Zac and I will be answering phones for the Children's Miracle Network this afternoon from 3-4. We would love to hear from you. If you get Peoria channels, it's on WEEK-TV 25. If you don't, I would assume you can look up the numbers on their website, but I'm not positive. Thanks so much for your support!
Also, if you donated online, would you be so kind as to drop me an email or a comment to this post. I'd like to be able to send a personal "thank you."
The Brave Little Soul
By: John Alessi
Not too long ago in Heaven there was a little soul who took wonder in observing the world. He especially enjoyed the love he saw there and often expressed this joy with God. One day however, the little soul was sad, for on this day he saw suffering in the world. He approached God and sadly asked, "Why do bad things happen, why is there suffering in the world?".
God paused for a moment and replied, "Little soul, do not be sad, for the suffering you see, unlocks the love in peoples hearts". The little soul was confused. "What do you mean", he asked. God replied, "Have you not noticed the goodness and love that is the offspring of that suffering? Look at how people come together, drop their differences, and show their love and compassion for those who suffer. All their other motivations disappear and they become motivated by love alone.
The little soul began to understand and listened attentively as God continued, "The suffering soul unlocks the love in people's hearts much like the sun and rain unlock the flower within the seed. I created everyone with endless love in their heart, but unfortunately most people keep it locked up and hardly share it with anyone. They are afraid to let their love shine freely, because they are afraid of being hurt. But a suffering soul unlocks that love. I tell you this-it is the greatest miracle of all. Many souls have bravely chosen to go into the world and suffer-to unlock this love-to create this miracle-for the good of all humanity.
Just then the little soul got a wonderful idea and could hardly contain himself. With his wings fluttering, bouncing up and down, the little soul excitedly replied, "I am brave; let me go! I would like to go into this world and suffer so that I can unlock the goodness and love in people's hearts! I want to create that miracle!
God smiled and said, "You are a brave soul I know, and thus I will grant your request. But even though you are very brave you will not be able to do this alone. I have known since the beginning of time that you would ask for this and so I have carefully selected many souls to care for you on your journey. Those souls will help you create your miracle; however they will also share in your suffering. Two of these souls are most special and will care for you, help you and suffer along with you, far beyond the others. They have already chosen a name for you.
God and the brave little soul shared a smile, and then embraced. In parting, God said, "Do not forget little soul that I will be with you always. Although you have agreed to bear the pain, you will do so through my strength. And if the time should come when you feel that you have suffered enough, just say the word, think the thought, and you will be healed.
Thus at that moment the brave little soul was born into the world, and through his suffering and God's strength he unlocked the goodness and love in people's hearts. For so many people dropped their differences and came together to show their love. Priorities became properly aligned. People gave from their hearts. Those that were always too busy found time. Many began new spiritual journeys-some regained lost faith-many came back to God. Parents hugged their children tighter. Friends and family grew closer. Old friends got together and new friendships were made. Distant family reunited, and every family spent more time together. Everyone prayed. Peace and love reigned. Lives were changed forever. It was good. The world was a better place. The miracle had happened. God was pleased."
Thank you sweet Olivia!
We've made the arrangements for Olivia's services. We will be having the visitation on Wednesday, May 27 from 5-8 at Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen in Macomb. The funeral service will be at 11:00 on Thursday, May 28. Private graveside services will be on Friday morning.
We are doing well. There is definitely a piece missing. Zac and I came back to Macomb to make arrangements and the kids will come back tomorrow. Tonight will be the real test, when it's just Zac and I. We are completely amazed by all the comments and prayers out there. I will be honest...I haven't been able to read them, yet, but I plan to when I'm ready. People have been filling me in here and there and it's truly amazing.
Our heart are so heavy right now. Olivia went to be with Jesus around 11:15 this morning. We are at a loss for words right now.
It had to have been one of the most beautiful, peaceful deaths ever. She took her last breath in my arms. She has no more pain. No more scars. And a whole heart.
One amazing little girl.
Olivia's not having such a good day. She has had some lower sats today - ranging from 25 to 55. They've been like this since about 4:00am. They have tried a new thing for her. There is a medication they put in her trachea that goes directly into her lungs and tries to open things up. It makes things worse before they get better, and her heart possibly stopped for a few seconds.
The kids were able to come up and see her. They are with my sister and her family enjoying this beautiful day at Wildlife Prairie Park.
I think we are all anticipating that she won't be with us for much longer. She seems comfortable.
