THis is a post from Molly Wendroth who was up seeing Patty today,, THank you Molly for sharing Today when we arrived, Patty was less sedated and would open her eyes when we would talk to her. Shortly after arriving, the doctors had us leave so that they could run some more tests. Patty had begun running a temp and they needed to figure out why. They took cultures and had started her on an antibiotic to cover anything that might be starting until they can identify it. The nurse stated that when you have a bleed in your brain, the body will sometimes respond with a fever as the blood is a foreign substance to the brain when it is outside of the artery. With the cultures they could identify if the fever was neurogenic (defense to the blood) or infection related. They tried IV Tylenol and her temp came down from 101.8 to 100.4 before we left which was a good indication that the temp was from an infection - if it is from the blood, the Tylenol would not have decreased it. They attempted to remove the breathing tube, but she was not able to tolerate it as she could not cough up her secretions putting her at risk for aspiration pneumonia. They talked about possible difficulties with her ability to swallow due to weakness on her right side that may be affecting that function. The tube was replaced but we were assured that this is not a set back and that they will attempt removal again in a few days when her fever is down and she is a little stronger. They also did a chest x-ray which showed that her lungs are clear so they are doing a wonderful job at keeping her suctioned out - they do this at least every 2 hours unless they see a need to do it more frequently based on her breathing. Another promising sign was that when she was awake, she continued to follow commands by giving a thumbs up when asked, wiggling toes on both feet, puffing out her cheeks, sticking her tongue out when asked and moving her left side. The nurse also stated that they are not seeing any facial drooping on the right side which is great! Although her right side is weaker, if she becomes agitated, she moves that side better. The nurse explained that they are not seeing any issues with receptive aphasia meaning understanding/comprehending what they are saying to her, but they are unsure at this time if she may have some expressive aphasia meaning it would be difficult to find the right words when speaking - this can be a common side effect for someone who has suffered an aneurysm. Her blood pressure does elevate when she is awake but is normal when sedated, her ICP (Intracranial Pressure) was at 10 which is super - ICP should be below 20. If this pressure is elevated, it can prevent blood from getting to your brain, meaning it is not getting the oxygen it needs to function. Swelling in the brain can also block other fluids from leaving your brain which can further damage the brain. Finally, there was some discussion about starting some steroids to help with the swelling in her airway so that it can heal giving her a better chance when the next attempt to remove it occurs. To end our day, the Chaplin came in, reminded Patty that she is there to heal and that all of her friends and family love her. We then joined hands, the Chaplin prayed and together we all said the Lords Prayer. Patty is in great hands!!
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 00:56:31 +0000
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