3/27/02 wed.
11:00pm


I'm tired today so here goes. Kristen is resting home and is fine.

Michele is still in ICU on the respirator but her vitals are excellent. If she can remain stable and the Docs are comfortable she is strong enough soon she will ge the hell out of ICU. It's hard seeing her there on that breathing machine.

Michele's heart they believe is fine. They started treating her hypothyroidism and she responded very well. Her heart rate has improved and her BP is normal.

With these things going for her and hopefully no more complications she will begin the road to recovery. I have learned to accept it now that there will be good days and bad ones for a while and try to stay centered.

later...

charlie

 

We're with the two of you... all the way. It's hard, but keep focusing on the positives!! Hopefully, a year from now, this will all seem like a bad dream... "Sleep that knits the raveled sleeve of care."

 

3/27/02 Thursday
10:30pm

Michele remains in ICU but things are looking up. They hope to have her off the respirator in the morning.

She is responding well to the anti rejection meds, her fever's have ceased and her vitals are excellent. They believe her heart is ok but will do a echo cardigram again next week.

It's not a definite but we are optimistic she will get off the machine tommorrow. Once she is breathing on her own they will begin building her up with food and high calorie drinks. This is very important part of her recovery b/c she is so weak and frail.

later...
charlie

 

excellent news my friend!

I'm glad things are looking up.
all my best.

-V

 

Charlie,

Glad things are improving. We will keep you all in our thoughts and prayers.

 

3/28/01 Friday
10pm

Michele remains in ICU but they were comfortable in her recovery to remove the respirator and she is doing fine now off of it since 10 this morning.

The next 24 hours are critical. They are hoping she is strong enough to breath on her own. So far so good and all signs are pointing in that direction but you never know so we wait for just one more day to see if we can get over this hurdle.

She is on massive amounts of steroids which is the treatment for rejection of the liver along with other anti rejection drugs. She was given 1000 mg of prednisone on wed. then 500mg on thursday and 500mg today.

If you know anything about this drug that is a massive amount and has it's temp side effects like dimensia which she is experiencing now. She is confused and really unaware of what is going on but within a couple of days that should get better.

So things are at least going in the right direction but I have learned to stay level headed b/c she so frail and weak that any complication can have major setbacks for her. All we can hope for is that nothing else will happen and she can start to regain some strength and we can move forward.

Till tomorrow
Charlie

(PS today was the first time since she went into surgery that I was able to give my wife a kiss on the lips it was a very special moment)

 

Charlie, Michele, Kristin: I am thinking of you and praying for complete speedy recovery. Getting off the respirator is a great step! And the will to live is so important, more important than drugs. I don't know how the mind does it, but it certainly controls the body to an extent that the doctors can't explain at this point. Keep on talking to her-hearing is very primary (more than touch even) and she will hear you even when she isn't fully conscious. The ICU environment is so mechanical and scary with all of the dinging bells and announcements over speakers and procedures-your voice can help keep her more oriented. My sister was in ICU after a bone marrow transplant, and we kept a radio on her favorite classical station, read books to her when we ran out of things to say or just couldn't talk. I also found that talking to the other families in the ICU helped me cope-there always seemed to be someone who's loved one was in worse shape, so I could feel thankful for tiny improvements. The ups and downs are very hard to take, think of them as curving mountain roads. You will get through this. And to all of the rest of us-let's think about becoming organ donors, bone marrow donors, blood donors, however we can help others because if we don't have relatives who match, we will need the supreme generosity of strangers for us to have a chance.

 

3/29/02 Saturday
8:00 pm

Michele remains in ICU today but she has been stable. If we can get thru one more night like this which we all anticipate she will, tomorrow Michele will be moved to a regular hospital room to begin her recovery. Michele is still a little confused but is more aware of her surroundings and not so agitated as yesterday. I along with the Doctors feel once she gets out of ICU and into a regular room this problem will fade quickly.

They plan on getting her to walk tomorrow as well as some soup broth and jello to eat. She is currently eating ice chips(hospital treat) and a lil gingerale. She sat up in a chair today for about 3 hours which was great to see and I got a few more kisses.

I don't think the Docs realize how strong Michele's will is and I feel she may surprise them as to how her recovery will come along. She may have the body of a Chihuahua but the heart of a lion. So let's hope tomorrow gets even better than today.

Till then....
Charlie

 

Hey Charlie-
Glad to hear pretty positive news for 2 days in a row It's great that Michele has been able to get out of bed and sit in a chair. Hope you're gettin to drive the Stook back 'n forth to the hospital... a least another small reason for you to smile.
Jerry

 

It is great to hear that she is doing well..your family is still in my prayers and hope that she has a speedy recovery!