Marissa Updates

11:45 PM- Wow, her personality is back tonight!  She had a really nice night nurse who let me stay well beyond visiting hours.  She wouldn’t stop “talking.”  She just moves her lips and gets so, so frustrated when you can’t understand her.  I kept reminding her to either type or write to me. 

She really wants to eat.  The best we can do for her is offer her some ice water on a medical swab to wet her mouth.  She’s not happy about that.  She is also in a lot of pain.  In fact, I wrote down questions for her she wants to ask her doctor.  She says the pain medicine they’re giving her is not lasting long enough.  That’s one of the main things she wants them to know.

I also told her about all the people visiting her.  She really doesn’t remember beyond today, but was very happy to hear about everyone, and recognizes everyone’s name.  She clearly appears to have a complete memory of who everyone is.  I read her the card her friend Kasey left the other day.  She loved that dearly.  She wasn’t up to writing anyone tonight, but wanted me to log her onto myspace so she could look at her married friends Blake and Kerry’s webpage.  She insisted on looking at their pictures from their recent beach trip.  They’re expecting a baby, and asked Marissa to be the Godmother.  Marissa wanted to look at Kerry's pregnant pictures, and mouthed to me very proudly, from her bed, (without any coaching,) she’s going to be the baby girl’s Godmother.  Her face is very expressive, and the personality we all love is very much there.  When she doesn’t like something, or you mention a person's name she doesn’t like, or you make a comment she doesn’t care for, it’s *her* distinct personality.   It’s actually making me laugh how expressive she is with all that stuff hooked up to her. 

The nurse is cleaning out her ventilator a lot.  It’s clear how much a mess her lungs are.  While these last couple days, especially today, have been wonderful- now what is clear is the recovery process has begun.  She has so much toxic, septic stuff inside her, and she knows this.  We're being as honest with her as we possibly can about what's going on.  We owe that to her, and she deserves and wants to know.  She seems to clearly follow everything I’m telling her about her health and also seems to  understand she has a long recovery ahead of her.  She’s reminded me several times tonight just because the medicine makes her look sleepy, and she may appear not to be there, doesn’t mean she is not.  She surprised me by having me write a complete letter to her, incase the drugs make her forget what’s going on.  She says if she can’t remember tomorrow she wants Matt, her boyfriend, to read her that letter so she knows exactly what’s going on. 

On the way out she had me make a list of things she wants tomorrow.  Now does that sound like her or what.  She wants a heating pad to put on the large incision the doctors made.  She wants a fan, because the drugs make her feel hot.  And yes folks, she wants her cell phone ☺.  I said what the heck are you going to use that for.  She wrote, “to text.”

5:30 PM- Marissa's communicating!  When I first got here this afternoon, she was pretty doped up and not that responsive.  But about 4:30 my uncle came out saying she was asking for me and mom.  So I was able to bring my laptop back, and she typed out questions.  Through a slow process here is a paraphrased version of the conversation.  She first asked, "what happened," and I was able to explain that.  I told her she was septic, and she nodded yes when I asked if she understood what that meant.  We told her she's going to have a long recovery.  She actually typed out, "I am sick," and the typed to us, "I know it may seem kind of Iike I am falling, but it's because of all the medicine.  But I know everything."  Then she typed asking us to ask the nurse to come give her pain and nausea medicine.  The nurse says she's not allowed to have nausia medicine right now.  She obviously did not want us to leave when visiting hours ended at 5:00.  She's having a hard time understanding visiting hours, (and so are we).  But she sure does not like that rule.  She typed for us to bring her back a fan.  She's very hot, even though her temperature's about 94.  The nurse says the narcotics are making her feel so warm.  Matt's going to bring her laptop full time tomorrow, so she will have freer acess to communicate.

1:30 PM- Mom reports Marissa was sitting up this morning with her glasses on, (which is great,) and continues to be frustrated, (understandably,) she can’t communicate.  She will not be able to “talk” until they remove the ventilator.  I’ll explain in a second while that’s going to take a while.  Mom said after Marissa’s failed attempts to write, (mom said it looked like a series of worms on a page) she created a letter table so Marissa could attempt to “talk.”  It was a very hard process, but Marissa was able to “tell” mom her nurses had upped her pain medication.  They’ve done that because she is in a great deal more pain then the level of morphine she was on was able to treat.  That’s to be expected, though, after having her middle section from chest down to groin cut open, and huge tubes down her nose and throat.  Because she’s on all that pain medicine, though, in the middle of communication mom says she’ll just doze off, then comes right back to.

As far as what her doctors are saying, her lung doctor says her lung x-rays show the upper part is doing better, but the bottom area is problematic.  It’s filled with all those septic toxins.  What everyone has to understand about sepsis- the recovery process will be a long and painful one.  I encourage you to do some reading on sepsis- that’ll help you understand her future.  But the big picture- to get her better she’s going to be on this ventilator for a long time.  So I think our main objective as we move forward is finding a way for her to communicate, to alleviate some of her frustration.