Brooklyn is officially on summer vacation! Woohoo! I was able to take her back to school and pick her up (Olivia behaved - the prayers worked!!) I'm back at the hospital now.
They decided not to turn Olivia over to her belly - why rock the boat. They did, however, turn her head the other direction. She did okay with that - she's still recovering from it. She's also had a few temps today, but is still handling things relatively well. Now we just need to get Jack done with school....6 more days. We had the moving company come in today to do an estimate and we are actually all set to close on the Dunlap house on June 15. The mover said they could have us in on the 17th or 18th! It will be so exciting to have both kids here! Oh, and Zac, too. (just kidding, of course)
We are praying for a quiet night. The kids are really excited to come see Olivia tomorrow and start working on their scrapbooks!
Olivia had a fairly stable night. The nurse said she did have to battle some lower pressures, but treated her with some volume and she has come right back up. She is still on her belly, but the plan is to turn her back over today sometime.
One crazy thing is that her platelets are up to 90,000 today! They treated them on Wednesday, and they have come up all on their own the last 2 days. Amazing.
We talked with the kids last night. The boys were back in Macomb, so Zac talked with Jack and I talked with Brooklyn here. They both reacted very appropriately in my eyes and had a few questions. They also both decided they definitely want to come see her. We explained that she would be asleep and wouldn't be able to wake up, but they still want to come see her. So, we are probably going to do that tomorrow.
The Child Life Specialist came up yesterday to see how we were doing and she gave us lots of great ideas to help the kids deal with all of this. She talked about making a scrapbook just for them and they can fill it with all their pictures and memories of Olivia. She said she was going to run out at pick up a few things and showed up with an adorable bag filled with a scrapbook, markers, stickers, scissors, glue, etc... We had even mentioned that Brooklyn loves High School Musical - so there are tons of things in there for her. She also brought up a stamp pad so the kids can do handprints of Olivia! Amazing.
Then I got to meet Jill. Jill and her family know all to well what we are going through. Their little girl was in and out of the hospital for most of her all too short life, as well. She was a complicated heart baby and a year ago February, Laynie went to be with Jesus. She and her mom were here with their other daughter for an appointment and came up to visit. It was so great to finally meet her and it gave me so much comfort. We had been in and out when Laynie was here, but never "officially" met their family. Amazing.
I'm going to be taking Brooklyn back to Macomb for her last day of preschool today. Please say an extra little prayer that Olivia behaves while I am gone. It's that whole 10-5 thing - that's when I'll be gone and that's usually the time of day she doesn't like!
Sorry about the lack of posting. It seems as though I didn't even get a chance to sit down today. Olivia had a lot of visitors and time got away from me.
Olivia had an okay day. She did spike a little bit of a temp, which made her heart rate and pressures go way up and her sats were hanging a little bit lower. By about 5:00, she turned things around after making a change on her ventilator. She just seems to really dislike from about 10 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon.
The doctor did come in and say that it would be reasonable to leave the paralytic on through the weekend. This would give us some time to take the kids up if they want to. No one seems to think that she would survive another "episode" without the paralytic. If she does anything in the meantime, we are sticking with the original plan of not intervening.
I still have this overwhelming peace right now, which I am very thankful for.
Olivia had a very peaceful night. Her numbers are all wonderful this morning. The plan is to lift the paralytic today and see what she does. I assume they will turn it off after rounds today. It usually takes her a good 8-10 hours before it is completely out of her system. They will try to manage her comfort with sedation and see how she tolerates that.
Thank you so much for all of the prayers and good thoughts. We are truly feeling them right now and have great peace with God's plan for Olivia. We are truly amazed by all of the people who love Olivia and have been touched by her!
Olivia is still doing okay. She seems to love her tummy so much.
We had a really hard family meeting. (I actually don't know if it was harder for the docs and nurses or for us - their love for Olivia amazes me everyday). We listened to the recommendations from everyone and decided that it would be in Olivia's best interest to not take any extreme measures if the need arises. It was recommended that we don't start any new medications to intervene because they are causing more harm than good. There is no more medical intervention that can be done that would help Olivia in any way whatsoever.
She is so very sick right now and she has to be tired. She's been fighting for so long. We want Olivia to be happy and comfortable, which she is right now. We are going to stay the course that she's on, and the doctors and nurses will continue to treat her with her normal medications, sedation, ventilator needs, and nutrition. We are going to keep her on the paralytic that they started today and see if she can come off of it tomorrow.
