Things are looking up

I apologize for not posting yesterday, it was a rough day, but things are a little better today. We're taking baby steps but at least we're moving forward.

Ray's breathing has been less labored today. He's on a BiPap machine which he despises. It forces air into his lungs which in turn should promote healing. I tell him that I know it's hard, but it must be working because his heart rate has slowed down (it had been racing); his breathing has slowed down (also racing) and his oxygen sats. are up. All these are improvements. However, he still continues to have fever (101-102). He's on a broad range of antibiotics that the Dr. says should be taking care of infection, bacteria, etc. But since the fever continues, that tells us there's still something going on. So today the Dr. did a bronchoscopy which is a procedure where a scope is put in the lungs (through the mouth) to "look around" and check for blood clots, or whatever and also to aspirate some of the fluid from the lungs. This fluid is then cultured to better understand exactly what we're trying to fight; whether it be infection, bacteria or viral. (I hope I explained that right.) After we find out exactly what we're fighting then the Dr. will know exactly how to treat it.

You might be wondering why this wasn't done right away. Since Ray's defense system is gone, the Dr. was trying to avoid doing any invasive procedure that risks more infection to the body. He was hoping the broad range of antibiotics would have taken care of that by now.

His white blood count is still "undetectable" and other counts still very low. Yesterday, he received 2 more units of blood and one of platelets. Today, he received another one of platelets. THANK YOU GOD FOR BLOOD DONORS!!!

While he's on the BiPap machine, he cannot talk, so we have a notebook for him to write. He gets frustrated with me at times when I cannot understand the point he's trying to make. But for the most part, he's handling this whole situation well. The Dr. has had to give him meds for anxiety and confusion which we understand is very common in ICU.

Thank you all my dear family and friends that read this blog. I love you all very much. I have cried much these past 3-4 days. Some out of fear, but mostly because you all have so lovingly and generously reached out to our family. I can never thank you all enough so I have been thanking God for each of you. You all are like angels watching over us.

(I hope I didn't ramble too much.)

Love you all,
Kim