A Tough Day

It has been a tough day for mama. She's exhausted to the point where it's hard to breath. They didn't see anything out of the normal from her scan so that's the good news. They have changed her pick line twice because the first time wasn't in the correct position and she had another CT scan again today so she's been awake and in pain all day. She was speaking pretty well with the valve on but she was so exhausted and the valve on makes it harder for her to breath so they took it off fairly quickly. She is such a wonderful person and it is so hard to know that she is struggling. I love you mama, please stay strong!

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Plateau

Today has been another restful day. Mama went in for her scan but we won't know the results until tomorrow. Please continue to pray for her as she's getting very discouraged that she is not progressing. I love you mama!!

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Recovering

I got to talk to mama again today. She's doing okay, still has a fever and is pretty sore from surgery yesterday. It's still very hard to understand her when she speaks, it sounds like a whisper and I'm sure it will for a while. They have drawn some blood and put radiation into the white blood cells and injected it back into her body so they can do a scan tomorrow and hopefully see where the white blood cells are going to fight off the infection... Why haven't they done this already? As of now, they are planning on moving her to the long term acute care facility on Friday if all goes well with the scan. Please pray that it works and we get as good of news as we can. Thank you for all that everyone has done for her!

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Fifth Surgery

The doctors feel confident enough that mama's fever is from the infection in her lungs so they did her fifth and hopefully, final surgery today. They did leave a small opening for draining purposes and she will still have her trachea tube in until they are sure she won't need another surgery. Please pray for her as my dad has to go back to work soon so she won't have any family there throughout the day and that scares her. When I called this morning to check on her she asked to talk to me and it was great. She sounded like she was whispering but I could understand most of what she was saying. I miss talking with my mama daily!
If you are able to contribute to her medical fund, they would greatly appreciate it!
https://fundrazr.com
Also don't forget about Mandi donating half of your purchase through her etsy store as well, just be sure to mention that it is for Carilee.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/fancyjanes
I can't thank you all enough!!

Possible Closure Tomorrow

Luckily today has been another day of rest for mama. They are still talking about closing the incision completely tomorrow so I believe that means they're not too concerned with the fever although she still is 100 and even above at points. The nurse today played an awful trick on her to get her moving and that put her pain level through the roof. She claimed that she needed to change the cooling blanket that was under her so they swung her legs over the side of the bed and made her sit up, keep in mind that she hasn't done anything but lay in the hospital bed for over three weeks now and her legs/feet already have arthritis... If she could have screamed, she would have! The nurse's response was "well the faster she gets up and moving, the faster she gets out of here" which we all understand but she's already working with a physical therapist, there's no need to push her any further and cause a major set back. I can't imagine the amount of pain that put her in. I love you mama, please stay strong!
In order to raise money to help with the continuous growing medical bills, my wonderful friend Mandi has offered to donate the proceeds from a few items out of her etsy shop. All items listed will have 100% go towards Carilee. Also, if you would like to purchase an item that is not listed, she will donate half of the proceeds as well as long as you mention that it's for Carilee! The link to her etsy shop is listed below and you can also find it on instagram @fancyjanesetsy .Thank you so much Mandi!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/fancyjanes

Resting

Not much has changed today for mama. Her temperature is hoovering around 100 but she has finally been able to rest. Stephanie will be coming back home tomorrow afternoon and hopefully my dad will take care of himself without someone there to remind him to take his medication and eat. Please continue to pray, it's going to be a long road ahead.

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Ultrasound Results

Today they switched mama's trachea tube to a smaller one so that it will be easier for her to begin speaking again. They are keeping it in until they are done with her surgeries so they don't have to keep taking it out and putting it back in. She's doing well just tired and loopy still. There is talk of closing the incision completely on Monday so we'll see what happens with that. We heard from the doctors in regards to the ultrasound results and there were absolutely no blood clots in her legs, including the one that was there last week so that's good news! Keep it up mama, we all love you!!

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No Relief

Mama is still dealing with her fever... she's getting very discouraged that she's not improving. She asked Stephanie to have me send pictures of the "new foster dog we have" although we have not taken another foster in the last two months because of our wedding and this situation. She's very confused and I'm sure all of the medications she's on doesn't help that at all. She had another CT scan this morning and they couldn't see any new abscesses or anything to be concerned about. They also did an ultrasound on her legs to check for blood clots and we have not yet heard back from the doctors on those results. Please continue to pray for her!
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She Speaks!

