https://www.carepages.com/carepages/sweetcaroline25
July 25, 2007 Carrie was in a car accident. She has never fully recovered from this, but had been showing great promise. She has had so many operations on her brain.
This is the last update from her mother this morning at 6am:
Hello,
Thank you for your many prayers for Carrie over this long journey.
We have had some things going on that need even more prayer.
She had her surgery last Wednesday and all went well. The surgeon said that he was able to remove all the old skull sections, remove the brackets and screws, etc., and replace with a new and stronger prosthetic piece, held in place by even more brackets. Her hair had been clipped ahead of time, and they did not need to cut it more, and that was good. He said it is a good thing we did the surgery, since the brackets and screws were probably painful. And that the new piece was a good fit and looked very symmetrical.
All was going well, although she was very sleepy. I had promised Sam that I would type a paper for him, so Den and I, and our friend Katie, left the hospital at 7:30. Nurse Diane stayed with Carrie that night. Shortly after we got on the elevator, I received a call from Diane, but the signal dropped. I just assumed she wanted me to bring something tomorrow. When we got to the parking lot, I had the phone in my hand to return her call, but by then she called Dennis. She said that Carrie was having a seizure and that there were a lot of people in the room.
We hurried back, but it still took several minutes, navigating the halls and elevators of two hospitals. Carrie was indeed having quite a seizure when we arrived. It was startling, dramatic, and VERY scary. They were able to stop things with medicine called Adavan. Then she slept.
So that was very unsettling. She'd never had a seizure before, and I sure didn't know what to expect. She had a very high heart rate, was very stiff, shaking, high blood pressure, and made an unusual sound while breathing.
Our neurosurgeon came to the hospital and ordered a CT scan. It showed that there was some fluid and air collected in the area under the new prosthetic piece and was probably the culprit. He said that removing the section that had been pressing on her brain for so long probably shifted things and may have caused the seizure. That explanation seemed good. There was not much blood in that area, so that was good news. He said it is not a setback and does not mean that she will have seizures the rest of her life (I had already leapfrogged ahead in my thinking, so his words were a relief).
Still, it was very unsettling. We were "shell-shocked" for many days. There was an EEG done the next morning that also had encouraging results-no lingering epileptic activity. So they did not call this a seizure, but a pseudo-seizure.
We had to stay another day in the hospital. We arranged for some of our nurses to be with her. I was so thankful that Diane was with her when it happened.
We were able to leave on Friday afternoon. Carrie was still very lethargic. I was assured that that was because of the surgery, the seizure, the drugs she was on, etc. We were convinced that she would do better once we got home. She had a quick bath and shampoo and all of her familiar care once we got home.
Things were going well, although we had reason to be concerned. She just seemed so different. She didn't have head control, trunk control, and didn't move in her usual ways. Plus, now her right eye had swelled shut. By Saturday evening the left eye was swollen as well. I called the doctor, since the swelling was moving so fast, and he said that that sometimes happens, and it should be better in a couple of days.
Sunday morning, I had to run to church and when I got back, Dennis was with her and was on the phone to Pastor, who was praying. I said, what's going on??? The nurse informed me that she had had an episode where her breathing got real hard and she had a high heart rate. So, coupled with my uneasiness from the day before, I decided she needed to go to the ER.
I called our doctor again and he said we should go to the ER at St. Mary's in Grand Rapids. Den had taken the kids to church by then, so Nurse Diane met us at the house. We had gotten Carrie ready in record time. We are thankful for clear roads and low traffic, since I drove over 90 mph at some times.
We had our pulse ox on Carrie and her heart rate got very high--in the 170s and 180s. She had what I would call labored breathing. Her oxygen level stayed good, though.
We were thankful to arrive at the hospital and quickly got her in. The staff at St. Mary's ER was absolutely wonderful. I have never met such caring doctors and nurses through this difficult time in a hospital. The ER doc and nurse stayed with her the whole time. It turns out she was having more seizures. I hadn't even thought of that, since I expected that if she had another one, it would be dramatic like the first.
They gave her some drugs to calm the seizures down, but that was difficult. She had another CT scan and by then our neurosurgeon met us there. He showed us the side by side comparison between the one taken Wednesday night and the one taken that morning. There was significant difference. Now it looked like there was increased air and fluid in the cavity under the prosthetic piece and it was exerting pressure on the brain and moving it. Most likely, it was this pressure that caused the unusual symptoms and seizures. He proposed that he do a procedure where they drill a hole in the prosthetic piece and insert a catheter to relieve the pressure and drain off the fluid.
The procedure was done in the ER and it went well. He said that there was a gush of air as her bored through and that was a good sign. They did a follow-up CT scan to check the placement, and that was also good.
Our ER nurse was so kind to Carrie and to us, taking the time to always explain what was being done, and assuring us that she was getting the best possible care, and that she would stay right with her. She told us that it was a "God-thing" that we came in when we did, since our doctor was there, the neurologist came and had never been seen on weekends before, and that she had no other patients, plus she had a background in neuro ICU.
Still, I was scared and shaken. They assured us that we did the right thing by bringing her there and that it was a good thing I followed my "mom instincts".
The neurosurgeon was pleased at how the procedure went. He said that it is a setback, but it isn't the end of the world. So I tell myself those words. The ER nurse was nice, too, to say that she had a real good feeling that we'd have our Caroline back in a couple of weeks.
Carrie was admitted to the ICU and will be there at least a couple of days. She is on a large mixture of anti-seizure drugs: propofol (Michael Jackson's fave), adavan, dylantin, restoral, keppra, and a powerful antibiotic, vancomycin. They want her to stay asleep until the seizure activity slows down. She was still having seizures even after the procedure, and I don't understand that. They said that they are releasing the pressure slowly, so it isn't a big change for her brain.
She is on a ventilator. Sometime a side effect of the drugs is a detriment to the airway, so they decided to put her on a vent. She has a catheter. Her face is swollen and she has a catheter coming out of her head. She doesn't move. She is in an ICU. She has lots of drugs going in. She has formula feeding.
So.....it is all like the days following her accident. It is hard to see.
Now they are checking her for infection, since she has been running a low grade fever.
I never thought we would have to go down this terrible road again.
She slept all afternoon until we left around 8 last night. Her heart rate was still in the 120s-130s. Dennis stayed with her last night. I appreciate him!!
So, please pray for wisdom for all, for continued healing, that the seizure activity stops completely, etc.
Thank you.
-Mary
Then this afternoon we received this:
Hi, this is Louise Grant and am sending this since Mary sent the orginal email this morning. Since then Dennis has called me with a urgent prayer. Carrie has had a stroke and the Dr. have her on some meds. to rest . They are just waiting for things to calm down a bit before they make any decisions. Pray for Dennis and Mary for wisdom and comfort and peace. thank you so much for praying forthe Hardy's they are so grateful. For those of you who can not see them let me tell you they are an amazing team. They are wonderful through this and continue to hold the name of Jesus high. your sister in Christ Louise
Please pray that this stroke would not affect her progress in anyway! This family has been through so much with her and has just finished an addition on their house for Carrie. Pray that she would be healed.
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