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Friday, October 5, 2007

10/5 Morning Update


Hi Everybody,


The transition to Baird 4 has not gone as well as hoped. Courtney was in agonizing pain all last night and didn’t fall asleep until 7:30 this morning. The source may be withdrawal symptoms, we were hoping to keep her off as much medication as possible, but her body has reacted so violently without regular doses.

The pain comes over her in waves, at times her eyes are wide open with fear or tearfully wincing in pain. She flails her legs and right arm around so wildly she breaks out in a sweat, it’s a struggle to keep her from hurting herself.

Julie and I sat bedside trying calm her down, nothing worked. Courtney would calm down for a few minutes only to break into fits. Her movements have been jerky, her hands clamp down on anything in reach. She tosses back and forth and nearly slumped out of bed a couple times. Julie stayed in her room overnight and I grabbed some sleep on the 3rd floor.

We conceded the nurse’s offer of morphine; two doses had barely any effect. The doctors eventually placed her back on Atavan, a minor tranquilizer, and after two doses she finally settled down and fell sleep. One glaring concern is whether Courtney is suffering through seizures again, its hard not knowing for sure. It’s also hard to see her body contortions and to see her bare down so hard she cries, when does she ever cry?

Walking from Courtney’s room through the hospital corridors, the patients are mostly elderly folks, lying in bed or in wheelchairs, watching television and talking with visitors. A hospital is no place for her. There’s nothing typical about these circumstances, we don’t know (and may never really know) what caused this and there are so many variables in her recovery process.

Hopefully the afternoon will see her through better times, Courtney can rest up and perhaps wheel around the hospital and outside. A representative from Spaulding is scheduled to be at Fletcher Allen on Monday to assess Courtney’s condition. In the meantime, we want her to try her best to remain calm and stay in Baird 4, although it’s not out of the question for her to move back to the ICU temporarily. I’ll let you know how she does.

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

-Sean

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know this is disturbing, but I can tell you from our recent experience with Caleb, that things go up and down predictably. She is strong and things will get better in time. Keep the faith.

love,
Gary Flo

Anonymous said...

Gary,

Thanks for reminding us that unfortunately these things happen and that she will get better with time.

We're so grateful for the tremendous support for Court and her family. I hope people can continue reading and responding to the blog. You have no idea how helpful it is - especially for people who are far away and desperately want to be closer to Courtney, family and friends.

Anonymous said...

First, I would like to echo Marti's thanks to Gary Flo for the reminder to expect the unexpected, however heart wrenching today's news has been.

Next, I would like to pray that the next unexpected event is an overhwhelmingly positive one. It is for that I will pray tonight during our 7:00 communion. Be with you all then.

Love,
Phyllis D.

Anonymous said...

Ed and I will also be praying tonight and once again, Sean, thank you so much for the support and care you show in so many ways.......one of which is this site. As Marti said, it is so helpful to be able to "connect" if only over the Internet. It does make us feel closer.

Love, Sue and Ed (the TX cousins)

Anonymous said...

I'll be there with you all at 7:00PM every night.

With love,

Marti

Anonymous said...

As someone else said on the blog earlier in the month:

HOPE sees the invisible
feels the intangible
and achieves the impossible!

Patricia McD