Just a quick pic...

I just though I'd post this really quick. I took this picture last night. Yes, mom is still on oxygen, but it's keeping her stable, so we'll take it.

She seems to be slowly getting better, we've just got to take it one day at a time until things are back to "normal". Slowly but surely!

Home!

 Mom got to go back "home" yesterday. She's back at Mt. Ogden and is resting. She's still on oxygen, 3 litres, I believe, but she is staying stable!

She's still very tired, most of the time she can barely keep her eyes open.

She is becoming increasingly frustrated and confused, and we're thinking that it is caused by her MS at this point. We're looking in to seeing an MS specialist, Dr. Rose, down at the U soon. We've had a referral to him from the MS society, so we're going to try to get in to see him.

I'll keep you as updated as I can, I'm trying!

Day 4 in the hospital... Ready to go home!

This is the view from mom's hospital room window. Nice!!!

Today is mom's fourth day in the hospital. It's certainly been one heck of a ride this week.

Her official diagnosis it urosepsis, which is a severe infection of the urinary system. We didn't know how sick she really was. I didn't know how close we were to losing her. I'm thankful that her caretakers checked on her when they did and that they sent her to the hospital to be taken care of.

Earlier today, her anticipated discharge date was Friday. (3/18) But now, her discharge goal is TOMORROW!  They came in and did a chest x-ray on her, and the results should be back in the morning, and as long as they look good, and she stays stable, she should be able to go home! She's so excited to go home and see all of her friends and be more comfortable. I would be too!

Best news yet!

When we went up to see mom this afternoon, she was upset and crying, and they were trying to figure out what to do for her. They didn't know that her crying/screaming is normal, and that she relaxes when we're around, so at first, they didn't want to let us in. Once we explained to them that once we were all there, she would calm down, they let us in and didn't limit our visit to only 10 minutes. Hallelujah!

Medically, she is doing much better. Slowly and surely improving. Her blood pressure and saturations are back up in the normal ranges, and instead of being on 8 litres of oxygen, she's now on 4. She is completely off of the medication to make her blood pressure go UP, and it's still holding steady.

She was excited to watch Oprah today, she got to see the Oprah  interview with Katherine Jackson. Have I mentioned how much she LOVES Oprah?!? On a side note, when I told her I'm visiting Chicago this summer, and asked her if she wanted me to bring her back anything, she said Oprah. Not something from Oprah's store, she wanted Oprah. I have no idea how I'm going to swing that... Wish me luck.

We got some good news from mom's nurse today. She's moving out of ICU! She'll be heading into the Intermediate care unit where she'll continue to get better.

She wants us to tell everyone hello and thank you for the love and prayers!

We'll update you as things change and as she gets better. If you want to find out her room number to come visit, you can contact me (Holly), Dad (Jeff), or Ashley to find out where she's at!

We got off to a rough start...

Today got off to a rough start, but it has seemed to get better as the day wore on.

We got back here about 7:00, and mom was looking a little better, they had just massaged her with lotion.

She was finally able to have some beef broth and apple juice, which made her soooo happy. They allowed her to take off her CPAP mask, and go to just the nasal canula for oxygen. That made her happy too.

She started talking nonstop, and everytime her doctor walks by, she mentions that she looks like dad's sister, Denise.

I was tickling her feet, and I got her to giggle, and even one full fledged laugh came out.

I'm so glad she's doing better now!

By the way, she says "Hi." and "Thank You!"

Day 2 is harder...

 I've figured out that Day 2 in the ICU is harder than Day 1. Mom is more agitated and restless today. We have talked to the doctor, she said that it is definitely some type of Urinary Tract Infection, but we are still waiting for cultures to come back from the lab. It is definitely a bacterial infection.

She is responding well to the blood pressure medication, she has come down off of one, she is still on the other. She is also responding well to the antibiotics she is on. Her oxygen saturation is sitting in the high 90's, but she is on 5 litres of oxygen in addition to her C-PAP machine. The respiratory therapist was just in there, trying to get her to take deeper breaths, and she adjusted the machine and mask to better help her.

The ICU is closed between 5:00 and 6:30, so we're going to grab a bite to eat and wait until we can see her again.

Our home teachers came and gave her a Preisthood blessing this afternoon. It's always great to see them and be comforted by their love and care for our family. (Thanks Murray!)

She wanted us to tell you all that she loves you, specifically her siblings, Rochelle, Sondra, and Kelly, she mentioned you by name. :)

I really don't know what else to say at this point, other than thank you for all the prayers and well wishes sent our way. We really appreciate them!

Talked to a doctor... Finally.

On our way out of the ICU to come home, we finally got to talk to a doctor about mom.

As of now, they're saying it looks like either a kidney infection, bladder infection, or a severe urinary tract infection.

Urinary tract infections are common with MS, and there are a lot of medical reasons why, but we'll just leave it at they're common for MS patients.

She'll be in the ICU for at least tonight, possibly part of tomorrow, but they plan on moving her to a regular room as soon as they can.

They did an ultrasound on her legs, and she doesn't have any blood clots, so that is a good sign.  They also did an ultrasound on her kidneys and they don't look inflamed or abnormal.

For now, she's resting comfortably, so we headed home to get some sleep. We'll be heading back later tonight. We'll also be stopping by Mt. Ogden tonight so we can straighten up mom's room and see our friends and update them on mom.

If you have any questions, you can e-mail, text or call me. I'm kind of acting as the go between and informant for everyone.

Just when we thought things were getting better...

 Hey all,

It's been a really long night. Last night, mom's oxygen saturation was really low, all the way down in the 50's. Like, 52, I think. Not good at all. they immediately started her on 5 liters of oxygen, and her sat stabilized to around 90. But, about 3:30 this morning we got a call from one of the nurses at Mt. Ogden, mom's blood pressure was really low and her oxygen had lowered again. She was transfered by non emergency transport to McKay Dee hospital ER.  There, they started running tests, and determined that she has an infection. Since her vital signs were still low, they decided to admit her into the ICU to stablize her and battle the infection.  She's stabilzed now, her blood pressure is returning to normal, and her oxygen sat is around 97 on 4 litres of oxygen. It'll be a little while before she feels better, but she's looking good considering. She has some of the coloring back in her face and she smiled when she saw her ducky.

We still haven't seen a doctor, nobody has really explained too much to us. She has an IV in each arm, and a central line in her neck. so it's not very easy for her to move. She is on four different IV medications, all of them have their purpose, I just don't know what most of them are for. She'll probably be in ICU for a couple of days, I'll try to keep you updated.

Sorry, I know this post is sounding a little incoherent, I'm not running on very much sleep. :)

NO BELLY BUTTON!

Mom, Dad, and Ashley went back to the University Hospital on Thursday for mom's post-op appointment. They removed the staples and everything seems to look fine! She has a long scar across her abdomen where her belly button is supposed to be.

She seems to be doing okay, she still screams, but now it's only for a short time. We're chalking it up to temper tantrums. Silly mommy. She's been tired lately, though. It's probably just her body recovering from the past couple of weeks.

I'll keep you posted with any new details, but for now, this is all I've got. Thanks for reading!