MONDAY MORNING ICU UPDATE: I arrived at UVA late yesterday afternoon. It was good to be back with our church family at BVPHC yesterday morning and really good to preach the Word. I finished up our summer preaching series with a message entitled Recycling My Pain. Can you imagine? God really has a sense of humor. But it was very therapetutic to be able to share not only the scripture but out of our journey how God is helping us to recycle the pain of this journey on our way to health and wholeness. When I arrived late yesterday afternoon Rhonda was sitting up in a special chair. Although it was tiring for her it was an effort to keep her awake and alert as she had fallen into such a deep sleep that she could not be roused until mid-afternoon. The challenge at this juncture is managing her pain without compromising her respirations. She is having major anxiety which is so not Rhonda. It seems to be associated with her breathing patterns. The nurses and respiratory therapists are addressing this with her doctors in an effort to determine if something is happening with her diaphragm that is causing her to work so diligently to breath at a fairly normal rate, which creates the feeling and sensation of not catching her breath. This leaves her exhausted and tired, which seems to contribute to an increased level of anxiety. I stayed in the room with her last night. It was not a good night. She was given her normal dosage of pain meds but also given something to help with the anxiety. The combination was too much for her, sending her into a non-responsive state where she began hypoventilating at an alarming rate. Several ABGs were drawn discovering that the CO2 levels were rising in her body, reaching 90%. The respiratory therapist was quickly summoned and the ventilator settings tweaked, putting her back on a set rate which helped her to exhale the CO2 that had built up in her body. It was the third time that I have been with her when this has occurred. I do not wish this for any person or family member of a loved one as it is extremely scary. You feel as if you are going to lose them and if emergent steps were not taken at some point you would. Rhonda is better at this time. She is now fully alert and awake, yet still feeling the anxiety related to the respiratory issues. By now she should have been on the trach collar which removes the ventilator, using only oxygen through the trach. Last night was a setback, but she is still fighting this morning with the will to live. Please pray specifically for: 1) the doctors to have the diagnostic insights to discover what is happening with her diaphragm and the knowledge to properly treat the cause 2) wisdom in the administration of narcotics and any other anxiety relief measures 3) strengthened diaphragm muscles and lung capacity 4) an overwhelming sense of Gods peace to settle upon Rhonda 5) progress toward the trach collar and removal of the ventilator 6) grace to persevere in this journey 7) increased strength, stamina, and supernatural, resurrection power 8) new & sustained beginnings of health, wholeness and healing Thank you again for making time in your busy life to read this update and to pray accordingly. May you have a good and godly Monday!
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 14:27:26 +0000