Basically, we are praying for a miracle.
So, our time at home didn't quite work out as planned. Olivia had a really good night last night, but then took a turn for the worse today. She had quite a few pulmonary hypertensive episodes this morning that weren't precipitated by anything at all. Around 11:30 or so, she dropped her oxygen saturations into the 30's. From then on, she fluctuated between the 50's and 60's. They did start her on IV Flolan, which is for pulmonary hypertension. She gets it now through her ventilator, but they thought she may not be absorbing it completely. They started the IV Flolan, but she seemed to get worse. Around 3:15, they turned off the IV Flolan and turned her to her belly. Since then, she has slowly come around and is doing so much better now - just dealing with lower blood pressures.
Zac is on his way here and we are going to have a family meeting about Olivia's care. We need to make some really hard decisions about how much is too much, and how far we would want them to go in these kinds of situations. I don't think it's going to be a fun meeting whatsoever, so I'm asking for some specific prayer requests for that.
Also, Brooklyn's end of year picnic is tonight - the other reason I was home. We had a really good day today and I told her I would try really hard to make it back tonight. Now, neither Zac or I will be there which is killing me. My mom headed out to go to Macomb and take the kids, which they will be so excited about. I just wish we could all be there. I also ask for prayers that I won't be overcome with guilt and that Brooklyn will have a wonderful time with Grandma and Jack!
Keep you posted...
It's so nice to be home. I'm having a great time with Brooklyn, and it was great to pick Jack up from school and get him ready for his big game tonight. But it's so hard not to be with Olivia. This stinks. She had a small pulmonary hypertensive episode this afternoon. My mom is with her and called to say she was struggling. I was on my way out the door when I finally just asked the doctor if I should come over. He said no, she was turning things around. Of course, she did turn things around, but it still kills me to not be there.
Besides all that, Olivia seems to be having a good day. No major changes.
Jack had a field trip to Galesburg on the train this morning. He said he had fun, but that was the extent of the information I got. Grandma got a lot more info than me. Imagine that. He's such a boy.
Brooklyn was able to have a playdate this morning, and we hung out the rest of the afternoon. It was some quality "girl time." Tomorrow is another day here, so we need some big prayers that Olivia behaves so mommy can relax!
Olivia had a really good, uneventful night, and is continuing on with that today! She's been awake and seems very content while she's awake. She keeps bopping herself in the eye with her arm, and she's actually starting to get a black eye from it. No big changes...just staying the course!
I'm going back to Macomb tonight. The in-laws are heading to Florida and I have to go back and remember how to cook, clean, parent, etc... for a few days. I'm definitely going to be feeling out of sorts, but it will be nice to sleep in my own bed (maybe). It depends how many people join me.
I'll be back to Peoria on Thursday morning, so Olivia really needs to cooperate until then (and beyond, but especially over the next few days).
I went to pick out our countertops today. Fun, fun...next will be carpeting. It will be great to see it all come together!
Here it is! Brooklyn and I drove by this morning and took a picture of it. It will be easier to describe things once we get into it, but here's a breakdown:
The room above the garage is going to be the toyroom, the two windows on top belong to Jack's room, the one window is the kids' bathroom, and the two windows on the bottom right belong to Olivia's room.
Brooklyn's room looks over the neighbor's house and our room looks into the back yard. I love the fact that the laundry room is upstairs, so I may actually keep up with it.
Anyway, like I said, it will be better to see pictures when we actually get in to the house.
Olivia is having a good day today. She got a little blood, some platelets, a couple new medications, and weaned down on a couple of meds.
Brooklyn and I spent the morning going window shopping for all the stuff we would want in our new house if we had all the money in the world. She picked out the colors she wants in her room - mustard yellow and pink. (we're discussing this). We made quite a list! She also made her birthday list we is pretty extensive, as well.
The boys are at Six Flags in St. Louis today. The seniors go the day after prom every year, and Zac has to chaperone. He took Jack and one of his friends along...it sounds like they are having a good time. They called from the top of the Ferris Wheel!
All in all-a good weekend!
The Family Photo 
Apparently Olivia was smiling at her nurse this morning. You don't think she likes them better than us, do you? I still haven't seen a full-fledged smile from her. Just a little smirk once or twice. Anyway, she is having a good morning. Getting some blood, Increasing her methadone. Stopping one antibiotic. Decreasing her blood pressure medication. All in all, a productive morning. We're hoping the rest of the day continues that way!
