update #8 Good News!!
e-mail from my mom.
Sarah made it through a marathon surgery today and she is back on the Burn Unit.
The doctor just spoke with us and she had the equivalent of 3 full blood transfusions during the procedure. They were able to cut away the dead tissue from her buttocks, thighs and backs of her calves - so the next procedure they will not have to turn her over.
I forget if I mentioned that the problem the last two days has occurred at the point in time where they turned her over. Her weight and edema caused too much pressure up against her lungs to permit the ventilator to oxygenate her - and the ventilators in the OR are not as powerful as those on the burn unit. So today, among other innovations, they took a ventilator down from the Burn Unit. She had an Anesthesia team of the best anesthesiologist here as well as two CRNAs (which I'm guessing stands for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist?) - for comparison, Dr. Carter informs us that a normal heart surgery has one CRNA in attendance. She has three large, man-sized wound vacs on right now and we'll have to watch carefully for complications from the massive amount of transfused blood she received, as well as the blood losses she continues to have. Her clotting factor is basically gone right now so she is being given medicine for that; she could have an allergic reaction to the blood, and her hemoglobin levels will have to be watched.
But for all of that we are pleased that Sarah Grace is still with us and her doctors continue to work wonders.
Next Tuesday or so she will undergo another surgery to remove the remaining dead tissue - but she does not have to be turned over for this one so it is expected to go much more smoothly.
We're waiting for a call from the floor to let us come back to see her before we go back to the Ronald McDonald House for bed.
Thanks to all! -- Frances
Sarah made it through a marathon surgery today and she is back on the Burn Unit.
The doctor just spoke with us and she had the equivalent of 3 full blood transfusions during the procedure. They were able to cut away the dead tissue from her buttocks, thighs and backs of her calves - so the next procedure they will not have to turn her over.
I forget if I mentioned that the problem the last two days has occurred at the point in time where they turned her over. Her weight and edema caused too much pressure up against her lungs to permit the ventilator to oxygenate her - and the ventilators in the OR are not as powerful as those on the burn unit. So today, among other innovations, they took a ventilator down from the Burn Unit. She had an Anesthesia team of the best anesthesiologist here as well as two CRNAs (which I'm guessing stands for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist?) - for comparison, Dr. Carter informs us that a normal heart surgery has one CRNA in attendance. She has three large, man-sized wound vacs on right now and we'll have to watch carefully for complications from the massive amount of transfused blood she received, as well as the blood losses she continues to have. Her clotting factor is basically gone right now so she is being given medicine for that; she could have an allergic reaction to the blood, and her hemoglobin levels will have to be watched.
But for all of that we are pleased that Sarah Grace is still with us and her doctors continue to work wonders.
Next Tuesday or so she will undergo another surgery to remove the remaining dead tissue - but she does not have to be turned over for this one so it is expected to go much more smoothly.
We're waiting for a call from the floor to let us come back to see her before we go back to the Ronald McDonald House for bed.
Thanks to all! -- Frances