Prayers for Kris

allyHM, who frequents this blog loyally and as often leaves comments, has asked for prayer via Facebook chat:

My oldest (step) daughter Kris....in ICU on a ventilator, medically-induced coma to keep her from pulling the tube out sudden severe bronchial spasm she has asthma, age 27, single mom, two children, oldest child (his name is Stephen), her son, 7 yrs old called 911 and literally saved her life this morning... she's as good as can be expected right now, lungs sounded better when we left (they want little stimulation so we came home for a bit) may come of the vent tomorrow and let her wake up after that, they'll check for brain damage... she is a new believer (baptised just a couple of weeks ago)... satan is working hard against that...

Father God, we ask that You tangibly make Your presence known in this circumstance, we ask that You send your ministering angels, we ask for Your healing touch and Your protective embrace, even as we pray in Christ's name, amen.

 

Comments

[allyHM]

Thank you.

[Tim Chesterton]

Amen.

[chuck aka xtnyoda]

Prayers lifted up for Kris!

"Yahweh Rapha, demonstrate Your love for, and power in Kris' life. Open those lungs, breath in Your great breath of life ... for Your Glory."

chuck

[Leslie]

May God bless and keep your daughter, allyHM.
Sounds like you've got a real level-headed grandson! God bless him too.

[Locutisprime]

Prayers up from Georgia Rick. May the Lord bless and keep her and restore her to her family whole.

[Bob Ferguson]

Our prayers are with you. Have a speedy recovery.

[allyHM]

Update on Kris: she is still in ICU and on a ventilator in a medically-induced coma, but we have had some good news today:

1. They have switched her from being on a paralytic medication to a sedative. She's still being kept "under" but this is a much less severe way of doing so. The decision was partially due to both the paralytic and the steroids they have "on board" working together to cause muscle wasting if used together long-term. Short-term is OK in such a case a this where it's needed to get breathing under control. Kris weighs about 96 lbs as it is, so she can't afford any muscle-wasting. ;)

2. She is, of course, on a heart/lung monitor. Her heart rate is still high, but it has come down some. Given that they have her on a bronchodialator, increased heart rate is not unexpected, especially combined with the stress her body is under right now. Her blood pressure, which had been bordering on too high yesterday, is way down today and was, in fact, dropping a little too low right before we left so they were cutting the sedative down (again her low weight is a factor there). Her blood oxygen level was much improved from 88-90 to hanging around 90-95, with spikes up to 97. "Normal" is 95-100.

3. Ventilators are way-complex computerized things these days. Per her vent, she's getting plenty of oxygen in, but not enough carbon dioxide is coming out. This is normal for an asthmatic in distress. In fact, in these cases, the patient can be on the vent for "a long time" because you have the force of the vent pushing air into the lungs being resisted by the force of the "tight" bronchioles not wanting to let the air in. The pulmonologist said it's a "delicate balance" in getting these patients back to "normal." But he was very pleased with all of the numbers today in that they were all improved.

4. There is a possibility that she could come off of the vent tomorrow if the numbers keep improving and reach the point where they can do that.

5. The neurologist came in and did a short exam (as much as he could with her being "out") and said that, based on her chart and what he knows about what happened, she wasn't "down" long enough to be considered at risk for brain damage for lack of oxygen. They will still test her when she wakes up and before she is discharged to make sure.

6. There are no other major medical problems evident - just the lung issues.

We are thankful for every little miracle along the way. Thank you from the entire Metcalf family for your prayers and concern. If we may, we would ask that you continue to pray until she really is "out of the woods." Thank you, again, and God bless you all.

[Rick]

Thanks for the update ally... prayer flares will continue to be fired from Virginia...

[Tim Chesterton]

Prayers were offered for Kris at St. Margaret's Anglican Church in Edmonton, Alberta, this morning, and we'll continue to pray for her until 'further notice', ally.

[allyHM]

Thank you so much, Tim! (BTW, we're Anglican, too!)

[chuck aka xtnyoda]

Thanks for the update. Continued in prayer.

[allyHM]

I don't know if anyone is still reading this, but just in case anyone is curious, Kris had a good day today:

1. Kris was transitioned off of the paralytic medication to a sedative late yesterday, and today she was able to wake up for brief periods and respond to us. She was very definitely communicating, waving to visitors that arrived (like my dad, her grandfather otherwise known as Pop), responding with head nods and shakes to questions. She is aware now of her situation and that she has lost a day (wish I had that conversation on video because her facial expressions were priceless!).

2. The neurologist saw her this a.m. while she was in and out, and she woke up enough to follow all of his commands perfectly. He was very pleased and said there is no indication of brain damage, but they will continue to test throughout her stay.

3. Because she was still "very tight" despite all the meds and the vent, the pulmonary doctor decided to order a bronchial levage (wash). Boy did that work! Got a TON of "stuff" out of her lungs. Afterward, the volume of air actually getting into her lungs increased dramatically; the "peak pressure" decreased from 30 to 20 (the lower the better); her wheezing was vastly reduced (saw smiles for the first time on the respiratory therapist and the nurse when they listened to her lungs afterward); and she is "breathing over the vent" which means she's trying to spontaneously breathe in between vent puffs. There is now talk of possibly weaning her off of the vent starting some time tomorrow.

It was a good day.

Thanks again to everyone here who has been praying. She's not out of the woods yet, but she's getting pretty close to the edge of the forest. :)

[Leslie]

Glad to hear things are heading in a hopeful direction. May God continue restoring your daughter's body for life on this Earth.

[Tim Chesterton]

That's very good news, ally. We'll keep up the prayers.

[Rick]

Prayer flares will fire until we're told to lay low!

[allyHM]

The tube came out late morning today! PRAISE BE TO GOD! Kris is very tired and very sick and feels like a truck ran over her, but she's coherent (neuro doc signed off on her today) and talking (hoarsely) and laughing quite a bit. Hoping to move out of ICU tomorrow. GOD IS SO VERY, VERY GOOD!!! HE WORKS MIRACLES EVERY SINGLE DAY; WE JUST HAVE TO OPEN UP OUR EYES AND EARS AND HEARTS TO THEM. :)

[Leslie]

Yay! Praise be to God is right!
Glad you're experiencing good news, allyHM.

[Tim Chesterton]

Yup. Thank you, Lord.

[Rick]

Outstanding news ally... thanks be to God...

[allyHM]

Last update: Kris is home, with us for the next couple of weeks. Amazing to me that she's out of the hospital one week, to almost the hour, from going in. Amazing, too, that the health insurance she thought had lapsed on her (she thought she had kept the kids' coverage but not hers, due to increased premiums) is still active and is covering virtually everything. This has God's fingerprints all over it.

[Rick]

Awesome... in every sense of the word...

[KrisAnn]

Hi! You all may remember allyHM posting about my health scare last week. First, thank you to all of you for your prayers, thoughts and energy. I am almost 100% and think I'm going to be better than ever! I think everything happens for a reason, and there are several good things that have come out of this whole ordeal. I have a new start on life, and am really almost a whole new person. People all over the country and also in other parts of the world could "witness" this miracle and hopefully that reignited faith in God in some of those people, letting them know that God is real and He still exists. This has also brought together many high school classmates for a mini-reunion that may also bring some of them back to faith or into faith for the first time. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

[Rick]

Thank you KrisAnn for stopping by... it's great to 'hear' your voice here...