I can't wait to see the kids tonight. It seems like I haven't seen them forever. I usually get to at least see Brooklyn during the week, but not this week. I'm going to see if we can take them in and see the house tomorrow and maybe even come up and see Olivia, depending on how her day is going.
Sorry. It's been a huge day of posting for me. I just had to add one more.
Olivia is doing so much better this evening (thanks to all those prayers). And I'm feeling much better, too (thanks to all those other prayers). I'm just an emotional basketcase today. I suppose we all have our moments. I took a little break while Zac was here and was able to collect my thoughts and put things back into perspective. It's just been a big week.
Anywho, I came back to a peacefully sleeping Olivia and some visitors (it was good to see you Eric and Sandy ;o) Olivia is holding steady, so I just thought I'd pass it along. Have a good night.
This roller coaster is getting rickety. I feel like I'm about to fall off. I'm really tired of all of this up and down stuff. I desperately want Olivia to get better and turn things around.
Our family meeting was basically a re-visit to her pulmonary hypertension. It seems to be getting worse. We've known she's had it. We've known it's bad. The doctors just wanted to make sure we know that they are concerned with the progression of it. Her cardiologist is very blunt with us (which we love and appreciate) in saying that he doesn't know if she will go home from here, and if she does, he doesn't know how long she will be with us (however, he does have a patient that he said this to when she was little and she's 37 now). We know this, it all makes sense and we need to have these meetings, but this is Olivia. And I can't help but think that she is going to do something miraculous. I pray for this every day.
It's just that I get so scared about doing the right thing. Do we start requesting that the kids can come up and spend as much time together as possible, and then have her come home and be with us until she is 37? When the doctors come up and talk to us, it just makes everything look so bad, and then Olivia will wake up and start playing. I truly feel like we are being realistic about everything, but I don't know what to feel. It's such a weird place to be in.
I feel like this is one of those very honest posts...one of those that I just need to put into writing to get it all out.
Olivia had another "episode" around noon. She's come back around, but we are having a family meeting whenever Zac can get here so we can decide what our next step should be. She's been having way too many "episodes" lately and no one has really determined why she continues to do this. Keep you posted...
I saw on another blog, that a family documented what exactly their little girl had been through in her first year of life. It was interesting to read it all at one time. So, I thought I would try to rack my brain and do the same thing. The list kept growing and growing. It's completely mind boggling to me how unbelievably tough our little cookie is. Check this out:
Since she was born, Olivia has had:
3 open heart surgeries
1 thoracic heart surgery
2 cardiac catheterizations
1 mitral valve replacement
1 lung scan
2 CT scans
4 swallow studies
20+ blood transfusions
50+ platelet transfusions
1 mediport insertion
1 mediport removal
2 broviacs
ear tubes
7 bone marrow biopsies
1 tracheostomy
1 g-tube
a fever as high as 106.7
6 Life Flight trips
2 ambulance rides
2 hours on the general pediatric floor at OSF.
15 hours on the pediatric floor at McDonough District Hospital
approximately 32 days on the Pediatric Intermediate Care floor at OSF
and around 366 whopping days in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at OSF (and counting)
and over $5,000,000 in medical bills (from OSF alone) since birth - this one blew my mind!
How crazy is that! And just think of the things I'm missing! I'll have to update this as I remember and as new things occur. It's interesting to add it all up. It just shows how amazing Olivia is.
We decided to try to keep things a little less dramatic today. No more house purchases. No more acting up from Olivia. That kind of stuff.
Olivia is having a really good day, again. They lifted the paralytic yesterday afternoon and she's been awake a couple of times today. She is fairly comfortable when she is awake. It's been for very short periods of time, which I think is good. She needs to recuperate from the week before she decides to start dancing around.
She did receive some blood this morning because her hemoglobin had dropped. The dopamine is off and they are working on the vasopressin now. If that comes down, they'll move on to the epinephrine. No one is touching the sedation medication, which is fine with me (not that my opinion matter ;o)
Otherwise, all is well! I am working on a rather interesting and crazy post. Hopefully, I'll be done with it today, so check back!
My little pep talk to myself worked this morning! Olivia's having a great day and we bought a house! Yippee! We are just waiting for the paperwork to come through and then we'll go from there...loan, picking carpet, picking counter tops, etc...
We had decided to quit being stubborn and accept their ridiculous counter-offer. We were asking for some significant upgrades that would have actually brought the price down to where we wanted it if we hadn't asked for the upgrades. The kicker of it all...our wonderful realtor talked them down a whole $1400! SOLD! What a pleasant surprise. We told her we were willing to pay full price, but she wouldn't have it!