8/17 Marissa Updates

9:00 PM- Just left her just now.  As she woke up and we were able to ask her enough questions to determine her throat is really hurting her, and so are her lips.  That's from the ventilator tube down her throat.  So we got her nurse, who just gave her a big shot of morphine.  But in typical Marissa feisty fashion she was very upset she could not talk.  We explained to her why that was the case.  And when I explained to her I had to leave for the night because visiting hours were over, she shook her head no and gave me an angry look.  So I think it's fair to say despite how many tubes and drugs, and etc. she's on her personality is very much still there.  Made me smile as I walked out.  I'll speak to you all tomorrow with updates as I get them.  Take care.  --Matthew

8:30 PM- She remains relatively the same during nighttime visiting hours.  The only thing I forgot to mention earlier is in addition to the IV nutrition they are giving her, the doctor also added another nutritional supplement.  That's being given to her directly down the nose tube to her stomach.  They are giving her a very small amount of "food" to see how she tolerates it.  If it goes well her nurse said they will increase the amount.  They're giving it to her from 6AM-6PM.  The doctor says that's the case because most people do not eat at night.  Again, thank you to all of you sending messages and thoughts.  And a great big thank you to her steady stream of visitors through out the day.  She had a ton of you, and I think that mental stimulation has exhausted her tonight.  She was still responding to us, opening her eyes when we call her name.  But she just seems plain tired.  Which, I think, is a good thing.  She seemed like she was sleeping peacefully, and not making that painful face when you can tell she's hurting.

4:30 PM- Great, great news folks this afternoon.  When I arrived at the hospital this afternoon, and entered Marissa's room I said, "hey I'm here," like I always do.  And she opened her eyes, and is responding to people talking to her.  All her friends are able to talk to her.  She was able to tell me she was hot.  So I got to see the neurological improvements It's lifted everyone's spirits tremendously.  She was, however, in a tremendous amount of pain.  She was able to tell her nurse that.  So about 4:00 he gave her a big old morphine shot, and she seems to be sleeping comfortably right now.

1:30 PM- What my mom and I are doing is taking different shifts if you will at the hospital based on visiting hours.  She takes the morning.  We share afternoons.  And I take evenings.  So here’s the information mom shared with me this morning, and we also just received a call from her surgeon, Dr. Murry, so I’ll combine all the information.

Good news folks, mom, Dr. Murry, and Marissa’s internist, (so if you’re counting that’s three sources,) say Marissa did respond to “open your eyes” and “squeeze my finger” commands.  In medical talk her neurology, or brain function, has improved.   Dr. Murry even said when he felt her stomach, and asked her to stick out her tongue if she didn’t like what he was doing, in typical Marissa fashion she did.  Earlier today she was also able to sort of nod her head when her internist asked her if she was in pain.  For that reason he put her on morphine to make her more comfortable.

Her lung x-rays also look better.  Doctors can now see more dark areas on them.  Remember, when she came out of surgery the lung x-rays appeared completely white. White means infection and/or fluid.  For the first couple recovery days we started seeing improvements in the form of dark areas replacing the white.  Then, yesterday, they again looked all white. So that’s good news, as well, here.  There are now dark areas again.

Mom says she appears to look a little better because her hand and feet swelling have gone down.  Her kidneys continue their strong recovery, and so does her blood sugar level.  Ever since they put her on a constant insulin drip her blood sugar has steadily decreased from her all time 366 high.      

While her internist reported her blood oxygen levels were not that good this morning, in the phone call we just received Dr. Murry says they’ve greatly improved.  Right now she’s only on 45% oxygen support, which is way down from the levels her team had to increase her to yesterday.  We’ll talk soon.

8/16 Marissa Updates

8:30 PM- As we returned for our final night visit they had dropped her oxygen to 70%, so that's good.  Her blood oxygen level is now up to 100%, so that's great.  They are watching her blood pressure because that remains elevated.  Everything else remains similar to my previous updates.  One of Marissa's nursing buddies explained to us she talked to one of Marissa's doctor's earlier today.  She says that doctor told her Marissa will be on the ventilator for weeks.  That means she would be kept in the ICU on pain drugs for that time period until they remove the ventilation tube.  That's frustration for all of us, because this girl likes to talk like none other.  Talk to you all tomorrow.

