Transition Number 5

Jackie’s night was fairly peaceful.  He took cat naps throughout the night.  Like clockwork, when 3am hit, the blood lab tech came into the room. After three long and painful stick attempts, I asked him to stop.  I can’t tell you how frustrating and painful it is for us to watch this process every morning.

Every hour since 7:30am, spinal fluid has been drained from Jackie’s Lumbar drain.  This will continue throughout the night.  Our neurosurgeon should be stopping by first thing  tomorrow  to  let us know next steps.  I will be glad when this process is over and the Lumbar drain is removed. Ultimately we are testing Jackie’s body’s ability to process extra spinal fluid.  Our bodies do this naturally, Jackie’s head trauma has created extra fluid that we are hoping will take care of itself.  This week will be telling and will help the docs determine our next steps.

Since Jackie’s vitals have been stable, PTL, we were released from the ICU to the Intermediate ICU.  We are literally right down the hall from where we were.  The patient to nurse ratio is a little higher but Jackie will not receive the constant vital sign checks.  Transitions always come with questions and apprehension, but we are hoping this one will be smooth.

Hard to believe this is the start of our 8th week in the hospital, with less than 24 hours spent at Magee.  Jim and I are starting to feel like we are part of the nursing staff.  I’m sure many of the nurses wish we were not here, but since Jackie can’t talk, it is so important that we are his voice.

Thank you for caring about Jackie, praying for Jackie and for going through this journey with him.  He will be amazed by those of you who will be right there with him, cheering him over the finish line!