Today started out as a challenging day but ended with some great progress. Throughout the night Raena had a high heart rate but seemed comfortable at the same time. Then at 3am they decided to bathe her and change her linens. She did not like this at all and was coughing up a storm and her vitals were spiking. Once completed they finally had her vitals under control and she could sleep through the rest if the night.
The night nurse did not recalibrate her ICP levels properly on the drainage flask even though I told her I thought it was wrong, so immediately during shift change I made sure the new nurse knew the issue at hand and got it rectified immediately.
Raena’s brain fluid has been very clear and her ICP levels hover around 14. All good signs. The intensivist said he wanted to see the drugs wear off and her to start moving. All of which she did 🙂
This morning Raena got her CT scan completed and her swelling has gone down even more. The most dangerous part of all this is the location of her aneurysm, which is basically next to the brain stem and that controls vitals such as heart rate and blood pressure.
After her CT scan she got electrodes put back on her head for the EEG which will monitor her brain activity to help determine if she is going thru any seizures or sympathetic storming.
They will now wait until Sunday to do another EEG test as the neurologist said she was still under the influence of the other drugs. They’ve started to reduce medications at a certain rate so she can start to wake up.
After her sedation medications were reduced she started to wake up a bit. She was wiggling her toes and batting her eyes. The neurosurgeon was in doing his rounds and said things were progressing nicely.
Tonight Raena was much more alert actually blinking in response to the nurse. They asked her to blink once if in pain and again if she needed pain medicine. The most exciting part is she blinked twice to get more meds and say she was in pain.
I will be visiting first thing in the morning for a bit to say hi to raena as she may be fully awake by then. Fingers and toes crossed.
Thx for the encouraging update Steve. Today was a day of good progress and an indication that more good things are on the horizon. Raena has an entire community pulling and praying for her. I can’t wait to have Raena over for a Hakowi meeting soon enough. My family sends our love and positive vibes daily to Raena and your family.
Great news, most awesome updates yet!
We are pulling for her. My mother and her church group are sending her good thoughts everyday.
Sounds like things are getting better Steve. We’re all thinking of her and you all. Hoping to stop by sometime this weekend for a visit. Will call you to arrange a good time.
Tim and family
Thank you for taking the time to keep
us close to her everyday. -Yumi