SHE SPEAKS! Mama has been working with a physical therapist as well as a speech therapist and yesterday Stephanie called me when mama was talking. She thanked me for coming out to help her and I about burst into tears! I miss talking to her every day but she'll get to that point again, it'll just take time. Her voice is deep and raspy but part of that is because of the difficulty of speaking with the ventilator tubes still in her throat and the valve that is put on the tracheotomy is a lot harder to breath through so it takes a lot of her energy to speak. I'm so proud of her! She seems to be more anxious today and I believe it's from the lack of sleep. She's exhausted and only picking up bits and pieces of things. She over heard the doctors speaking with my dad and from what she heard, she was having three different surgeries in one day when what was said was they are going to take her staples out today, have her CT scan tomorrow and possibly close her incision completely on Monday. Hopefully she'll be able to rest soon because she needs it. Her fever has come down a few degrees which is great so please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers that it'll clear up soon. You're putting up a good fight mama, keep it up!
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Still Has A Fever...

Mama is doing okay today but her fever is pretty high still. She's scheduled for a CT scan on Thursday to make sure that the abscess does not have any additional fluids and that there aren't any new fluids they can see. That is her biggest concern right now so please pray for some relief from the fever. On a better note, she has yet to go back on the ventilator for breathing assistance. She has been off for 2 days and 8 hours! In order to help raise money for mama's medical bills, I am going to be giving her 100% of every photo shoot that I do within the next 2 months. If you would like to schedule please call text or message me and we'll get it scheduled. $100 for a group of 5 people or less. $150 for groups of 6 or more. https://www.facebook.com/MC.Photography.Utah
Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you to all who have contributed to her fund as well!
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Another CT Scan

Mama is doing pretty well today although it was hard for me to hear her updates over the phone rather than being there by her side. She has been off the ventilator since 11am yesterday! WOOT!! They were able to put a cap over the tracheotomy to enable her to speak and she was able to get some sound out which exhausted her. She is going to be working with a speech therapist and it is going to take a lot of practice to get back to normal. She went in for a CT scan to see if they could indicate if the gallbladder is leaking or if the abscess they have been draining was from the lung infection and the results showed that the abscess has not been producing more fluids so they don't believe she has a leak from the gallbladder or anywhere in her intestines. They are leaning towards the infection in her lungs at this point. Lets hope she can get over that pretty soon so she can start the healing process. She has been resting most of the day luckily. Rest as much as you can mama, you need to maintain your strength. Thank you to all who have contributed to her fund, mama and dad appreciate it more than words can express!
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Emotional Sunday

Stephanie and I stayed with mama last night so that I could spend as much time with her as possible before I flew back to Utah today. She hardly slept because of her fever but she was off the ventilator for another 7 hours during the night. She's getting even stronger! She was finally able to fall asleep around 6am and slept until 11am before they took her off the ventilator again which woke her up. Luckily she was awake and coherent enough to understand the past few days and that I was going back to Utah soon. She was somewhat prepared for it and when the time came a few tears were shed but I let her know that I would be back out there in a few weeks as long as I am able to and that she just needs to stay strong. I'm sure before the next time I'm out there, she will be in a long term care facility and possibly even speaking already. They are going to do an MRI tomorrow to see if she is not closed up properly from the gallbladder removal so that option is back in the mix of things and she might have to have surgery number five to fix that issue. Words cannot express how much I love and miss her already but luckily my dad and Stephanie are there with her now. I'll see you again soon mama... stay strong!

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Buck snapped this photo while we were visiting back in May 2013. I sure do love my mama!

The Source of Infection

The doctors have done more testing and found that the source of the infection is in mama's lungs. Luckily the infections doctor had put her on the antibiotic to help with that a few days before we found out that was the source of infection. Her "numbers" should be at 10, yesterday they were at 20 and today when they tested again they were at 14 so she's getting to where she should be. Good news! She is more alert today and has been joking again. I love this side of her and I'm so proud of her for being so strong and trying to stay as upbeat as possible at a time like this. I know it has to be pretty depressing to wake up in a hospital bed and find out you have been there for two weeks and will be there for at least another week if not two... she is so strong! She has been on a break from the ventilator for 5 hours now and doing well. I think she's really trying hard since they've told her they will allow her start talking after she's able to breath without the ventilator for 24 hours. Their first hospital bill came in from the E.R. visit and YIKES! If anyone would like to add to the fund, here is the link. https://fundrazr.com
I will also try to put together a fundraiser of some sort when I get back to Utah so if anyone has any ideas or would like to help, please let me know. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers, keep them coming... she has to kick this infection and it won't be very easy with how sick she is already.

