Getting Better Again

Good Evening

 

Just returned from Andrea''s bedside, she was nearly asleep when we left, Faye is not staying in the CVICU but is coming with me for night.  Her blood numbers have returned to normal for the most part, yesterday and today they used a process on her called plasmaphoresis which I will try to explain what I know of it.  It is similar to dialysis using the same process but it takes out the plasma free hemoglobin, that is the damaged red blood cells that are contained in the blood plasma.  If the kidneys don't work there is nothing to filter out the damaged red blood cells which in too high levels are toxic.  The pump rotor is always damaging a negligible amount of red blood cells which are removed by dialysis, but if a clot forms it also contains red blood cells and they are damaged, so when the clot moved and they think migrated to the liver, it causes the liver enzymes etc to shoot up.  Maybe this is not exactly how it is, but this is my limited understanding of how it works.  By morning her lactate levels were back to normal which had been a big concern.  She rested peacefully and seemingly without discomfort today, her color is much improved, the pink returned to her cheeks, her eyes seemed clearer too.  They will do another round of plasmaphoresis tomorrow and reassess where she is at. If everything looks okay she will likely return to the ward in a few days. So far they are holding her room upstairs for her as we have a lot of things in the room and they still have empty rooms there and have been short staffed too.  Today the church youth group brought their Easter program in the Healing Gardens at 3 PM, so her nurse got her ready for transport and we took her up there in her bed to hear them, she really enjoyed it and afterward a lot of them came up and spoke with her awhile.  Tomorrow I think PT will want to work with her again so she does not lose the strength she had regained.  Now it is time to close so goodnight.

 

Thanks, Maynard