Three Weeks

It's now been three weeks since Hyatt suffered her cardiac arrest and she is still in a minimally conscious state. Next Thursday will be a milestone significant to the neurological team. while they still consider her to be in the early stage of her coma, the odds of recovery fall sharply after four weeks. As the neurologist keeps reminding us; we will have to wait to see how she does in the next few weeks.

While we wait and pray, the medical team continues to stabilize Hyatt. They are now talking with us about the next stage; the move to a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) which will be able to care for her on a longer term basis. Over the next couple of weeks it is likely that the hospital will decide that Hyatt no longer requires the acute care they provide and she will be discharged to the SNF. The Case Manager has provided Troy with some candidate facilities and we will visit them to ensure they meet our high standards of care :-) Actually it is quite difficult to find a facility that will take a long term patient who is still dependent on a ventilator and we will be thankful if we can place Hyatt somewhere in this or the adjacent counties.

I visited with Hyatt last night. She looks comfortable and her color is great. The respiratory tech has been working with her to reduce the amount of support she needs from the ventilator. So far it has been going pretty well. She has a long way to go before she is breathing on her own, but she was drawing more breaths than the ventilator was supplying when I saw her last night and that's a great first step. She remains on a sedative to keep her comfortable so she is pretty calm. She does still react to light, sound, and touch. The nurse reported at our team conference that she is also responding to some generalized pain. This is seen as a positive development. While the prognosis has not changed, The neurologist agrees that we need to give her more time and not give up hope.

Troy has been working and is taking care of himself. He is definitely burning the candle at both ends, but seems to have found a balance. He is able to visit with Hyatt after work before heading home to spend some time with the girls.

I cannot thank all of you enough for the love, support, and most of all; prayers you have provided over what has seemed like a year. Please keep Hyatt and her family in your prayers.

Allen