Scary Day!

Today was quite scary... mama has been feeling pretty sick with the increase of food they have been pumping into her stomach and her acid reflux. She got to the point where she vomited which scared us all because of the balloon that's in her throat for the ventilator. YIKES! She still has a fever and they think that the fluid that's coming out of the drain could be from a leak where they removed her gallbladder so they have sent some of the fluids off for testing and hopefully we will know tomorrow when the doctor makes his morning rounds. We have been given the okay to give her ice chips so she told the doctor that he is her new best friend. My dad was pretty helpful with our wonderful nurse, they had to jimmy rig one of her tubes that was leaking causing them to have to change her sheets frequently which hurts her so hopefully that will help. We got a good laugh last night during the rain storm... she asked for us to turn the light off so she could sleep and when I pushed the switch down, the light went brighter and it startled her so I said "wow, did you see that lightning?" She gave me a look like, seriously? So I started laughing and told her that I accidentally switched the light on higher. She starting smiling and slapped my hand a few times. I sure do love my spunky mama!
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Found Infection...

Mama had a CT scan today and they found a pocket of infection in her abdomen so they have inserted a tube to help drain the infection. Her fever has come down in the last few hours but it's still not quite normal temperature so we're hoping that was the cause and she will be able to start recovering. She had a break from the ventilator twice today but she's been so exhausted that it only lasted an hour each time. She's doing great and staying as strong as possible but she needs rest in order to recover. They have increased her tube feedings to the "goal amount" and she's complaining about acid reflux. They have been giving her zantac for it but she still feels sick. It could be a side effect from the contrast she had pumped into her stomach before the CT scan or the increased amount of food so they have lowered her amount in the tube feeding for now to see if that helps her feel better. The last few times she's woken up she has had a lot of anxiety because she has to stay laying down and she can't drink anything due to the ventilator so they have given her a little bit of anxiety medication to help her relax enough to sleep. She amazes me!
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Finally Able To Sleep

Mama has been resting pretty well this morning even with the doctors and nurses coming in and out of the room. These past 2 weeks have been very difficult for her so I'm glad that she's finally getting the rest she needs. The doctors have ordered a CT scan to see if there are any infection pockets in her abdomen that could be causing the fever so they have been giving her contrast through her feeding tube and after that sits for an hour they will take her down and start an IV contrast as well. Hopefully they can find the cause of the fever soon. Love you mama!
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An Attempt At Rest

We thought today would be a little more laid back but it turned out the opposite for mama as they have had to change her pick line, bandages, bedding, had her breathing without the ventilator for about an hour to slowly get her strength back and it seems like each time she falls asleep, they are coming in the room to change her medications or to check on things. Poor mama! She was able to start tube feedings and has been handling it well. Stephanie flew in today so we stayed with mama this afternoon so that my dad could run home to get his medications and try to sleep. Hopefully she'll be able to rest tonight. They have a cooling blanket under her that pumps 40 degree water to try to bring her fever down so she's been shivering all day and they are still trying to find out what is causing the fever but can't seem to find an infection anywhere. Hopefully they will get it figured out soon as that is the biggest concern right now. Once the fever is gone she can be moved to a long term acute care facility to help wean her off the ventilator and continue her care. I have the best mom I could possibly ask for!
If you are able to help with funds I'm sure they would greatly appreciate it.
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A Step Back

We had to take a step back and put mama on the ventilator again. She had a very rough night last night! They put the tube through her trachea and will try to wean her off the ventilator slowly but not quite yet. She spent the day recovering from the difficult past 24 hours and has been resting. She's able to mouth her words well enough that we can understand most of what she's saying and she will also nod when you repeat it back correctly. Today she asked the nurse if she had white animals and if they could catch them to make sure and feed them. There's something about her when she's on meds or after passing out she always talks about animals. She had me laughing during that! She then said "I can't believe this is happening, it's not fair". I felt awful at that point but she's tough and is putting up a good fight. I don't know how I would be able to handle all of this if it weren't for my amazing husband. Last night I left the hospital feeling physically ill from watching her struggle for hours and after talking with him I was able to calm down enough to sleep for a few hours. I sure do miss him but I'm so lucky that he understands that my family needs me at this time. Keep it up mama, we're all rooting for you!
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One Long Day

