Brenda is still critical in medical/surgical ICU. The respiratory therapist has been trying towean her off of the ventilator. They tried the Cpack setting, so she was breathing in her own. She did this for a short period of time. The renial doctor reported that her kidney output was acceptable. However, she is not processing toxins so they are going to put her on hemoglobin dialysis today. Her heart rate is being controlled by medication, this will be done until they can get the Afib under control.[...]

Today, Brenda remains in the Surgical/Medical ICU on the Triadyne bed listed as critical. All her numbers remained stable. She is on a diuretic and off dialysis. She sat up in the stretch chair for an hour and 45 minutes. She did her first physical therapy, it was just the beginning steps. The speech therapist came in and worked with her today and her cultures are negative.[...]

Brenda is still in the Surgical/Medical ICU on the Triadyne bed, she is listed as critical. Her Ventilator number improved again and she has new setting, PEEP is now 5 and Oxygen remains at 35. Today the X-rays of her lungs show improvement. They changed her dressing this morning. At noon they stopped her Dialysis. The Renial doctor will be watching her kidney output. Her Hemoglobin was low, she received one unit of blood. Her white count went up today and they are taking a culture to determine the source. This afternoon her blood pressure went down and they gave her fluids to improve it. Some progress with lots of concerns about blood pressure. The doctors are watching this very closely. This certainly is a long trip with many highs and many lows.[...]

Brenda is still in the Surgical/Medical ICU today. Her Ventilator number improved again and she has new setting,  her PEP is now 8. The X-rays of her lungs show improvement as well. She is still on Dialysis, her rate has been increased to 200 per hour. She is tolerating this setting; heart rate and blood pressure are within the acceptable limits. Her burns are healing. They are scheduled to take cultures today and her results should be in tomorrow. John and Jack read to her the wonderful get well cards today. We are taking each day as a good day by accepting no regression, or a slight movement forward. We are keeping in mind that she has a long way to go.[...]

 Her Ventilator numbers have improved, her oxygen setting is 35 down from 45 and PEP is 12. The Xrays of her lungs show improvement from yesterday. She is still on Dialysis due the need to remove fluid, her rate of withdraw was increased from 100 to 150. She is tolerating this well, no increase in heart rate and her blood pressure remains steady. Her kidney's have not kicked in yet and they are in the process of changing her treatment plan. She is only receiving Heparin via the drip and other pain medication as necessary.They stopped the antibiotic drugs about 2 days ago and the anti fungal treatment will end tomorrow as this completes the 14th day of her treatment cycle. Her white cell count is up a little and tomorrow they will take cultures to verify there is no infection. If there is infection they will treat accordingly. Today is just one very small step in the long way home.[...]

Brenda was moved to the Triadyne bed in the ICU, which is similiar to the RotoProne, but it only moves the upper body 5 degrees. She is still on dialysis,  because there is more fluid to remove. Her kidney numbers are showing a slight improvement. All her numbers are in the acceptable range. They have reduced the amount of medication. She remains on the ventilator and she is receiving respatory treatments and dressing changes. She still has a long ways to go, but we take every little step forward.[...]

Brenda's first 24 hours on her back were successful. the doctors ordered and elimination of the paralytic anda sedation in order to prepare her for breathing on her own and to move her to the Triadyne bed. The move could occur sometime today. Her kidney numbers have improved. She is still on dialysis, this is to remove fluids drom her body. She is still recieving respatory therapy and dressing changes. [...]

Brenda has continued to show small signs of improvement, but we are only just getting started. The Respiratory Doctor decided this morning that after this 3 hour increment on her stomach, they will place her on her back for 24 hours. That adjustment will only last if she can tolerate it. They evaluate her tomorrow morning in order to make a desicion on treatment. Last night they started the CVVHD (24) dialysis. Her kidney numbers showed a slight improvement. Tomorrow, they will evaluate and make decision on this treatment as well. All the other treatments remain the same; dressing change, medication, and respiratory therapy every 4 hours.[...]

Brenda is showing signs of improvement, but she still has a long way to go. The doctors decided this morning to change the length of time she remains on her back to 9 hours. They changed the length of time on her stomach to 3 hours. At this time the medical team does not know how long she will remain on the RotoProne Therapy bed, the goal is to treat her until she can stay on her back. This afternoon, the Renial doctor will consult with the other members of her medical team as to when they will start the CVVHD (24 hour) dialysis. They are doing this because her kidney numbers have elevated again and the goal is to reduce the work load of the kidney, thus reducing her numbers. She still receives a dressing change twice a day, medication, and respatory therapy every 4 hours.[...]

The medical team reported some progress, but they pointed out that there is a long way to go. They did make one significant change to her treatment on the RotoProne Therapy bed. The change is that this afternoon they moved her onto her back for 6 hours, were as before it was 2 hours. She will remain that way as long as her breathing can tolerate it. That means she will spend 6 hours on her stomach and 6 hours on her back. Her urine output remains good. Her Kidney numbers increased slightly and they may decide to place her on a 24 hour dialysis tomorrow.[...]