This morning, we went to visit Vickie in her new location. Immediatly we could see something was very wrong. Vickie was having a difficult time breathing. She was taken by ambulance back to Imanuel. The problem was finaly diagnosed and treatment began.
She will stay there until the situation improves.
It looks like we will have to take it upon ourselves to put the skill back in "skilled nursing facility". Obviously we can't assume everyone has the knowledge or proper skills to perform the basic procedures for Vickie's care.

This morning the feeding tube was removed from Vickie's nose. She now has one into her stomach direct. Looks much better now. She also had a different Trach put in, although I can't see any difference. She was very sleepy tonight,probably due to all the changes today.
As of this afternoon she is no longer an Imanuel patient. They backed the old flatbed to the door and hauled her to Village Health care on S.E. 182nd. Vickie is in room #37.
She tires very easily and sleeps a lot so please don't overdue it. Please limit the number of people in the room at one time to two or three. There are almost no restrictions on visiting times.

Friday morning, the Gastro tube will be put in. If all goes well she will be transported to the skilled nursing facility west of Gresham, in the afternoon.
Tonight Vickie was more alert and responsive than she has been since this all started. She is aware of anyone in the room and can signal so in very simple movements.
Friday I anticipate she will be groggy and not so responsive because of the procedure in the morning. I'm not sure how she will react to her new surroundings or the trip. She will be much closer to home and most of her family and friends.
As soon as she is settled in, I will post the info for those who want to visit.

Vickie's situation is going to have a significant change very soon. She is scheduled to have the Gastro tube in friday morning. This should be the last operation she will have at Emanuel during this stay. As soon as it's determined that there are no new problems she will be transfered to the nursing facility near Gresham. As has been the case before,any of this could change at any time, one way or another. We've been waiting for the rash to go away ,it was the one thing preventing the tube procedure.

The therapist had Vickie sit up again this morning. She's still unable to hold her head up. She must now start doing little exercises like holding a knerf ball in her right hand and squeezing it. She trys but can't seem to get it. Almost six weeks of no activity has taken its toll on her.
We must exercise our Patience.
We appreciate the flowers and little gifts that dear friends are bringing to Vickie. However, and please don't take this wrong, Vickie's room is very small with little space for personel items. When she leaves the TRAC unit for whatever is next, I'm sure we will have a place to put these gifts so she can see and appreciate them.

This afternoon when I walked into Vickie's room, the physical therapists had her sitting on the edge of her bed. She was unable to hold herself up or even raise her head, but this is the first time she's not been lying down in nearly six weeks. She looked like she was very afraid or perhaps in some pain or both. When they returned her to the lying down position she went to sleep and remained that way. The therapist said they would repeat this each day this week to see if Vickie could handle it. They've decided to be more aggressive and push her to more activity.
They are still giving Benadryl for the rash and that seems to keep her very sleepy.
Everyone should keep up the good work, all the hoping and praying is getting results.

Vickie seemed groggy today, possibly from the Benadryl they are giving her, trying to clear up the rash that won't go away. She was experiencing a lot of congestion when I came in the room this morning. Had to have her nurse paged to do the suction procedure on the trach. After that I was in the room for an hour and a half and no one came in to check on her. Apparently we get the third string backup on weekends.
When Vickie's awake she can nod her head yes or no . She's obviously aware of what we say and she's able to think an answer to easy questions. From now on I would ask visitors to not have conversations among themselves around her bed as if she wasn't there. Also I believe the best tact for now is to keep it simple.
I would like to remind all visitors to leave their name and time of visit in Vickie's visitor book near her bed. This is part of the deal I made with the nursing staff earlier to let anyone visit as long as we could keep track of who's been there and when.
One last thing, if you are visiting when dr.s are there and they start giving details about her treatment or condition please remind them that you are not immediate family, therefore they should not be giving out that information.

When Vickie's sister was starting to leave this afternoon I lifted Vickie's hand up a little bit and asked her to wave to Janice. She gave a little wave with her fingers.
She still knows how to play to the room. Later I put a pen in her hand, told her she needs to learn to hold it so she can write her thoughts down for us so we will know what she needs. At first she fumbled with it but held on. When it fell out of her hand she began reaching for it with her fingers. It's always the little things that really count.

