Kay - October 12, 2008

Another Anacortes update and another visit to the ER:

Greetings,

Local church friends Jim and Edith Sparks were visiting with Kay and Sarah Thursday afternoon enjoying some pie and ice cream at the dining room table when they noticed that Kay’s head was drooping and her mouth was open and when they all tried to rouse her she was completely unresponsive. Paramedics were called immediately and another stressful and scary transport to Island Hospital’s ER was underway. Kay began to respond a little bit by the time they had her in the ambulance and Sarah called me as soon as they were on their way. We thank the Lord for placing Jim and Edith here to help Sarah through yet another troubling and difficult moment. Was this to be the moment of Kay’s departure? We always wonder during moments like that.

I won’t go into detail about the specifics in the ER, but the conclusion after they stabilized her was that she had experienced a sudden drop in blood pressure. The Dr. offered a few reasons why this may have occurred and the most likely one related to an instability and sudden change in her bowels that occurs occasionally in “neurologically sensitive” older people. There is a name for the occurrence but I cannot recall what it is, it has nothing to do with constipation or anything like that, she is pretty regular, trust me!!

The Dr. had another initial suspicion, which was ruled out after monitoring her vitals for a while and that was toxicity from a possible build up of one of her meds (Lanoxin). That is not a level that is checked regularly like Coumadin, so we never would have thought of that. The mysteries of drugs and the human body never end. Speaking of drugs, I think I could use some more caffeine right about now!

In conclusion of this episode, Kay was released to us after a few hours of observation and treatment. They gave her Atavin to ease the agitation of being worked over in the ER, which made her a bit loopy and didn’t quite relax her physically as much as we would have liked, but she wound down eventually and slept well through the night. She’s doing ok now in that usual bounce back way of hers. We plan on a follow up appt. with her personal Dr. to check her out. We’ll keep you posted.

Still no definite decision as to which way we intend to go with continued long term care as God continues to grant her life. There really are only 3 options as I see it. That is another topic for another update, to be continued…

Love you all,

Tim, Sarah, and Kay