Part 5 - My little lady's health journey continued...

A continuation from my post on October 13...

 

By Saturday May 14 I don't think it had all sunk in yet, my wife was desperately ill. I faced raising a 19mth and a 2mth old child on my own. They faced not ever really knowing their mom. I remember crying a lot, receiving a ton of support, feeling very, very helpless, but I don't remember being bitter towards God. Even with the grave circumstances God blessed me with sleep. Friends stayed the night to ensure I was not alone if my wife passed on. All things considered my wife's condition had stabilised, but she was in a drug induced choma. Her appearance was only a slight resemblance of the beautiful person I knew. She was on a high medication dosage for the disease, the ventilator usage had been reduced slightly, her heartbeat was her own and the pace maker installed on May 13 was not in use. A very gifted nurse aka nurse 1 who we were very fortunate to have often during my wife's stay was on duty and ordered an air bed at 7am. It was received late in the day. This assisted in minimising bed sores, while helping circulation. A pink blanket that had warm air running through it was introduced to assist in keeping my wife warm. There were many small progressive steps during that day, and answers to prayer, but most revolved around my wife's care as apposed to any progression in her health. There was significant concern regarding the lack of pupil movement which can be a sign of brain damage suffered from cardiac arrests. She did not respond at all, we were still in the 24hr (from time of arrest) critical period. Nurse 1 had obviously been given this duty by God, she was absolutely amazing in the care she took for my wife. She washed her hair, brushed her teeth. She was terrific. It should be noted that many of these nurses were near my wife's age and could easily identify with her and us. Another favourite nurse (aka nurse 2) returned to duty at 7pm.

On Sunday May 15 nurse 1 returned to duty at 7am. This would turn out to be a great day. She reported eye movement during the early morning, which was one of two significantly positive signs we would get that day. During the day there were many visitors such as immediate family and close friends. For the first time since the night of the 12th I went home to spend the morning with the kids. I found it very challenging to spend time with the kids, they wanted fun and my mind just wasn't with them. Since Friday my mom, sister & husband and their 2 kids had graciously moved in and were taking care of the kids. We all knew that my wife would have wanted them in their own surroundings. In the early evening my brother-in-law (wife's brother) and nurse 1 came running up to the cafeteria where I was eating to let me know that my wife had wiggled her toe on command.  Man was this huge! It was a small motion but a huge step in confirming that she was in there. They tried but did not succeed in getting her to do it again. Nurse 1 and another nurse felt that my wife was responsive to me since her heart beat slightly faster when I spoke to her. We were trying to give thanks each time something good happened and continue to pray that God’s will would be done. A new nurse came on duty at 7pm. Another friend stayed the night with me.

 

God was in control in what seemed like a slowly playing out nightmare......the doctors had forewarned that my wife could be in hospital for up to 6 months. They knew that this was a roller coaster ride with no sure treatment.