I didn't notice any change or improvement from yesterday. However, the physical therapists said they were able to communicate with Vickie verbally. She was asked if she was experiencing any pain. She mouthed that she had pain in her lower back.
Today there's no fever but the lung congestion persists. This prompts the staff to suction her, a process she obviously doesn't like.
I gave the wrong name of the condition Vickie has. A website I used to gain info is
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001400.htm
Not very upbeat but it's the reality we will have to live with.

This week Vickie's situation seemed to not be going in the direction we had hoped.
Just when I think I know what where we are going, there is a turn in the road I didn't expect.
Today Vickie appears to want to rejoin us. She started moving her head side to side ever so slightly, she lifted her right hand up several inches and those of us who witnessed it believe she is trying to mouth words. All of this is without prompting. She also notices unusual noises. Yesterday there was absolutly no clue to what's happening today.
The roller coaster ride continues.

This evening Vickie returned to the Trac unit, only in a different room from last week.
There seems to be little change in her responding to requests. The troublesome rash has reappeared, don't know what's causing it since all medications have been stopped.
The feeding tube procedure was cancelled yesterday without explanation.
Talked with the surgeon yesterday. One bit of information he passed on to me, but at the time I didn't grasp the ramifications of what he was refering to. Vickie has a disease called Fibromuscular-dyslepsia.
My normal attitude is to be pessimistic, but it would be helpful if I was wrong once in a while. Today marks week five.

Today Vickie had the angiogram. The ct scan done earlier indicated that she had a small aneurysm on the left side. A coil was used to help prevent further problems.
She is now back in ICU to recover. The G-tube procedure was canceled for now.

There was not much change from yesterday. Perhaps Vickie is exhausted from all the visitors she had over the weekend. She does seem to tire very easy.
Tommorrow she will have the afore mentioned angiogram and whatever else they decide to throw in.

This morning Vickie's Dr. came in while we were there. He removed the bandages on her head. Then he removed the temporary drain tube and stitched up the hole.
He commanded her to move two fingers on her right hand. She complied although ever so slightly. Then it was "Vickie, stick out your tongue" all she could do was open her mouth slightly as if she wanted to. Dr. says she is on the road to recovery.
After he left, I tried the hand command, she responded, it was barely noticable but none the less exciting. Heidi got her to try the tongue movement with the same result as the Doctor. Things that wouldn't be normally considered are major events for us now.
One more additional procedure she will have this week is a metal trach to replace the original one.

Vickie looks much better today. The swelling in her hands, feet and face is nearly gone. The rash is not noticable now. She looks very much like her old self, minus the hair of course.
The Dr. is now more optomistic about her recovery. His projected outlook is, in 2-6 months, she could be home.
She had a ct scan this afternoon to check for problems. She will have a angiogram monday to check the left side to make sure there's no potential problems lurking there.
Tuesday she is scheduled to have the gastro tube done. This will take the place of the tube that now goes thru her nose.

I found the problem I had with this website.
This morning Vickie had the surgey to install the shunt. The flap was replaced. According to her doctor everything went well. Late this afternoon vickie returned to her room from the recovery area. She seemed to slowly come back around. Eyes slightly open and looking around a little. She now has a little ridge running across the back right side of her head. She looked more relaxed tonight than she has in the last several days. Hopefully this will be the last invasive surgery.
we looked at two care facilities this afternoon. The most likely one for now is on 182nd. It appears to meet Vickie's needs for the near future. A final decision will have to be made early next week, as soon as the surgery issues are past.
For those who remember Jonelle, she is now Vickie's next door neighbor. It's a small world after all.

click on " comments"

 

Vickie didn't show any noticeable changes to me today. Her eyes are wide open and she still appears to be looking around the room but not seeing anything.
The Dr. says he wants to wait a couple more days before making the final decision on the shunt surgury. The flap area looks like it might be swelling a little, but I could be wrong.
Tonight the last IV was removed so now all she has is the feeding tube to deal with. Little steps.
I've been informed that the comments part of the website is not working for some. There has been at least one new comment posted so I'm not sure what the problem is.
Today was remarkable for me, in that all of a sudden risk management and different "councelors" from Legacy and C.O.P. want to talk about our situation and what "we" might want do about it.