Now just to sell our house in Macomb...we did have a showing this afternoon. Maybe there's a check sitting on the table ;o)
Once it becomes a little more "official," I'll be sure to post a picture a some more details. I wouldn't want you to get all excited and then be disappointed if something were to go wrong.
Oh, I almost forgot...the kids will go to the same grade school (aka: Grandma's school) as I did (Brooklyn will even have the same Kindergarten teacher...how random is that!)
I'm determined. It's going to be a better day today.
Not that I want to re-live it, but here is a rundown on the day:
Olivia was having withdrawals from coming down on some of her sedation medication. It was very hard to watch. Her eyes were going a mile a minute, she kept doing strange things with her tongue, she was extremely agitated, she ended up biting both sides of her cheeks which caused her to bleed like crazy, and she just looked plain awful. She ended up spiking a temp of 106.7 (no, that's not a typo). Her heart rate was up to 200 beats per minute (from 90 in the morning), her blood pressure was up and her sats were sitting in the low 80's. This went on for about 4 hours. As everyone was trying to figure out what was going on, her heart rate flipped back to 90. So, they ordered an EKG, and an Echo later in the evening. It was determined that she had been in SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia). Her atria were pumping like crazy, and her ventricles were pumping just as fast, so there was no time for her heart to fill up. The SVT was most likely caused by the high fever. By last night, she had been put back on a paralytic drip, epinephrine, vasopressin, dopamine, an insulin drip, and back up on all the sedation medications. So, two steps forward and about 18 steps back.
This morning, she is doing much better. Her numbers are great and they are going to just start over by just weaning things back down/off.
As for the house...we made our offer (asking for some upgrades and credits for things) and they counter-offered at asking price (with the upgrades and credits). We counter-offered again and they said they could take nothing less than asking price. Who pays asking price for a house these days? Granted, we did ask for a few things, but they could have at least come down $100 or so. Anyway, we haven't decided what to do next.
Today is a new day (Thank God for that) and today is going to be a better day (do you think it sounds like I'm trying to convince myself, or what?)
Bad counter offer on the house.
Bad day for Olivia.
I'm very frustrated.
I'll post more tomorrow...I'm too frustrated to complain.
So, as far as the house...we should hear back with a counter-offer by 6:00 pm tonight.
As far as Olivia...she's doing okay. Her cheeks are bright red, her heart rate is up, her sats are down... I guess it's been determined that she is having withdrawals. That makes sense considering the way she is acting. Very jittery, erratic breathing, etc... So, they went back up on her sedation and hopefully it will kick in soon!
She did have a great night. There are even rumors going around that there may have been a smile involved. Who knows?
I'll be sure to keep you posted on both things...
I just noticed that we have over 100,000 hits on the blog! That is absolutely insane! I never even considered doing a blog until all my friends did. I've always been quite the follower - never the leader. Who would have thought, that in just a few years time, over 100,000 people would want to check in on our crazy lives. Amazing.
Anyway, thanks for following along.
Olivia is doing awesome. She's been so much more alert today. She even got a little bath this morning and handled it with ease. The goal is to get down on some of her sedation medications and her blood pressure medication. So, all is well with Olivia!
The big news...we are putting a bid in on a house this afternoon. No, we haven't sold our house in Macomb. We've just decided that we may as well go into as much debt as possible and own, not one, but two houses! We are just praying that our Macomb house sells quickly.
I'm going to sign the official "bid papers" this afternoon, and we'll see what happens from there! Good thoughts and prayers...
Keep you posted!
I couldn't get a great picture. She wouldn't cooperate. I'll have to take what I can get!
Happy Mother's Day!
The paralytic is off.
She's been awake, although she's still really sleepy.
I've seen her beautiful brown eyes.
We had a great time with Jack (Even though we had to go to Burger King for lunch).
Life is good.
Wait I already said that yesterday, didn't I?
Anyway, today might really be the day. Of course, it will be because I'm going to be in Macomb! Jack has Parent's Day at school today, so I'm heading back so Zac and I can take Jack out to lunch! I'm hoping they turn off the paralytic and it takes at least 10 hours or so to get out of her system so I can be here when she opens her beautiful eyes!
