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Thursday, September 20, 2007

Thursday Afternoon Update


Hi Everybody,

From Jay Ashman (UVM professor and Courtney's advisor in Belize)

Courtney has some meaning in her face. By the looks of things she's at times perturbed and bored being stuck in bed, watching all the activity in the city from her fourth floor window. I never thought I'd be this happy to see a girl yawn or make a swallowing noise, but I'm euphoric. She's blinking a ton and moving her eyes around, they become less glazed over by the day. Doug showed her a cute teddy bear that came in from her UVM professors today and Courtney was able to track her dad as he moved from the bedside to the shelves across the room.


Court's about to make another huge leap this afternoon when she starts breathing on her own with little to no aid from the respirator. The nurses will gradually wean her off the machines, keep the tubes running to her lungs as a precautionary measure until they are pulled out entirely and the trachea incision can be plugged up. As always the medical staff is alerted immediately if she is not breathing properly.


One thing the doctors did mention at the meeting this morning was that Courtney looks very irritable (being bedridden for a week and eating yellow goop out of tube can anyone cranky). They suggested this may be a result of stress due to over stimulation and prescribed a day or two of rest. I tend to agree with the wishes of the doctors and family, she's been really active all night and she is straining a bit.


Sorry for flip-flopping, but Courtney's parents say she's grounded: no music, no roughhousing and no partying with her friends unfortunately. I know a few friends were hoping to pop in today and tomorrow, but Saturday may be a calmer situation and it'd be a big help if you could stop by then. She'll never be alone and we keep her in our thoughts as we are sure she keeps us in hers. For the moment I'll do my best to be everyones eyes and ears (we'll keep it to those senses, you probably don't want to smell me right now) and carry out orders for hugs, I've got it down to an art.


I'll pay Court one quick visit later tonight and post an update.


We Love you Courtney and we can't wait to have you back safe and sound.


-Sean

5 comments:

Patricia McD said...

I cannot say how happy I am to hear of Courtney's progress! I know she will continue to make strides.
I'm also glad she gets to rest for a couple of days.
Love to all,
Patricia

Anonymous said...

I told Courtney's parents I would send this inspirational message from a US student living in Belize attending Galen U where we spent the semester.(Andrea Acker)
Gary Flo

Glorious Blessings to all!!!! I want to thank each one of you for sending out loving positive prayerful energy in our time of
need! Give praise to the One who's hands have formed us all, on August 16th at 9:53 AM our healthy little son, Forest James River, was born into our world and lives. For those of you who have kept informed, there were three miracles in this pregnancy that allowed Forest to come into the world in a natural way... first his placenta miraculously 'moved' early in the pregnancy, allowing the cervix to be unobstructed for a vaginal birth. Then the cyst, that was roughly the size of his head and seemingly obstructing a vaginal delivery, miraculously moved up above my womb. Finally the night before he was born, he turned head down (doctors will NOT deliver a breach baby) And so this child was brought into the world with no needles, no drugs, no surgery!!! PRAISE JAHCREATORELOHIM! In the course of my pregnancy the doctors tried several times to convince me that I just needed to accept and schedule a Ceasarean.... I knew in my heart that what we resist persists, and so I accepted that I may have to be delivered by surgery but I firmly held my faith that this would not need to happen, certainly not so surely that I would schedule such a procedure. I met a variety of US OB/GYN's and it was interesting to see how each of them looked at the situation slightly differently and to imagine how differently this birth might proceed depending who actually delivered the child. Currently there is a nearly 25% C section rate in this counrry, which is to say, One in every four women have their child surgically extracted.... There are certainly situations in which a C section is the only way to save mother or child, or both, but so often it is a way doctors can have that much more control over the process of birth and thus is 'seems' safer... In fact there is a 5 times higher maternal mortality rate for women delivered via C-section! In my humble view it should be a procedure that is used in emergency only, to be avoided if at all possible, and used wisely where it must. All of this is for you ladies, because so many of you are in your childbearing years.... I want to encourage you all that if and when you encounter doctors who, in their best intentions, want to schedule a C-section because the baby is breach, or because there seems to be a complication, examine the possiblity of the complication resolving itself, then petition the universe to help you resolve it, and most of all, don't resign yourself to this operation unless all else has failed! Let my own experience be a witness to the power of positive thinking. faith, and prayer! Know that I was told by one doctor "You are not a canidate for vaginal birth." and by another, "You have a less than one percent chance of a vaginal birth." My faith however was not in the medical community but in a higher power to deliver this child naturally, and so their telling me otherwise only rooted my deeper in that faith! Luckily I was also blessed to be guided and instructed by Forest's aunt Helen, who is a wonderful and caring OB/GYN in Atlanta. She thought, given the circumstances, that I would most likely need a C-section, but she was willing to allow me a trial labor, if that was what I wanted, even with the cyst there IF the head was down. She is not the kind of person to show surprise, but yet, I think it surprised everyone, except maybe me and Forest, when the cyst miraculously moved up and then again when the baby's head came down.

Take care Be love! Believe and it Will!

Anonymous said...

Another note for Courtney's family:
The blog address for my friend's son who suffered serious head injuries and is now recovering is at:
http://calebpotter.blogspot.com/

There is a large blog community supporting his recovery. They believe the prayers and positive thoughts have been crucial in his recovery.
Gary Flo

Anonymous said...

I want to echo Sean:
We Love you Courtney and we can't wait to have you back safe and sound.

'Blessings to you!
Lovelovelove,
Alison Basdekis

MaryAnnaTossedMySalad said...

One of my favorite pictures from Belize... Sean thanks so much for updating so much. Glad to hear you're doing so well Courtney! See you on Saturday!