Thursday Update at 6:57 pm CT

Well, we are still hanging out here at the ICU at Vandi. Heather is very fatigued in the day time and is restless at night. It seems like the hypersensitivity in her arms and legs has calmed down just a little bit, though. Her doctor was in this morning, and said he was going to refer her to Stallworth for an evaluation before they send her back to the facility. He said rather than send her there and them possibly send her back, he asked for them to come and access her. The nurse practitioner from Stallworth came by and didn’t feel like she is quite ready to go. Heather has been maintaining a heart rate of 120-130 while sitting up eating, and that is moderate activity, not physical activity like she will undergo at rehab. The nurse practitioner wanted to talk with the doctor over at Stallworth. She also requested that they do more therapy, and that they get Heather in her Neuro chair again here at Vandi to see what her heart does with exertion. She said she has to be able to handle the 3 hours per day of extensive therapy at Stallworth. We aren’t sure, yet, when they think she can go over, but we want her to be able to do what she needs to do once she gets there. The extreme tiredness is adding another issue to the problems. They increased the medicine this morning and her heart has stayed down most of the day around 110-115, but now we battle the tiredness. I’m reminded of the verse in the Bible that says, "I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope." Psalms 130:5. We are just hanging out here waiting. The Lord is just giving her more time to heal. Rest is a great healer. Good news for today is that she finally had her repeat swallow test and she PASSED!!!!!! Peanut butter and jelly for supper and is she ever excited!!!!! She still has a little trouble with water, but they said to take it slow and have her lean her head down into her chest as she swallows. She did well with everything else and has been taking her medication by mouth for a week now. One of the Physical Therapist who had worked with Heather here in ICU had not heard that she was back in the hospital. She walked all the way over to Stallworth to visit her, and found out she wasn’t there so she came all the way back to Vandi to find us. She is pictured here with Heather in the Atrium. Continue to pray that Heather will continue to get stronger, that her heart will settle down and also that she will be able to overcome this tiredness and restlessness at night.