Yes, I realize this is the 9th, not the 7th, but that day was a wee bit crazy! But it was an exciting day nonetheless. Both Tammy and Cydney graduated that day: Cydney from high school, and Tammy from the ventilator!
I know to my facebook friends that is old news, but you cannot have a clue in just a few lines of text of how exciting that is for all of us. We were absolutely thrilled when we got the text that she was off and everyone at the graduation party at the house was celebrating and praising God for all that He has done, not just in the last week, but in the last few years! How amazing is He? Amazing beyond comprehension.
Poor Tammy, though, had her days and nights mixed up that day. She couldn't figure out why The Price is Right was on so late. Then when they were asking her for medical release to remove the ventilator, she told them to ask her family. When the nurse said no one was there, she was a little miffed. Why wasn't someone there? Later, after she stewed on it a while, she asked what day it was. Monday. OK, so what time is it? 11:00 a.m. OH... then she got it and we were all forgiven.
When she got off the ventilator, her voice was a little weak, but she could talk. She said she would have called us, but I had her phone. Oops again. By the time I was able to get here on Tuesday, she had been walking around the nurses station twice in ICU and had moved to a "regular" room. When we got to the new room, the girl was gone! She had gone down to have a test to see if she could eat. All I could think was, "Man, it is going to be a crazy summer trying to keep up with her!"
By the way, she passed the swallow study so she did get to eat real food last night. It has to be soft, but she had fish, mac and cheese, and jello. So, not too bad. She is also walking and sitting in the chair pretty much all day, but still needs naps to "recharge her batteries."
There are a few things that have to happen before she leave the hospital. One, chest tubes have to come out. She still has them because she has a small air leak which is keeping one of the lungs from fully inflating. That isn't as scary as it sounds, but they are trying to keep fluids and more air from building up in the chest cavity to relieve the pressure from around her lungs. Second, they have to get certain levels of rejection medications built up in her system, which involves some frequent i.v. meds. Once those levels are stabilized and her body responds, we can mark #2 off the list. Three, the rest of her levels in her blood need to be stable or improving. For example, if her kidneys get stressed, (they aren't now) and the numbers get off balance in her blood, then, she doesn't need to go home. I think that is all that he mentioned today, but there can always be something new that comes up.
She is showing some signs in her blood work of a few infections/bacteria, but the antibiotics that they are giving her are known to be effective against these bacteria. The doctors seem to think since she is doing so well, these illnesses haven't been able to take hold. There is potential danger, but there is no indicator that there are any complications.
As you pray for Tammy and praise God for His work in her life, I challenge you to make a list of all that He has done for you in the last week. I am hoping to stay caught up on all the "information" about Tammy so that I can begin sharing with you some of the really cool things that have happened.
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