Today has been full of ups and downs for mama. They took her off the ventilator earlier this morning and put her on an oxygen mask which she did pretty well with when she was awake. Her breaths per minute are in the normal range and her oxygen levels have stayed where they should. They have taken her off the pain medication drip because it slows down her breathing so they've set her up on a pump so she can click the button when she feels pain, however she can't click the button yet. She wakes up every few minutes telling us that she's in pain and asks for help pressing the button. They've also taken out the tube in her nose that went to her stomach and the line in her leg that was giving them some of her vital readings but they've switched those readings to cuffs and things that are less invasive. Because she has been in more pain today her hear rate has increased so they gave her some anxiety medication which has made her sleep but the problem with that is she's not awake to tell us when she's in pain. I'm afraid she's going to wake up in more pain than she can handle and it's going to be a lot more difficult to get it back under control. Did they jump the gun when they took her off the ventilator? It's possible. I hope this doesn't set her back... They're going to put her on a C pap machine tonight to help give her a little assistance while sleeping. Stay strong mama!!
Thank you all for your continued prayers and thoughts, please keep them coming. This is such a tough road!
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Tough Mama!

I have one seriously tough mother! She was off sedation all day and did great. She got a bit frustrated with us not understanding what she was trying to say but she's unable to write or point to the letters on a keyboard. Hopefully it won't take too long to wean her off of the ventilator so that she won't have that frustration anymore. They have slightly increased her pain medication to help her sleep tonight which is good because she has been fighting it all day. She asked us questions like when did this happen, what do I look like and can I see myself and she took it all pretty well. The point that made me happy was when she started mouthing the words to Dan Hill's "Sometimes When We Touch" that was playing on the radio in her room. I think today has been the hardest so far for myself and I'm sure these next few days will be just as hard. Pray for all of us to get through this next step.

There has also been a fund set up online if you'd like to donate, I'm sure they would greatly appreciate it!

https://fundrazr.com

Sedation Vacation

Mama still has a fever but everything else is stable. They took her off the sedation today to see how she handles things and the doctor would like her off of it all day if possible. The sooner they can get her stable and off sedation the sooner they can take her off the ventilator. Her heart rate went up a bit so they have given her some anxiety medication to help with her stress level. They also stopped the assisted breathing on her ventilator for about 20 minutes and she did really well. At that point the doctor asked her if her breathing was tired and she shook her head yes so they started the assistance again. She has been awake for the last 4 hours and now she's finally closing her eyes to rest. My wonderful dad hasn't left her side. I am so proud of her and how far she's come!

Still Sedated

The doctors wanted to test mama today and see how she would do off sedation. At about 1:30 they stopped her sedation meds and it only took her a few minutes to come around. She opened her eyes and was doing okay for the first few minutes but after a while she started to get upset and tried to talk. I was asking her simple yes or no questions if she knew what had happened, she shook her head no. I explained that she was in the hospital and that she has had a few surgeries. The look on her face was pure terror so I asked if she was scared... she shook her head yes. I tried my best to calm her and explain that she will be okay, that I will be here for her and that I love her so much. She lifted her hand and started writing letters on my shirt. She wrote 'I love you" and started crying. Her heart rate started to elevate at that point and it continued over the next few minutes. They decided to put her back on sedation for the time being and next time they try taking her off, they might give her some anxiety medication to help with her stress level so that she can be off sedation and off the ventilator quicker. She continues to amaze me!

Realization

My dad won't leave mama's side during the night so I went back to their apartment to get what sleep I could and came back early this morning. She's doing well, blood pressure and heart rate are in the normal range and her temperature is about 100 right now. She was able to wake up a little bit last night and I think she finally realized that I was there with her. That got her heart rate up a bit higher than they would like it to be because she wants to talk and gets frustrated because she can't due to the ventilator and sedation. Today will be a day of rest for her and they are slowly going to cut back on a few things including the sedation and ventilator to see if she able to handle it but that probably won't start until later today or possibly tomorrow. There is a charitable fund set up at America First Credit Union in her name (Carilee Ellis) if you would like to help them financially you can go to any branch to donate and I'm sure they would greatly appreciate it!

