TheRuths.net

As of Friday afternoon, they were going to wean her off of the breathing tube. If they were able to wean her off of the tube, they would most likely move her early this week. As of 10pm, she had pulled it out. She was dreaming about doing paperwork, or something like that, and pulled out the breathing tube. Good news - she is breathing well on her own. This means that they are looking at early this week to move her. Her right side seems to be getting a little bit better. She is starting to think a lot about her future, and the therapy/rehab that she is going to need to go through. She is a bit confused — she doesn’t remember anything about the accident, but does think that Uncle Steve was driving (which he was when they left where they were visiting, but had switched before the accident). She’s also hoping that another car caused the accident. Mom was mentioning something called ICU psychosis — a slight psychosis experienced by patients that are under the constant bubble that is the ICU — essentially, what happens to the mind after 2 1/2 weeks of sleep depravation.

Moving her this week is almost definitely out. Sometime next week, as soon as they can get her lungs a bit more stable.

Early this week, they removed one of the chest tubes. She was still on the C-PAP machine. The lung collapsed again, so they put the chest tube back in. Yesterday, they extubated the breathing tube. Her breathing started to deteriorate, and the tube was put back in. Fluid, from the pseudomonas and/or other infections, is consistently being removed from her lungs (1200cc yesterday). They are still looking at Thursday or Friday to transfer her to MGH, but that decision seems to fluctuate like the tide.PS Mom, Dad, and Gram are doing OK. Although, I think they miss the States. “There’s no place like home… There’s no place like home… There’s no place like home… click… click… click…”

The surgery went quite well. They now have rods in from T4 - T9 to stabilize her back. It is now the decision of the ICU staff to decide when she is able to be moved to Mass. General. It will most likely be some time this week. She does still have the pseudomonas, so we’ll see.

Due to the pseudomonas, they changed her surgery to be the last of the day in the OR. This way they would not have to “sterilize” the room between surgeries. It is now scheduled for 12 noon today.

Due to wildly fluctuating sodium levels, they were unable to do the surgery yesterday. It is now rescheduled for tomorrow morning at 7:00am. She is currently in isolation due to a bacterial infection (pseudomonas). She still has the tube in with the C-PAP machine. All of the infections, and the slight pneumonia are under control with antibiotics.The important thing: She is coherent, and this morning she was told about Uncle Steve. She was upset for a little while, but conversation then turned to her condition. Although she can’t speak because of the tube, they are using a letterboard and “relative telepathy” to communicate. She is also doing some physical therapy on her own right hand. Her right side seems to be having some trouble since the accident. Her right eye is not opening yet, and her right arm/hand are quite weak.

On October 12, Aunt Linda and Uncle Steve were on their way home from Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. Aunt Linda was driving in the passing lane of a divided 4 lane road near Hamilton, Ontario, about 1 hour and 45 minutes into the trip. She somehow went off on to the left-hand shoulder. They believe that she then over-compensated and crossed over her lane, and then into the other lane of the road. They were then hit by another vehicle, and spun out. The car continued to flip, spin, etc., and then it vaulted at least once as it went into a gully, and landed directly on the roof of the car. The way the car landed made it very difficult to impossible to get Uncle Steve out of the passenger side. Both, Uncle Steve and Aunt Linda were wearing seatbelts.
Uncle Steve was dead on arrival at the hospital. It is believed he was killed on impact. Aunt Linda survived the crash, but was in serious condition upon arrival to the hospital. I will post updates on this page as to Aunt Linda’s condition.

Bodhi is the newest Lhasa addition to our family. Bodhi + sattva (Sanskrit: Enlightenment + Being). He’s a skiddish little 16 month old puppy. He actually looks quite similar to baby. I will hopefully have some new pics of all 3 kids up soon.

Earlier this week, they removed one of the chest tubes. They also took her off of the ventilator and put her on a C-PAP machine (aids breathing, but doesn’t breathe for her). They put in a feeding tube.Today: She opened her one eye when people were talking to her, and turned a little bit when someone spoke to her. She began moving her right arm, which she hadn’t been doing. Her left arm “…is really strong…”, says Mom. When her feet/toes are tested (pinched, poked), she is reacting to the stimulus. They removed the second chest tube today. They are leaving her on the C-PAP machine at least through the surgery on Wednesday. She does have a UTI and a lung infection, both of which Mom thought she might, and she is being treated with antibiotics for them.

In general, things are looking up. Hopefully, she will pull through the surgery on Wednesday with flying colors. If so, they are looking at Monday to transport her to (with all likelihood) Mass. General Hospital Spine and Nerve Center.

Accident — she was driving in the passing lane of a divided 4 lane road. She somehow went off on to the left-hand shoulder. They believe that she then over-compensated and crossed over her lane, and then into the other lane of the road. They were then hit by another vehicle, and spun out. The car continued to flip, spin, etc., and then it vaulted at least once as it went into a gully, and landed directly on the roof of the car. The way the car landed made it very difficult to impossible to get Uncle Steve out of the passenger side. Both, Uncle Steve and Aunt Linda were wearing seatbelts.Injuries — Neck fracture — not much detailed information at this time, awaiting a CAT scan to be done. Skull fracture — this is what caused a lot of initial bleeding from the face. Posterior rib fractures — ribs broken along her spine (not in the chest), they were concerned that one of the ribs may have punctured the aorta, but a CAT scan has determined that this did not happen. Spinal column (thoracic section referred to by vertebral numbers) — T6 was “crushed”, surrounding vertebrae were also damaged, and a few others may also have been injured, this past Wednesday she had a surgery to put a “cage” in as a replacement for T6 which was then attached by plate(s) to T5 and T7, unfortunately due to asthma medication (Prednizone) her bones are “soft” so this is sort of temporary.

Other — 1 of the 3 lobes in the left lung is collapsed. She has a chest tube in both sides to keep the lungs inflated. She is tubed and on a ventilator. All tolled she has had more than 9 liters (litres) of blood, in essence she has all new blood in her body. She has not been conscious since arriving at the hospital. Some days she reacts to stimulus of the feet, and others she does not.

Future — next Wednesday (October 20), they will be doing another surgery whereas they will make the spine more stable. More stable equates to stable enough to move equates to being sent back to the US. So, sometime after next Wednesday she will be transported to (somewhere in the) US. The time for recovery — relatively little time to Lord only knows.