August 1: Day 14 in the Hospital

I want to start giving updates on Kevin’s condition to more people at once, and also keep track of his progress for our family. I think this is the best way to do it.

I won’t include everything that got us to this place, but here’s the latest. It became apparent that there must be a hole in one of Kevin’s organs. The 2 drains put in his side to drain the bit of bile that may have seeped during his gallbladder surgery were putting out too much fluid for the leak to be small or the leak to be already healed. 2 scans and a scope showed no leak. Our surgeon asked for a second opinion on the last scan, and although a leak wasn’t found, the radiologist said there might be some air in his intestine. An exploratory surgery was scheduled for the same day, Friday afternoon. A hole was found in his small intestine which was repaired.

Kevin was sent back to ICU for recovery. He was talking to me, was in excruciating pain, and his heart rate kept climbing. I could tell, and he could tell, that his body was in a great deal of stress which he could not control. Dr Hanak, Lung Dr and Intensivist (supervisor of Intensive Care) was called in, Kevin’s kidney Dr was called on the phone, a cardiologist was called in, and our surgeon’s partner was called in. Dr Hanak kept calling me out of the room to talk to me to tell me 1) Kevin may need to be transferred to U of I Hospitals, and 2) Kevin was extremely sick. More and more bags of medicine were continuing to be hung from his now 3 IVs. I counted 12 bags. His ICU nurse kept calling out orders to others, getting Drs on the phone, and running back and forth to hang bags. The activity was constant and driven and scared me. His heart rate got up to the 170s.

I was with Kevin as much I could be during this time but left when I felt I was in the way. Kevin’s mother, Linda, was with me throughout the afternoon and also feeling the pressure of the situation. I left the room to comfort her and I heard the nurse yell loudly “Kevin! Kevin!” She started slapping his hand. “Kevin! Can you hear me!” Then she yelled “He’s non-responsive! Code Blue!” In an instant 15 people were crammed into his small room clustered around him and the flight crew ran in. I dropped my bags, went into an empty room across from his, fell to my knees in the dark and begged my Father in Heaven not to take him yet. I came out, found Linda, and a hospital chaplain who had appeared out of nowhere took Linda out since she couldn’t witness what was happening. I had to stay.

An angel of a nurse whose badge said “Patient Care Relations” stayed with me just outside Kevin’s room and explained everything that was going on in soft, even tones. He is being intubated. They are sedating him to put the breathing tube down his throat because he is fighting it. The Dr putting the tube in is an anesthesiologist. The lady in the flight crew uniform is also an ICU nurse and very good. That nurse is writing everything down that is happening. That is an EKG machine in case they have to shock him. I watched and listened to it all, not believing any of it was real.

The activity lasted about 45 minutes. Kevin’s Dad, Dennis, had been called by Linda to come in. Dr Hanak told us that the next 2-3 hours were very critical, touch-n-go. The cardiologist said his heart was secondary to his condition; no arrhythmia to be concerned with and his heart is healthy, he is just sick and his body is under stress. The surgeon said these kinds of things happen to sick people who are operated on. 

Dennis and I stayed the night in a conference room, he in a chair and I on the couch. I eventually fell asleep, surprisingly, and got a few hours of rest, I don’t think Dennis slept at all. I woke up around 5:30 and realized no one had bothered us during the night with any news which must be a positive sign. Dennis and I got breakfast in the hospital cafeteria and went to see Kevin. He was stable though his body shook with every breath forced on him by the machine. He had been anemic and was transfused. He was already off the blood pressure medicine which was a good sign.

Saturday Kevin continued to be sedated and not much happened. He was put on 48-hour dialysis that runs at half the normal rate. He put on 10 pounds of fluid overnight from all the medications and the dialysis would take it off, and this way was much easier for his body. As I thought of scheduling someone to take the girls for the night, I realized “Hey, I can stay with them!” I had not slept at home for over a week. My bed felt extraordinarily wonderful.

Sunday morning I got to the hospital around 10:00am after getting the girls ready for church and dropping them off with another family that would get them there. Linda was with him already and said that he had started writing to communicate. He wrote:

"wife" to ask for me and

"Crystal after church or before" when Linda said I was going to church. To me this was a huge improvement; even though he was sedated, he was actively thinking, planning ahead, and making inquiries.

Some of my favorites:

 

"come here" when I told him I was going to church. Yes, I would come back here.

"I need you" when I asked if it was all right if I could leave, and

"heart U" when I said "I love you".