Dr. Fortuna was able to switch out her arterial line in her groin instead of putting one in her wrist. That should make her happier. This way she will have use of her hands. We just need to keep that art line from bleeding. Her platelets were 19,000 yesterday, but with the bleeding, they decided to tank her up. So, this morning, they are a whopping 19,000. Again.
She also got some blood (since she got rid of a lot of her own yesterday). Otherwise, all is well. She's resting comfortably listening to my, I mean her, favorite CD!
Praying for a great day!
Olivia's arterial line sprung a leak again today when they flipped her back over. They decided it would be a good idea to put a new art line in her wrist and remove the bleeding one. They tried, unsuccessfully, for well over an hour! Ugh!
So, they thought she deserved a break and will try again sometime this afternoon. No turning off the paralytic until that is all done. Boohoo.
But, on a bright note...I decided I would take a break, too. I spent the afternoon with Brooklyn and we had a great time!
I think they are going to try to turn the paralytic off today! They need to turn Olivia back over onto her back and then shut it off! I don't know when they'll do it, but I'll keep you posted...
She had a really good night...and we're hoping for an even better day!
Olivia's had a pretty icky day today. She had not been oxygenating well and her blood pressure has been in the dumps. Around 3:00 or so, the doctors decided to turn her over onto her belly (it's a little trick they used last year and she always loved it). She has tried to turn things around since then, but has needed a little help from a couple more medications. All in all, things seem to be looking up. It just takes her so long. She sure likes to keep things interesting...
Zac and I went to look at a house this afternoon. I loved it. Zac really liked it, too. The catch...we still have a house to sell! Ugh!
I know everything will fall into place, I just hope it happens soon!
Extra thoughts and prayers appreciated!
Olivia is still on the paralytic. She's doing fine-it's just that every time they think about trying to make some changes, she does something crazy. Her blood pressure is either too high or too low, depending on the time of day. Her heart rate is either too high or too low, depending on the time of day. Her oxygen saturations are perfect or too low, depending on the time of day. She either has a perfect temp or a high temp, depending on the time of day. Do you see a pattern here?
She is definitely not a morning person. This is when she usually decides to act up. By afternoon, she's usually really good. Of course, the doctors make their rounds in the morning...when she's acting up. So, no big changes for today. I think they are going to switch out her arterial line and put it in her arm, as opposed to her groin. She hasn't had any more bleeding from her current arterial line. Instead, it's coming from her nose and her trach site.
Anyway, hopefully she chooses to behave by this afternoon.
We are going to look at a house this afternoon. I'm really hoping it's a strong possibility. It fits the mold as to what we are looking for to be able to accommodate Olivia and all her new stuff. Keep you posted...
Good times had by all! I brought Brooklyn back to Dunlap with me. She and Grandpa are hanging out today.Olivia has her special order-custom made trach in! They changed it out about an hour ago here in the room and it went very smoothly. Technically, she could start waking up, however, she's having some significant bleeding problems from her arterial line in her groin, and a bit of oozing from her trach site. It may be better to give her some time to form clots before she wakes up with a vengeance.
She's also been very ornery with her blood pressures, heart rate, and oxygen saturations this morning (Surprise, surprise). She's spiked a couple of good temps, but they've come down fairly quickly, too. She actually seems to be behaving at the present moment...we'll hope she continues with this for the afternoon!
Keep you posted...
Only one more day...until Olivia gets her new trach! Once they switch it out, the paralytic can go off and she can wake up! Yeah!
She's had a pretty good weekend thus far. She did have a bit of a bleeding issue yesterday. She needed a new stitch in her arterial line and she bled, and bled, and bled... So, she got some more platelets (which are a whopping 59,000 today). Otherwise, just a few little issues here and there, as usual - just to keep things interesting.
Olivia is doing well. The goal is to keep things status quo throughout the weekend. Her new custom trachs are here, but they don't want to change it out until "trach change day," which will be Monday. Once they get that changed out, they will be able to shut off the paralytic and let her start waking up! It will be a bit of a process to get her off her sedation drips due to the fact that she is on soooooo...much, but she'll get there!
No real changes with Olivia. They did change her back to a heparin drip (from her Angiomax) to see if they can get her blood a bit more thinned out. The Angiomax was working great, but then all of a sudden she hasn't been as anti-coagulated as they would like. It's possible that she could have developed some antibodies to the Angiomax, but she would be the only one they've ever heard of that happening to. Who knows...
Anyway, the "home vent team" stopped by this morning with her trachs and said they would be back this afternoon to get us a handbook and some basic information to start looking at. The new adventure begins...
