ICU #11

Linda is fairly stable now but we're back in the woods for a while. We had a rough night. Last night at about 7:30 she developed a bleed internally and 'bled out' and that caused her heart to stop and blood pressure to plummet. Fortunately Stephanie (nurse) and Atta (3rd year med student) were by Linda's bedside and got The Team there quickly - they performed CPR for 20 minutes while they tried to replenish her blood supply. Once her heart had started up again, they took her to the OR and re-opened her incision - found the splenic artery had torn (maybe because of the pancreatitis) and the surgeon sewed it up. She came through this okay but the surgeon was still worried about whether the stitches would hold and whether there were other compromised arteries, so an angiogram was scheduled. They embolized (clotted) the artery and found no other compromised arteries and she was back in the ICU by about 1:30. The next 72 hours are critical - to tell whether any of her organs were damaged by the heart failure and whether the CPR kept enough oxygen going to the brain. We called Deb and she and Sean drove here arriving at 4. We just got back from the hospital - Linda's heart rate and blood pressure are stable and her kidneys are working and her pupils look okay.  We are so thankful she was still in ICU where help came quickly. Yes - pray for our Linda.