Progress

Diana is doing well, although she is still sedated and on the ventilator.
Her doctors tell me that the incision on her side is looking good, healing well and not draining as much - they are considering going to a once every-other-day dressing change, rather than every day, as its doing so well.
Her blood pressure remains stable, which is a very good sign. In addition, there are good breath sounds in both lungs, which is good as it means that there is no pneumonia (which is always a risk when on a ventilator.) Also, there are some good bowel sounds, which means that her repaired ulcer and stomach are healing and progressing very well.

Her respiratory therapist turned her sedation and the ventilator down yesterday, to test how she would respond to breathing on her own, etc. Her response was excellent and immediate - she was breathing really well, she opened her eyes, squeezed my hand, nodded and tried to talk in response to me talking to her. Although I knew there would be no problems with getting her off of the ventilator or with her responses, it was still really comforting to see all of those things, and especially to see her eyes and let her know I was there.

Her doctors are talking about extibating her in the next couple of days, depending on how she tolerates the changing of the dressing on the incision on her side. As that wound heals it should become less and less painful to deal with - however, that surgery was only Tuesday morning, so its only been two days.

She is recieving excellent care and her nurses and doctors are all so kind and caring. I am in her room for many hours each day and call them several times a day as well, and everyone is always very kind, willing to answer all my questions and generous with their time.

Diana is recieving so many phone calls from her friends and colleagues, and we appreciate the outpouring of support and love so very much. I'm sorry that I can't talk to more of you personally or return more messages, but though I have great support, I really have all I can do to be at the hospital and take care of critical things right now. But please don't think that her family and I don't care or that we don't appreciate your concern and offers of help - the situation is overwhelming, but I am also overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support for Diana and me and our family.
I told her yesterday that she has prayers being said for her in nearly every faith and denomination, and more love and good energy being directed toward her than we can even imagine. Thank you.

Slow and Steady

Diana is progressing slowly, but well. She is still sedated and on a ventilator, but there are some good signs:

1. The infection seems to be abating as the skin around the incision site from her surgery early Tuesday morning is now no longer swollen and discolored, as it once was. When her surgeon looked at the site yesterday afternoon, he said he was very happy about this as it meant that they had gotten all of the infection out in the surgery and it was definitely no longer advancing.

2. Her blood pressure seems to be stabilizing a bit, and this is one of the main goals her team of doctors is working on right now. Blood pressure often gets very low when the body is fighting a large infection, so Diana's doctors have been giving her large amounts of fluids and drugs to increase her blood pressure. Yesterday, they were able to wean the amount of fluids they are giving her, and her pressure remained stable. This morning they were able to wean the amount of "pressers" (blood pressure increasing drugs) and her blood pressure remained stable - this is a good sign.

3. All of her other vital signs remain strong and good, all other functions (kidneys, etc.) are strong and maintaining.

Diana's main surgeon likes to say that she's still on the steep part of the hill she's climbing, but the top is in sight, and he feels confident that she will recover.



Also, even though she is under heavy sedation, she is still able to respond appropriately to painful stimuli, and sometimes responds to the sound of my voice, which is also good, although it means we have to be careful not to give her too much stimulus, because she needs to rest.



I know that Diana has so many friends and loved ones that want to visit her - however, because she is sedated and on a ventilator, and trying so hard to fight that infection, her nurses and doctors are really limiting the folks that can visit (as visitors to the ICU are very limited anyway.) Right now, immediate family are allowed to visit, and friends are allowed very short visits only if her nurse approves, given her condition at that time.

So, the best way to check on her is really to check back to the blog, which we will update as often as we can, and at least once a day.



I know you all extend your love and thoughts to her, and they are so appreciated. And, they are working!

Diana's progress

Thanks to everyone who has been checking in on Diana to hear about her progress - there are so many people who love and care about her, which is such a wonderful thing. She often says how lucky she is in all of her friends and family, whom she cherishes.

We've decided to create this blog so that her many friends and colleagues can check on her progress and see how she's doing.



Late last week she was taken to the emergency room after battling what she had been told was the flu and a small infection for about a week. What her doctors discovered upon running some tests was that she had a perforated stomach ulcer and a resultant infection. They did surgery to repair the perforation and tried to deal with the infection non-surgically. The repair to the ulcer went well and her progress in healing from that is good. However, the infection did not resolve with medications alone.



Yesterday evening her doctors decided to address the infection surgically. The surgery went well, but because the infection was advanced the wound from the surgery is sizable. Since her system has already been compromised with the perforation, the previous surgery and the infection, her doctors have chosen to keep her sedated and on a ventilator until she is more stable and the surgical site is healing well and not apt to give her so much pain.
Though it can be a scary thought to have her on a ventilator, this is often the way treating physicians choose to deal with a serious infection - by giving the body the best possible chance to rest and heal, and provide as much oxygen as possible to promote the healing process. She is definitely in critical condition, but doing as well as can be expected.

We will update this blog as often as we can, and let you know Diana's progress. We all know that she is an incredibly strong woman with a joy in life that few can match, and these are things that will help her a great deal as she recovers. In the mean time, your love, thoughts and prayers are all so very important and appreciated.

We'll keep you posted, so check back whenever you like.