Intensive Care

3:25 PM: I don't have time to offer much of an update, but it's been a difficult day and we have been moved to the ICU on the 2nd floor. Myla is due for a CT scan at 3:30 for a complication with her intestines. Her vital signs have not been stable today, and she is in critical shape. To complicate things further, they are not able to draw blood from her central line so they have to poke her each time they need to draw blood, which is a lot. Her fever stayed around 103 last night, and she is retaining a lot of fluid, which they are thinking is due to sepsis, an infection in the blood. We're just trying to keep her breathing and get her ready for the CT scan. They have also pumped her stomach to relieve some of the pressure from abdominal swelling. When they pumped her a couple of hours ago, her stomach looked relatively normal again, but in the time that's passed it's swelled up quite a bit again. Her hands and feet are very cold and shows signs of poor circulation. She is also off the pain medication because it was slowing down her respiration too much.

4:38 PM: Just got back from the CT scan, and the news there appears to be good. She has some blockage in her intestines, but it's not enough to call for surgery, which was one of the options on the table. Unfortunately, her vitals are still unstable. Her heart rate dropped to 40 during the scan, and the doctors have commented repeatedly that she is too lethargic too long after the sedatives she was given have worn off. "She's just not very awake" is what the doctor just said. Another doctoral fellow said that there is also some concern over the veins around her liver. More to come on that.

Doctor: "She just looks like she is tiring out to me."
Melissa: "Does that mean she is giving in to whatever is making her sick."
Doctor: "Yeah."

They are talking about putting her on a ventilator to help with her breathing.

The doctor just explained to me that the reason she is cold in her extremities despite the high temperature is that her body is directing its resources to the brain first and then to the kidneys. Basically, she is in a type of shock, in this case, septic shock. This is connected with the drop in blood pressure because Myla's fluids are leaking out of her veins and into the surrounding tissue, meaning that it's hard to keep the blood pressure up. One of the signs of this is that when you press on her foot, it takes 6-7 seconds for the color to return versus the normal 2-3 seconds.

4:57 PM: They are moving to put her on the ventilator "before she has an arrest."

5:00 PM: They are now calling for another CT scan, this one to look at her head. They are concerned that she has blood on the brain, or something.

6:06 PM: We just got back from the 2nd CT scan and are awaiting the results. In the meantime, they have called for an echocardiogram to take a closer look at her heart. It's as if her whole system is slowly crashing. We have also had some updates on the first CT scan, and her intestinal situation is worse than first reported. According to one doctor, her "belly is really sick. Really sick." More doctors will come in to talk to us about this.

6:16 PM: The word on the CT scan of her head is good--no problems there. The echocardiogram is in progress right now.

6:24 PM: Myla is being given a different medicine to boost her white blood cells in hopes that that this will help. Her primary doctor just warned us that it could be a few weeks before Myla is feeling well again.

6:30 PM: The doctor who did the echocardiogram said that "Her heart is doing what it should be doing." Her functions were a bit down, but that was expected given everything else she was going through. I didn't ask what these functions were, but the news sounded good, at least as far as her heart is concerned. Myla looks very different with the tube in her. She has so much tape on her face, and she kind of doesn't look human. Nurses also weren't able to draw blood from her foot because there wasn't enough blood pressure there. Nor did she respond to the pricks.

6:40 PM: Another doctor just explained that Myla's EF (ejection fraction) from the heart test was at 30% vs. 60% the last time they tested her just a few days ago. In other words, her heart isn't squeezing hard enough. So, more meds are being called for.

I'm not sure I'll get the chance to update again today, but I'll check back in when I get the chance. I'll post pictures when I get the chance, but the Internet connection here isn't strong enough for me to upload photos. I found it ironic that some of the darkest moments in life come when the lights are the brightest.