6:00 PM-  Having been able to feel out the situation, it is much more bleak then we previously thought.  Today is what you would call one of the "steps back" they've been warning us about.  As you know Marissa's oxygen levels had been greatly decreasing toward that magical 20% number.  Last night when we left her she was on 40% support.  This morning her nurse told me they had to increase that support to 60%.  And as visiting hours ended just a short time ago they had to increase her oxygen support to 80%.  So in the big picture she is on double the amount of oxygen support today as she was on yesterday.  They've increased that number because her blood was not receiving enough oxygen.  For now, that seems to be doing somewhat of the job they want- as blood oxygen numbers have improved. 

Her lungs also have more fluid in them today.  That level had been reducing the last several days.  The nurse said her x-ray appeared more "white" today.  When doctors look for a healthy lung on an x ray they're looking for black.  On Tuesday her lungs were completely white.  As the days have gone on a little more black has been appearing.  Today, I'm told, more of the white areas have returned.

If you mix that news with the fact she is not responding to the doctors commands I mentioned earlier, like "squeeze my fingers," and "open your eyes," it increases brain damage concerns.  I was encouraged, though, to see her move her arms and legs quite frequently, even as I was leaving this evening.  What is disappointing, however, is along with me her medical professionals expected her to be much more alert today.  I had expected her to be closer than ever to waking up this weekend, and so did they, based on the track she was on.  So her unresponsiveness today has disappointed many of us, as now we're in unknown territory when she'll wake up.

The nurse also reminded me again about the saying I'm growing to hate more and more by the minute, "she's very sick."  Learning to understand everything that's happened has meant having to learn exactly what sepsis and septic shock is.  It quite frankly means her entire blood stream is poisoned.  Just because they cleaned her out during surgery, the nurse told me, does not mean her blood is not poisoned.  Remember we're in the early stages, so it will be some time before we know what has truly happened.  The nurse was sincerely honest, which I greatly appreciate.  She said Marissa's age, again, is on her side.  But in the big picture she is "very sick."  So I was told that could means a very long recovery to go from septic status to stable.  Hopefully, though, her age will mean that comes sooner than later.

---------------------      
2:54 PM- We continue on status quo today.  Not much new to report.  For the most part she remains in critical but stable condition.  She has not come out of the coma state.  Her blood pressure moved from stable to sporadic after she had a bath.  She is now on a constant insulin drip, because her blood sugar shot up yesterday. What is concerning the doctor at this point is the lack of response to his commands, such as “squeeze my fingers,” and “open your eyes.”  She was responding to those commands the day after her surgery, but has not since yesterday.  We’re told that could be a sign of brain damage.  But again, we will not know anything definitive on that front until she is able to have a cognitive test.  The good news is she continues to move her arms and feet.  At the rate she seemed to be improving, and the fact she is now off the drug that was keeping her sedated, I had expected her to start showing more signs of waking up, and that is not happening.  It seems now it might take her much longer to wake up then I thought.

8/15 Marissa Update

Today, her vital signs continue to improve.  She’s on less oxygen support.  Remember 20% is the optimal number, and she’s down to 34% support.  She’s been completely taken off the drug keeping her in the sedated state.  For those medical know it alls that’s called dilaudid.    That mean’s we’ve seen her moving more as she comes out of the semi-coma.  She’s not as swollen either, and the nurses were able to brush her hair and get it out of the way.  Why I’m mentioning her hair is because if it had kept under a pillow they would’ve had to cut it off.  And if you know Marissa that would’ve been worse then anything she’s gone through. 

She’s now in critical but stable condition.  That’s the good news.  With that being the case we were able to get a better, long-term prognosis from the doctor.  Her current status is still “very sick.”  Not exactly the medical definition I’d expect to hear from a surgeon, but nonetheless her surgeon, Dr. Murry, is very good at just speaking to us in talking, not medical, terms.  I asked him to define what “very sick” actually meant.  He says if any one of the many tubes came out of her right now, including the ventilator, he says she would die.   

Long-term, if we have any indication, it looks like when she wakes up she will still be on the ventilator. There is no indication when she’s coming off that.  As far as the long-term recovery, that’s a little clearer as well.  She’ll probably be in the ICU at least another week, and optimistically we’re looking at another month of hospital recovery before she can go home. Murry also says were not out of the woods when it comes to the possibly of brain damage.  If you’ll remember the oxygen level reaching her brain went below 20% during the surgery.   While it is a great sign she was trying to talk right after her surgery and trying to communicate before they sedated her, we will not know the full outcome until they are actually able to perform a test.  So, when Marissa is off all the drugs they will perform a cognitive test to test her brain function.

Our cautious optimism continues, as Marissa now looks more like herself then ever.

8/14 Marissa Update

Realize I’m making this statement knowing as the doctor reminded us again,“we’re not out of the woods yet,” but things have miraculously improved.  They are reducing antibiotic levels.  All the doctors and nurses are amazed at how much she has improved.  All her vital signs from her blood pressure, to heart rate to oxygen levels have greatly improved.  The doctor said he would’ve laughed Tuesday night, (the night of her surgery,) if someone asked if this would be her current state.  Remember he gave us a 5% prognosis she would survive.  Her age appears to be the saving grace.  Because she’s 23 that appears the theory why she’s recovering at the rate she is.

