Week 3

I am writing this two weeks after, so let's see if I remember the highlights of the week after "Friday evening" - when Kevin coded.

Kevin continued to write to communicate. At times it was difficult because some nurses had his restraints tied so tightly that he could hardly lift up his hand. And sometimes it was still difficult to tell what he wanted or what his question was. It took so much energy and concentration for him I hated to ask him to repeat, but often I had to.

We expanded our Dr universe to include a pulmonologist and cardiologist and continued with the surgeon, infectious disease, and kidney Drs. I began to go to rounds in the morning to get updates on Kevin's status and then I had the ability to ask questions of the entire healthcare team (around 10 people daily - respiratory nurses, charge nurse, dietician, pharmacist, social worker, and the Dr on the floor that day).

My sister, Lilly, flew in from Miami the Monday following to take of the girls so I could concentrate on Kevin instead of scheduling the girls with friends and worrying about them when I wasn't there. It was an overwhelming offer, one that I had a difficult time accepting, but I knew I would be a fool to refuse it. So she brought her 2 month old baby and 2 year old toddler with her and hunkered down.

What everyone was saying to me was that Kevin "is very sick". It became clear that there was no timetable for recovery.It was truly one day at a time, which was very distressing. Often this week I would leave the hospital at night excited for the progress made during the day, hoping it would lead to more exciting news in the morning. Then I would arrive to learn his fever had returned, his white count went back up, or he had to be put back on some medication. I started every morning by crying, realizing again and again how long and hard this would be.

Kevin's ventilator was finally taken out Wednesday afternoon - 5 full days of breathing with a machine.