The ct scan was done this morning, it's to soon to be sure of what's going on.
There's lots of eye movement but still no recognition.
The staff is getting more aggresive with the PT now. They are constantly putting Vickie in different positions to keep her more flexible.

Late this afternoon our favorite nurse, Sarah, moved Vickie down to the TRAC unit of the hospital. She is in a regular room now with her own bathroom ,telephone and view of the parking lot. The visiting hours are pretty much wide open now, within reason of course.
All the drain tubes have been removed [intentionaly]. Tommorrow she will have a ct scan to see how she's handling the fluid.
Vickie slept thru the move downstairs, so this was probably just another day for her. For me this turns out to be the best day in nearly a month.

Not much change today. Vickie opens her eyes and appears to be looking around, but not focusing on anything.
The drain tubes were not removed today as scheduled, however it was almost a moot point, while turning her this evening ,one of the nurses wasn't as careful as she could have been so one of the tubes was pulled out accidently. In another situation this could have been a serious problem.
I'm returning to my job tomorrow so I'll only get in one visit a day. Hope I don't miss any big breakthroughs.

Saturday July 10

The Dr. was in this afternoon. He thought she responded to his voice commands by squeezing his hand.
The Delantin and anti-biotics have been stopped. They are looking for a cause of the rash that persists.
Sunday the drain tubes will be removed and a ct scat will follow to determine how she responds.
It seems that everyday now something is happening, all for the better.
I left a video in the room in case anyone needs to see and hear a short reminder of what we are missing.

Vickie seems more awake today. She keeps her eyes open and appears to be looking around, but not focusing on any thing.
Her doctor thinks she was responding to commands.
She was twitching so they gave her Valium and Dilantin, in case it was caused by seizures.
Her drain tubes may be removed this weekend to see if the fluid will drain naturally. If not she will have the shunt.

Vickie is now completely off the fentanyl pain med. She seems to be more active now.
We had our meeting with her doctor, he is optimistic. The latest scan shows some swelling but not enough to be alarmed about. After the weekend a decision will be made concerning the drain tubes. A shunt is the most likely solution. That will mean another surgery
It will probably be a month or two before we will start to see the long range problems she will have because of the injury.

Lots of eye movement today. The skin rash seems to be getting worse.
The fentanyl [pain med] is down to the lowest dosage, a good sign.
Vickie is no longer getting insulin thru IV. Now it's as needed per blood sugar test.
Tomorrow we have a meeting with her elusive Dr. to update us on his opinion of her progress.
We have left a visitor login book in the room. If you visit please sign it before you leave.

Tuesday the ventalator was removed from Vickie's room. She now has an air hose to her trach valve. She is breathing quite well on her own.
The rash she has had for some time is still a problem. It's caused the delay in installing the gastro tube.
She has moved both her left arm and left leg , which we take as another good sign.

This morning the Ventalator was shut off, so Vickie is breathing on her own. She opened her eyes for a few minutes and seemed to be moving them sideways which is a big deal for us.
A new problem is a rash all over, not sure what's causing it or what to do about it.
When the drain tubes in her head are removed, at some time in the future she can be placed in a less intensive care area of the hospital where there are less visiting restrictions.
I think all the hoping and praying is starting to work.

vicstory

This morning Vic's trach was replaced, the old one leaked. This afternoon
the ventilator was shut down to just supply oxygen if needed. so she is breathing on
her own now.
They are slowly reducing her pain Med. Tonight her heart rate and breathing rate
were higher so they increased her pain med a little. Her usual cycle of fevers seem
to be subsiding, which is a good sign.

How I spent my summer. by Vickie Shepherd

July 4th 2004 9:am

This site will replace the sporadic E-mails used to update Vickie's
progress. I will update it regularly or when there is a significant
change in her condition. As always "no news is good news"
Thanks to Mark and Heidi for the suggestion.