Sunday, February 10, 2013

February 9

I guess apologies are in order for scaring everyone with my bad dream. I really just thought it would be funny to share. Sorry for the scare. By the way, no one offered to interpret the dream :)

After my scary dream, however, I was kind of freaked out to get to the hospital Saturday afternoon and see Elsie with IVs in both of her hands. I didn't know what was going on, or why she suddenly had IVs in her hands that weren't there yesterday. Maybe she had a raging infection or some other horrible problem. Turns out that Elsie's red blood cells were a little low, so the IVs were in place to facilitate a blood transfusion. Red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body, so the hope is that with the additional red blood cells given, Elsie will be able to maintain a steady oxygen level and be able to wean off the ventilator. Along with that, she is not responding to the steroids like they would have hoped, so her steroid dose is going to be slightly increased. 

While we were there, we were able to watch the nurse hook up the blood transfusion. We also were able to watch the respiratory therapists re-tape the breathing tube. The breathing tube periodically needs to be moved from one side of her mouth to the other, and when they do this, they remove the tape that holds the tube in place. I had always wondered how they get the tape off her face, since her skin is so delicate. I didn't think that they would just rip it off like duct tape. And they don't. They use an adhesive remover to gently remove the tape. Then the tube is carefully re-positioned, and taped back onto her face. Anyway, since we were there while this was taking place, we got to see her pretty face without her "tape mustache". 



Her poor little cheeks are still red where the tape was, despite the careful removal. And I apologize again for the grainy cell phone pictures. I never seem to have my camera with me when I need it.

6 comments:

  1. I don't know if sweet Elsie knew ahead of time all that she would be going through when she arrived in this earth-life. Whether she did or not, I hope somehow she knows how it pains us to see her struggle and how much we want her to be well and happy-- preferably here with her family. The Lord knows our hearts, but does she?
    Fight to stay, little one!

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  2. Linda, thank you for putting all our thoughts into coherent sentences!
    Ruth, we appreciate every tiny effort you take to keep us updated. We know you are exhausted and SO busy! The pictures are wonderful! We don't care if they might be a bit grainy. You are amazing and such an inspiration to the rest of us with your positive-ness and sincerity. She IS beautiful, mustache or not!

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  3. Very well said, Linda! Thank goodness for modern medicine miracles. Keep fighting, Beautiful Elsie!

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  4. Dear sweetness, I too appreciate being able to stay up-to-date with everything that is going on. Being so far away is hard, but this lovely blog is a blessing for those of us who can't be there in person for you to lean on. Love you.

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  5. She is so beautiful Ruthie! Mom's comment made me cry too. I think Elsie knew what would happen and wanted to be your daughter so much that she knew it would be worth it.

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