11/26 - Mom's Update

Yesterday was a bad ride on the "Courtney Coaster".

As Craig said, we knew it would be a roller coaster, we just didn't know it would be this heart wrenching.

Courtney had fevers all day, including one that spiked in front of my eyes from 101.5 to 105 in less than 10 minutes.

Nurse Bonnie took care of everything and Courtney's fever came down quickly. She continued to have more fevers and breathing problems throughout the day.

Doctors had difficulties and quite a scare during one procedure and called it off because of some bleeding. They performed a bronchioscope(?) to culture her lungs and take a look at everything.

Courtney was able to get her feeding tube in her stomach so there are no longer any tubes in her throat. This should make Courtney much more comfortable.

Courtney continues to have pneumonia and trouble regulating her heart rate.

Doctors have changed her antibiotic and are now giving her a combination of 2 antibiotics.

As I am writing this she is receiving the first of 2 pints of blood because her blood count dropped last night.

The fevers and rapid heart rates could very likely be due to the brain waking up. She often becomes agitated which is most likely because she's realizing she's not moving around, talking, etc the way she normally can.

We frequently reassure Courtney that all her 'parts' are working and that she has big bruises on her lungs and a 'bump' on her head (understatement of the century) that will heal.
We encourage her to be patient while her body heals and let her know she won't need help breathing forever and won't feel this way forever.

Every day is a balancing act for the staff here and for us emotionally. Courtney has so much work to do to get better and we all have alot of work to do to support her. She really put the staff and us through our paces yesterday.

To date Courtney has received 10 pints of blood so the next time you see the sign for a blood drive or see the blood bus please think of Courtney and consider donating if you can.

We will try to post another update during the day so you'll know how today is going.