Her temperature is down from the fever she’s been running.  She’s down to 40% oxygen support.  I asked for an understandable quantification of what that meant.  We breathe at a rate of about 20% oxygen support.  So that’s the level they need to get her to.  Until then she remains sedated on all those tubes, including the ventilator.  In her situation I’d rather be in a sedated, restrained state, instead of awake with all those tubes, including a massive one down her throat.  Tonight they are scheduled to start putting her on nutrition IV feedings.  Until now she’s only been on liquids.

But as the doctor said we’re not out of the woods yet.  Which means there is still a chance of problems like blood clots and infections.  We were told to always keep those possibilities in the back of our minds.  And she remains in the ICU, in critical condition.  She’s here because she became septic- which means all that stuff poisoned her blood.  I found some good information on what that means on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepsis

Today has seemingly lifted everyone’s spirits.  We remain cautiously optimistic her recovery continues to go well, although we are looking at a long stay in the hospital.  I’m just hopeful she’ll be awake soon,and talking.

8/13 Marissa Update

I first received a call at work around 3:15 Tuesday. It was my uncle’s cell phone number on caller ID.  Since I was super busy I let it go to voice mail.  The voice mail message turned out to be from my mom, who said it was urgent I call her about Marissa.  For the past few weeks she had been in the hospital, and was sent home Tuesday, against her wishes.  Sensing the urgency I was able to reach my mom.  She told me Marissa has been taken into emergency surgery, and described the situation as “life or death.”  I decided to wait until after the surgery to determine what action to take. 

I left work after receiving a second call from my mom post surgery, saying doctors thought she wouldn’t live through the night.  My main objective, after hearing that, was to get on the next possible flight. So without much specific information I left work, headed home, and was able to book a 9:10 flight that had me home at about 9:30 this morning.  I just through a bunch of clothes into a couple suitcases,and a friend picked me up to take me to the airport.  It was only then could I have a clear conversation with my mom.

Marissa has suffered from a very tough case of crones/colitis since she was 10. She grew up a sick kid, it’s something we’ve struggled with as a family most of her life.  She’s been in and out of the hospital too many times to count.  About six years ago she underwent surgery most consider a sort of cure for the disease- having a large portion of her large intestine removed, and replacing it with a sort of medical bag to act in its place.  This is a commonly done procedure. 

Between some time when she went home from the hospital Tuesday, and yesterday,part of her large intestine that’s left exploded, disintegrated, and a hole formed- leaking toxic stuff into her system.  She grew sicker and sicker.  Her belly area became hard.  When I last talked to her Sunday she was in severe pain. She also thought she had a urinary tract system infection when I was taking to her.  That turned out to be a nearly sign her kidneys were failing.  She entered the hospital in a septic state.

About noon yesterday, my mom took Marissa to the ER.  They performed a cat scan showing there was a serious problem.  It was determined she needed emergency surgery because her vital signs, including her blood pressure bottoming out, kidneys shutting down, and extensive dehydration.

My mom told me the doctor told both her and Marissa there was a chance she would not survive the surgery.  It was an extremely invasive procedure where they cut her whole mid section open.  For two hours they cleaned out all the toxic mess they could inside of her.  But there is still residual toxic stuff left over.

The biggest encouraging sign is she made it through the night.  Doctors gave her a 5% chance of survival last night, and she beat that.  For that entire 6-hour plane ride to Houston I did not know here status.  So to hear her vital signs improving all day long is great news.

That is not to down play the seriousness of the situation.  Right now we are still in an hour-by-hour watch period to see what happens.  The doctor says things could still go baldy. She has been heavily sedated - placed in a semi-conscience state- to help her recovery along.  That means she can’t communicate with any of us.   The biggest problem is her lungs. They are completely surrounded by fluid.  So she’s on this huge blue ventilation tube, which is down her throat to dry out her lungs. That’s breathing for her.  So even if she was conscience she would not be able to talk.  A tube is running down nose to suck anything toxic out of her stomach. Altogether she’s hooked up to 8 different tubes…most of which I have no idea other then they’re filling her with IV fluids and antibiotics to clean her system out.

To put it as the doctor did she is by no means out of the woods yet.  Until I have a better idea about the prognosis I have no idea about any sort of time line.  The good signs though before they sedated her she was trying to talk and write, therefore any thoughts she had brain damage from the surgery are false.  Her kidneys are producing urine, therefore the doctors not as worried about kidney failure.  Her blood pressure and heart rate also continue to improve.  And most importantly she made it through the night.

That’s an update for now.
--Matt