Status: Sunday, Dec 4 - 2030h
The remainder of Thursday and Friday were great… Lee had good mobility and was able to communicate (with more squeezes, thumbs up and wiggling toes) that she was feeling better. Kenny got to spend a day with her and tell her just how much he missed her. Life was good.
- Kami arrived Friday and was amazed at how well Lee was looking, and how well she was moving since she last saw her. She stayed with her on Saturday while I ran home to do laundry and get my act back together. The nurses and doctors all seemed very happy with the trajectory of Lee’s recovery, and we were all starting to think we had this beat.
- then Sunday happened… Kami and I went to the hospital early; Lee was tired but still doing fine. By noon, after Kami left for home, things started to turn bad.
At first, Lee was more tired, then she became distant and had trouble following directions. The nurses quickly caught the symptoms and took countermeasures, but the situation continued to deteriorate. They called in Lee’s neurosurgeon and he upped the ante on the treatments, but Lee didn’t respond.
For the 4th time in the last 12 days, I saw her slipping away.
At 4 pm, the surgical team once again took Lee off to Imaging, for her 4th Angiogram. They located 2 narrow spots in her cerebral arteries and cleared them with angioplasty.
By 5:30 the neurosurgeon had found me with the welcome news that Lee was bright, alert, and everything was working again. Shortly after that, she returned to her room in ICU and I was able to sit with her again, hold her hand and ask her how she felt. Her response was a shrug, a wrinkled nose, and a thumbs up.
Lee has a real cheering section here… a bunch of nurses came in to watch her wriggle her toes and do foot circles. The charge nurse asked her to grip her hands ‘real hard’, then had to ask for her fingers back when Lee wasn’t letting go.
Somehow ‘Thank you’ seems inadequate.
These people, in all of their roles, have provided care, support, and empathy for Lee… they have given us her life back 4 times, continually making all the right moves. Lee’s condition is complex and demanding, but everyone here has risen to the challenge. I don’t think it’s possible to get better care than this.
I hear and read every day the thoughts and prayers, of our friends, family, and colleagues from home and abroad … we are buoyed and supported by your concern, and are grateful to have you at Lee’s back.
A number of people have asked if they can visit; I’m afraid that the answer has to be no, for now. Neuro- ICU is a very close-quarters place, with lots of staff, specialized equipment and fast movement by teams of people. There are only 2 of us here at a time, and we constantly worry about getting in the way. For the same reason, please don’t send cards or flowers yet… there is no place to put them.
After Lee has left critical care, we would love to have some visitors… until then, there is nothing you can do here that you can’t do there.
Thank you, everyone. More to come.
