Day 4

It's day 4 of mom being in the ICU at David Grant Medical Center. Last Monday I had taken mom in for a fistulagram. The Doctors also wanted to look at moms heart, (which is only working at 15%). They were not able to get an IV started in moms arm because all of her veins are shot. The IV was then started in her neck. The fistula gram was successful. When they began to go through her artery to do a cardiac catherization, her body started to fill with fluid from the IV in her neck. Mom could not breathe from all of the fluid inside of her. They then decided to intubate her. She was incredibly critical at this point. The Doctors inserted a chest tube to begin to remove all the fluid from her. She needed to have a transfusion and added fluids to her body. All of this extra fluid was causing her heart to work harder.
 Mom has now made it through 3 nights of this. Her body is tired. They have tried to remove the breathing tube but have not been successful. She hasn't been able to take in the amount of air needed to survive without the help of the machine. They will try again today.
Mom we love you so very much. We are so grateful that we took the beautiful Christmas pictures with you last Sunday. You are an amazing strong woman. I know where I get it from!
Thank you God for allowing me to be the daughter I am today.
I love you Mom