Medical Update:
Patti is still very sick. We just met with her ICU doctor, Dr. Nguyen who is trying several approaches. Her body is very acidic, her pH (acid level) is around 7.1 (normal 7.4). Dr. Nguyen is adjusting the ventilator to help with that. Grace Patti is also in shock (low blood pressure) but responding very well to norepinephrine (helps increase blood pressure). Her heart and kidneys are still responding very well to treatment. Her lungs are clearing up after intubation (to help re-expand her lungs) and her oxygen level has improved as well (the lungs were unable to expand due to the severe rib fractures). Grace Patti has also undergone aggressive suctioning today and a bronchoscopy (camera to look into the lungs) has helped. Dr. Nguyen started antibiotics to cover for both possible pneumonia and kidney infections but none proven yet. She also has an ileus (bowels not working) and that is likely a side effect of pain meds but is also making it harder for her to breath due to abdomen being very tight. Prognosis is very guarded (too early to know) based on apache score (severity of illness) >20 but aggressive interventions were started just a few hours ago so it's hard to interpret the score at this time. If her pH improves in the next few hours it'll be a good sign since that is the only thing that has yet to improve with the initial changes made so far today.
-Written by: Bates Moses, MD (Grace Patti's grandson)
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Patti,
ReplyDeleteWe're thinking about you throughout the day;
and whispering little prayers for you.
Keep courage, little lady!
Rest well.
Love, Janis S.