The past week my sister Mia has been in Cortland with our dad. She’s done a ton for his health and his regiment. She is a powerhouse of momentum and motivation. I know it’s been a little while since I last posted about Mom’s condition. She has written a beautiful update
ICU: Day 26 (September 13)
Forward is a pace.
It's been a quiet week with little nibbles of progress, but forward is a pace, and we will take it.
All last week (Sept 3-7), Mom continued to have seizures. They exhausted her, so when they would finish, she was sleepy and confused and would need to rest. That's where the last update on Sept 5th left off.
Things didn't improve through the weekend. In essence, the anti-seizure meds were not working. On Sept 8th, her medical team decided to give her body and her brain time to rest. They intubated her and gave her a 48-hour ketamine drip. This therapy intended to give her brain a reset which would, they hoped, stop the seizures and set the conditions for her brain to respond to the anti-seizure meds. On Tuesday (9/10), the ketamine infusion concluded, and they weaned her off. She was still intubated and sedated, so they began the process of slowly pulling her out of sedation enough to get her to take over breathing on her own so they could pull out the intubation. As of last night (9/12), she was still intubated but had taken over breathing on her own. She also started to move her arm, which means she was coming out of sedation! And, even better news, the ketamine seemed to work; we haven't had any reports of seizures. So, like we said, forward is a pace, and we hope that our update later this weekend will have more good news!
I flew in on Monday (9/10) and spent the week helping Dad recharge and refresh.
This is a marathon toward healing, not a sprint. Our focus with Dad is good sleep, healthy meals, and body movement to fuel his body, energy, and spirit so he can continue supporting Mom.
So many folks have brought over meals and cookies (he loves the cookies!) and cards. and they are all bundled with love. We are forever grateful to each of you for your outpouring of support for our family. As folks wonder what we might need, we ask you to think of our priorities with dad: good sleep, healthy meals, and body movement. Asking Dad to breakfast or seeing if you can stop by after dinner for a cool autumn chat in the backyard or perhaps a walk around the block will refill his cup with good conversation and friendship. That's what he needs from all of us to provide balance and calm and healthy distraction.
If you are wanting to bring food over for dad, we ask that you consider just sharing a portion of what you are already making for yourself that evening. As general guidelines, if you want to bring over a dinner for Dad, we are respectfully asking the following:
- High protein and veg meals (we love the pastas, but he's gotten so much! Plus, the protein and veg fuel the body better for this endurance stuff!)
- One individual serving, or at most two
- Delivered in a disposable container so he can toss it when it's done
If you want any more guidelines or to chat about what sorts of things he might enjoy, don't hesitate to reach out to me (mia.reisweber@gmail.com) and I will coordinate the best day to bring it over.
Jake heads to Cortland mid next week to spend some time with Dad, and help us plan for the next phase, whenever Mom enters it.
Thank you for your continued love and thoughts and messages. We are so grateful to be part of such a global family.
Mia Riesweber