Staying Strong

It is so painful to finally be here in Texas and see just how bad things are. Words cannot explain how heartbroken I am to see her lying in a hospital bed on a ventilator, completely helpless.
This is not how anyone wants to see their mom... I can't wait for her to be back to her regular happy and loving self.
Luckily she is strong and doing pretty well. Her blood pressure is a tiny bit low and her heart rate is a little bit high. She has a fever from the surgeries today which is expected so hopefully she will level out throughout the night. When I got to her apartment I saw this sign that said "Some people look for a beautiful place, others make a place beautiful". That sign is so true to her, she lights up any room she's in and I love that about her. Soon mama, you will light up every room you walk into again!

Fourth Surgery

Mama is out of surgery. They were able to close the incision but they did have to cut the muscle on her sides to fully close. She's going to have the ventilator for at least a few more days until they can wean her off and they think she'll be in the hospital for at least two more weeks and in a care facility for a few more weeks after that. They do believe that this will be her last surgery for now unless the pressure starts to build and cuts off her kidneys. They will be watching her closely. It turns out that most of the blockage was caused by her diverticulitis and it's possible that the C-diff weakened the intestines and colon. Another hour or so and I can see my mama!!

Finally in Texas

I made it to Texas after quite a bumpy but beautiful plane ride and we're waiting for her to get out of her second surgery. The first surgery for her blood clot went smoothly and they're going to try to close her up today and see if the pressure isn't too much. I will update again once we know more.

Third surgery

Mama is doing okay today. She's heading in for surgery for the blood clot now. I'm waiting in the airport now and time is creeping by. I'll be in Texas until the 20th and I'm definitely going to miss my husband and sweet puppies until then but I need to be there for my mom and dad. Please pray for her during her surgeries today! I can't wait to see you mama!!  

A bump in the road

The Doctors found a blood clot in her Left leg which explains why her poor big toe has started turning purple (DVT). They plan on going in at 8:30 am tomorrow morning to put in a clot-trapping filter. The filter reduces the chances of the blood clot (if it were to break off from the lower body) from entering the heart or lungs and causing a pulmonary embolism. She is scheduled for the closure surgery tomorrow as well at 1 pm. Please pray for her as well as my dad, he is having a very hard time with this being there without family support. Stay strong mama, I'll be there tomorrow!!

Third surgery scheduled

They have decided to sedate her again so she doesn't get too frustrated trying to communicate. Her white blood cell count is up and we are not quite sure where the infection is. She will have another Doppler to check for clots in her legs and they will not perform the surgery today. They have her surgery scheduled for tomorrow at 1pm to flush her out again and hopefully start closing the incision in her abdomen. The doctors say that she'll need multiple surgeries just to close the incision each time the swelling goes down. They'll try to connect the bowels at a later date. I will be in town at 1:30pm tomorrow and will post another update once she's out of surgery. Pray for her!! I'll see you soon mama!

She's awake!

Mama is doing pretty well today. She woke up yesterday evening and was trying to communicate but she's unable to speak due to the ventilator and she's so swollen and has little feeling in her fingers right now that she can't write. When she wakes up today we are going to try a keyboard and see if she can hit the keys to communicate. The doctors are very happy with the improvements that she's made especially after seeing the condition she was in when she was brought into the E.R. They thought she would have gone in a completely different direction and I'm so glad that is not the case. We usually speak daily whether it be over the phone or by email while we're both at work and I've definitely been missing our conversations. There's been many times that I'll get an email or text and I automatically assume that it is from her but once I open my email or phone and realize that it's not, reality is there to slap me in the face again. I will be flying out on Friday morning and I cannot wait to see her and my dad. This past week has been an emotional roller coaster but I couldn't be happier with the improvements she's making. I'll be there soon mama, stay strong!

Second surgery complete

Mama's second surgery is complete. It's quite a process to get her unhooked from all of the machines but once they finally got her out of ICU and into surgery they flushed her out and found that her gall bladder had become necrotic, they removed it and did an ileostomy because of a small tear in the small intestines. The surgeon is planning on Thursday for the closure of her abdominal wall although it all depends on her stability and swelling. She is back in ICU and is basically sedated. Hopefully that will change soon after she has her third surgery and is on the road to recovery. The doctors believe that she will need to go to a care facility once she's recovering so she still has the care she needs. I love you mama! Keep fighting!!

Improvements

Mama is looking great today!!! Her swelling has decreased, color is better, she has warmth in her toes, she woke up and was looking around this morning. She will be taken down to be prepped for surgery soon. We should know this afternoon how things are looking for her to have the third surgery.

