11/25/03, 11:41pm Good day to all of you "precious souls" out there as Rupert from "Survivor" would say. We are hoping that by Friday, the website will be up. It will consist of some history since there are many still just finding out about Mom, daily updates about her condition, prayer focuses, answers to prayer, commentaries from the hearts of family and friends, and possibly a section summarizing periodic readings from a book, The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, Mom and others...
11/26/03 11:35pm Mom had the only tube to the right lung today removed! There is only one more tube in the left lung that didn't drain much fluid at all today. This might be coming out tomorrow hopefully. She's still dependent upon the respirator and will most likely have a tracheonomy done soon. There hasn't been anymore responsiveness then before. Her blood pressure did drop some late the afternoon and medication was given to help boost it up some. She is still in ICU. We would lov...
11/30/03, Sunday, 11:58pm "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done is secret, will reward you." Matt 6:6 "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving", Col. 4:2 IT'S REWARD and THANKSGIVING TIME!!! Saturday night, the respirator was providing 10 breaths / minute for Mom, down from 16 last Wednesday. As of 9am, Sunday, Mom was pretty much breathing ...
Monday, 12/1, 10pm Hopefully, tomorrow I will be telling you the website address. It will be updated around this time each night. Mom needed some rest today. Yesterday was apparently too much for her. She breathed mostly on her own for about 12 hours. This alone was a shock to the doctors that made them question whether the tracheotomy was going to be necessary. I think they will take a slower approach with the hope of removing the respirator late this week. If they can't, they wil...
Subject: Mom update Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 14:23:46 -0500 Good afternoon everyone. Sorry for getting this out late today. Some of you are getting this for the first time and will be shocked about the news. My family and I extend any apologies for not having contacted you in some way beforehand. We are working on getting a website up for Mom where everyone can go to it 24/7 to view updates and past information for those just hearing about Mom's car accident. Stay tune for that address....
11/18/03...8am I have good news to share with you all. As of this morning, Mom has shown consistant signs of stability with vital signs. Some swelling of her face has diminished where she looks recognizable. She has been responding consistantly with opening her eyes and movement of fingers. Because of this, the doctors have held off inserting a tube to the brain to measure pressure again the brain and how that can affect motor skills , etc. All her extremeties have been responsive to t...
Mom is resting well. Her vital signs were good and stable with no surprises or concerns. They will begin weaning her this weekend from the respirator slowly. If she is unable to breathe on her own, they will do the tracheotomy early next week. The meds have not changed any. They seem to have found a good balance to stabilize the heart rate and blood pressure. I would ask you to consider praying for her son, Scott. He has had back muscle spasms all week not allowing him to work. This ha...
Since early this morning, they again weaned Mom from the respirator leaving 20% pressure to help a little. Her vital signs have been stable and strong for most of the day. An antibiotic was administered last night to address the pnuemonia in the right lung. The tracheotomy is scheduled for Wed. morning if vital signs remain stable and she doesn't kick the respirator beforehand. Please pray for the medical staff and doctors to be given wisdom and discernment. Also, for them personally,...
We are going to try to get a picture of Mom on the website so people will be able to see a visual. One of the siblings possibly too. This will be later in the week. Mike got Mom a little Christmas tree today for her room. Lord willing, she will be able to see and enjoy it by Christmas Day. For those that have sent cards, thank you for your kind and thoughtful words. Were placing them in the tree and tacking them all the wall for the family and medical staff to enjoy. All cards shou...
Today was a restful day for Mom. Her heartrate was strong and stable all day as well as the blood pressure though higher at times than what is preferred. If the vital signs remain stable, they will look to wean her from the respirator slowly starting tomorrow and through the weekend. A cat scan was done this morning to look for any new developments. It revealed that the size of the contusion on the brain has shrunk a little! Just as the largest organ of her body is looking better(her ski...
Good news/ so-so news..... The so-so news is that Mom's blood pressure has skyrocketed to the point that they could not think about doing the tracheotomy or place the feeding tube directly to her stomach. They are having trouble it seems in getting the right balance of medication to control the heart rate and blood pressure at the same time. A cat scan will be done tomorrow or the next day to see if something else is going on. Leaving the respirator tube in longer enhances risks to the voc...
Finally, it's up and running. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to categorize in order by date for each update. So for those of you who are just getting up to speed about Mom, you'll have to scroll up and down to read the updates in order. If you click on "shawn skeele's articles", this will condense the updates so you can see more of them at one time. Thank you for your patience regarding this website and tell everyone you know about it. Many of you have been a tremendous help in di...
Subject: mom update Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 02:34:36 -0500 11/25/03....12:30am "The prayer of a righteous man availeth much..." ( Eph 5:16) I come before you tonight with a thankful heart to God with His never ending grace and to the perseverance of the saints. It's late, so this will be short and to the point. Prayers are being answered regarding the pulmonary issues. One of the two tubes in her left lung has been removed. The right lung is not draining much fluid, so that tub...
Subject: a good day for mom Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 01:32:18 -0500 If are receiving this email in error, please contact me to be taken off the update. 11/21/03, 12:45 am. Thursday was a good day in that there were no new complications or surprises. Vital signs are good on a regular basis and some positive steps are being taken we feel in trying help Mom. A different neck brace was installed Wednesday to better stable the neck area. Thursday, Mom has been moved onto a different ...
Today was a good day in that Mom is continuing to breathe on her own for the most part with some help from the respirator. She is going on 49 hrs with little assistance. The tracheotomy is last on the surgery schedule for tomorrow so I estimate mid to late afternoon. Mom and God have until then to prove otherwise. The vital signs have been stronger today and more consistant. The doctors feel they have a handle on the balance of medications now. Seeing her heartrate and/or blood pressure ...