Today things are even looking better for mother. I made a mistake yesterday in saying Dr McKennon's assessment is 35-40% survival. I will change that statement. He meant me to understand that she has a 35-40% non-survival rate! That is, she has a 65-70% chance of making it through this ordeal! He said this morning that he is optimistic that she will make it! One has to manage one's expectations however. There is a huge probability that given her survival and recuperation, she will remain on a three times a week dialysis. There remains a slim chance of her kidneys returning to normal. Assuming she does survive and elects to remain on dialysis, the quality of her life becomes the issue as well as where she should live. Right now, it looks to me to continue to be her apartment but with added services, perhaps nursing at first and later some assisted living services. We will see. It is too early yet to draw up a plan.
The Pulmonary doctor says her lungs will fail sometime after he takes her off of the ventilator. We have to resolve this gap in view between these two doctors. The basis of his assessment is the survival rate of ARDS patients and her age. It should be noted however that she may not even have ARDS. His initiative to remove the ventilator stems from us hoping to get her off of it as early as practical. We would not like our influence to be the driving factor however. It must be the right thing to do medically for her to get well. Her general attending physician is aligned with its removal, but the decision will be made by the Pulmonary doctor. There was a lot of confusion in the lung doctor's position, but I concluded that he was taking a pessimistic view of her survival different from Dr McKennon and assuming some things Dr McKennon is not. So my view is guarded but biased towards Dr McKennon's view since mother has essentially been his patient, and he is being assisted by the specialists. The Pulmonary doctor has started assessing if mother can get off of the ventilator. I believe he does not want to give us false expectations and hope. The primary attending doctor McKennon told us that his position is based on a professor's statement in medical school, "There is no value in pessimism." This is the prevailing thought of the day and one we will embrace.
This morning mother had her Friday dialysis. That process pulled the largest amount of fluid from her system than any dialysis she had to date - 2.5 liters. That is almost the goal. The process fell short 1/2 liter in the 3.5 hour session. (liter approximately the same as a quart).
Her blood pressure was good this morning, much better than the past few days. That was the result of applying a little more heart pressure stimulant than before. It was 115/43 (61 average) while in the first hour of dialysis. Her white blood count lowered to 13300, the lowest it has been all week. That probably means that her skin is having to fight bacteria with fewer white blood cells and therefore is healing. That corresponds to what is apparent in her skin healing. Mother will be given two units of blood today to help bring up the hemoglobin level in her arteries and support her blood pressure.
Yep, I am wearing jeans. I am relaxing a bit from this stress. Mother will fight her fight for survival, with us helping her through our support. Our family will be unified by our approach to getting her well so she can live a respected and fulfilling life through her remaining years. This is our hope and prayer.
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