Surgery scheduled for tomorrow...

Good news, mama is down to 2 low dose blood pressure medications that seem to be working well for her. They've also got her on some medication to help increase her fluid output so she's not so swollen. Her hands are slowly feeling warm to the touch which means she's getting better blood flow throughout her body. She's set for surgery tomorrow morning so please pray that all goes well throughout the night so that they can continue with the surgery. Stay strong mama!

 

How it began..

My wonderful mother flew to Utah on May 9th 2014 with the intentions of spending time with the family and helping me get the last minute details of my wedding together. On May 12th we had just gotten her hair done for the wedding and were shopping at Michaels when she doubled over in pain. Initially she thought that she was having a diverticulitis attack so I took her into her doctor to get some antibiotics thinking that we'd be on our way in no time and she would be good as new in just a few days. Her pain doubled within the time we were there and at that point they knew it was something more serious than diverticulitis. My dad and I rushed her over to the E.R. and there we waited for hours... She was quite possibly the funniest person when they initially gave her morphine but that quickly ended when the pain was too much even with the morphine to dull it. After testing they found that she had two serious infections, one in her intestines and a second in her colon called C-diff. For those of you who don't know what C-diff is...
The average human digestive tract is home to as many as 1,000 species of microorganisms. Most of them are harmless -- or even helpful -- under normal circumstances. But when something upsets the balance of these organisms in your gut, otherwise harmless bacteria can grow out of control and make you sick. One of the worst offenders is a bacterium called Clostridium difficile. As the bacteria overgrow they release toxins that attack the lining of the intestines, causing a condition called Clostridium difficile colitis.
She was in the hospital from Monday evening to Friday evening and she slowly progressed. Luckily she was released late Friday evening and was able to be there with me during my wedding which meant the world to me. Although she was still in a lot of pain, she was still trying to be helpful, happy and her usual goofy self. I can always count on her for a good laugh! She flew back home on Monday May 19th where she met with surgeons and doctors in Texas. She was told that she would have to have part of her intestines and colon removed from the infection so she was trying to decide if that surgery was something she would like to have done in Texas so she could be home to recover or if she would have the surgery in Utah where she would have her family to help her recover but she would need to take additional time off work to fully recover before going back to Texas. They also would lose my dad's income if they decided to come to Utah for the surgery. She had such mixed feelings about it at the time. I know she wanted to be with her family while recovering but she knew she wouldn't be able to afford the extra time off and second income lost for weeks.
During this time, she was having some issues with digestion and bloating so she went to a gastroenterology doctor which she flat out said that she was afraid something was going to burst because she was so bloated. The doctor laughed at her comment and started making jokes...he prescribed her a pro-biotic and murilax for the bloating and sent her on her way. Four days after that, her colon burst. She was at home when she told my dad to call 911 and get an ambulance out there. She tried to stand up and fainted from pain. The EMT's did an x-ray and could tell that her colon had ruptured. She was rushed into surgery to flush everything out and she has two more surgeries to undergo, however she's having so many issues that they cannot perform the second surgery quite yet. Her heart rate increased and her blood pressure dropped drastically, she's on so many fluids that she's swelling and she's not able to fully breath on her own so she's on a ventilator. There are so many additional risks like pneumonia from all of the fluids or her being swollen when they close her up and it could cut off her blood flow... at the moment she's also fighting off Sepsis, her hand is turning blue and she could lose some of the skin off her fingers. Sepsis is a serious medical condition caused by an overwhelming immune response to infection. Blood clotting during sepsis reduces blood flow to limbs and internal organs, depriving them of nutrients and oxygen.
I was camping on Friday and we came down into town to watch the fireworks when I got my dad's message saying that mom was in the hospital and she had to have most of her colon removed because it ruptured. My heart dropped! At that time, Stephanie already had a flight booked to get out there first thing Saturday morning (a huge thanks to the Blackburns!) so I waited. I tried to enjoy camping but felt completely helpless as she was sedated and trying to stabilize. I came down 3 times each day to where I could get cell service to check on her and make sure things were okay. On the way home from camping I picked up my phone to send her a picture of Miss while we were camping to tell her how well she had done and how much she loved it only to realize she wouldn't be able to read it just yet. She is a fighter and I know she'll do anything and everything she can to pull through!
A lot of people have asked if there's anything they can do, at this time we are thinking about putting together a fund for mama so they don't have to worry about money once she's recovering. I will post updates frequently, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.