October 22nd, End of Day

We've been learning a lot about head trauma. According to the medical staff (her neurosurgeon, trauma doctor, her dedicated trauma nurses: Heather, Trixie and Jennifer), the first 72 hours following the trauma are critical. When the brain has been bruised (as Amanda's was when the skull fractured) it is likely to swell. The danger is that extreme swelling creates pressure on the brain and more critically, brain stem (which controls the basic organ functions).

The staff is working to keep any swelling and related pressure under control. They have inserted a sensor into her head to monitor the inner cranial pressure (ICP) and some drain lines to remove any excess fluids. As well, they are working to make sure that the requirements on her brain are minimized. One of the ways they accomplish this is chemically inducing a coma. She is heavily sedated and receiving significant pain medications. She is not concious of her surroundings. She does not appear to be in distress or pain.

We have made it through the first 48 hours since the trauma and she appears to be holding steady right now. Although there is swelling, the trauma team and her neurologist seem to be o.k. with her current stats. The trauma team commented today that her clinical exam (the physical exam where they temporarily suspend sedation in order to test responsiveness, i.e. pinch her and wait for to move away) is better than her numbers would indicate. Her trauma doctor took this as a good sign.

Sunday visits will take us through the remaining portion of the critical 3 day period. We are hopeful that her stats remain steady to even potentially improving.

Currently, her husband Kurt, her brother Ron and her good friend Brenda are with her during every permissable hour. Since she's technically only permitted to have 2 visitors at a time, we've been lucky so far that they've let us all in. The nurses have said that no one knows for sure what she might or might not be able to hear or ultimately remember, but we are talking to her and encouraging her. We will read her any comments left on this site.

Since she is in ICU, she cannot receive flowers, balloons etc. The best thing anyone can for her now is send good karma, pray to your chosen diety (or dieties for the pagans amongst you) and wait for things to improve.