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- At the Docs now waiting from some good test results... 2010-10-26
- @DaynuhDoo Jujube, yummy! in reply to DaynuhDoo 2010-10-21
- @kevinsmith08 I bet a bottle of cab would even sound more enticing! 2010-10-01
- More updates...
Yearly Archives: 2005
Home For Christmas
We couldn’t believe it when Dr. Ginns came into Amber’s room today and said that Dr. Wain was so impressed today with her bronchoscopy, done this morning, that she could go home! He said that Amber is way ahead of the usual healing process. The home health care team spent the better part of the [...]
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First Shower
Amber wanted to let everyone know that she took her 1st shower yesterday (45 minutes) and said it has never felt better! She seems back to her normal self, calling me several times a day, placing food orders with us to bring in when we visit and as always asking a million questions about THE [...]
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She’s Amber
To all who love Amber: I am Amber’s aunt and I’ve known her for her entire life. It’s been my sincere pleasure to provide you with information about how Amber has been healing, and to some degree, try to relate to you what she’s experiencing. We’ve gotten wondeful feedback from many people who are following [...]
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Moving Forward
Amber continues to move forward on her healing path. She is off the sedation medication completely and is more lucid than she’s been since surgery. The nurses insist that she get out of bed and into a sitting chair several times per day and she has to breathe into a spirometeer, which measures her lung [...]
Posted in Transplant Journey 3 Comments
Breathing On Her Own
Amber had her breathing tube taken out this morning and she’s breathing on her own, with her new lungs
Today will be an anniversary for her and we will remember it, vividly. We have been excitedly awaiting this day, knowing that now she can proceed more rapidly with her recuperation. She is doing really well, [...]
Posted in Transplant Journey 1 Comment
Breathing Tube Out?
Hello everyone, Amber is doing really well, considering that she is still intubated, sedated and in the ICU. She is quite weak and still goes from being “awake” with her eyes open to asleep the next minute. All her vitals are great – she has less secretions, her temperature has been normal, her kidneys are [...]
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Waking Up
Over the past several days, Amber’s “waking up” has been a difficult process. The nurses work to find a balance with the medication to allow her to be up, yet not aggitated. Since she is not yet ready to have her breathing tube removed, her awake times are very uncomfortable. Her medications also make her [...]
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ICU Psychosis
The nurses said that Amber was awake much of the night last night. Today she is rather tired and seems to be in a state of what’s called “ICU psychosis”. It is normal for someone to be disoriented when they’ve been on narcotics and their sense of day and night, or time, is confused. Dr [...]
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Ventilator Turned Down
Today, Friday, Amber is sleeping and resting on and off. Her ventilator settings have been turned down today and the doctors will be watching how her new lungs respond to having less resistance support. As the ventilator settings keep getting adjusted down and it supplies less and less support, she will eventually be breathing under [...]
Posted in Transplant Journey 1 Comment
Nine Days Later
It’s amazing to see the progress Amber has made in the last week. last Thursday wew were begging to see her baby blues open- now we can’t get her to stay asleep for more than a couple of hours at a time. As Susie has said, the chest tubes are coming out gradually. hopefully this [...]
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Her Eyes Are Open
Hi everyone, today Amber is the most awake that she’s been since surgery. her eyes are open, she is communicating more with her nurses and she is still very uncomfortable with the breathing tube and her position in bed. It’s a positive thing that she’s more cognizant, though she will probably remember this [...]
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Her Signs Are Good
Today Amber remains in stable condition. Her signs are good, she is breathing with minimal help from the ventilator and she moves in and out of various stages of awakeness. The doctors removed 2 of her chest drain tubes, but there are no other changes planned for now, that we know of. The nurses use [...]
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We Love You
Today Amber continues to float between sedation and awakeness. It is in her best interest to spend more and more time awake, however, it is very uncomfortable for Amber. She has been lying basically in the same position since her surgery so she is sure to feel stiffness and discomfort. The breathing tube in the throat [...]
Posted in Transplant Journey 3 Comments
We Will Remember For Her
Amber continues to do well with her recovery. Her tidal volemes have improved, her oxygen saturation is good and her pulmonary artery pressure is stable. The doctors were able to remove a line that was monitoring this pressure, which is a good sign. Each monitor and line she is able to shed moves her closer [...]
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The Lion Sleeps Tonight
“The lion sleeps tonight”, and today. The nurses have had to give Amber mega doses of sedatives to keep her down. They are amazed at her levels, given her small body mass. As a child, she hated having to go to sleep. Her parents tell a story about how one night she cried and kicked [...]
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Vulnerable State
Today Amber is sleeping restfully due to the heavy doses of sedatives she’s being given. Is is still important for her to remain in this induced coma, (as we like to call it, sleeping) state and will be so for a couple more days. We patiently await the time for her to be extubated (remove [...]
Posted in Transplant Journey 5 Comments
Vital Signs Are Holding Steady
Today Amber’s vital signs are holding steady and everyone is still impressed, relieved and amazed at how well she’s doing. She continues to try to wake up from the incredible amount of sedation she is under, but at this stage, she still needs to be kept asleep while the doctors slowly wean her off the [...]
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Continuing To Do Well
Amber is continuing to do well. She has been taken off her blood pressure medicine and is doing fine without it so far. The doctors are hoping to gradually reduce her reliability on the ventilator over the next couple of days. The nurse told Laurie that she woke up again during the night, even though [...]
Posted in Transplant Journey 6 Comments
Amber Remains Stable
Amber remains stable and well cared for in the Surgical Intensive Unit (SICU) at MGH. Her room is a positive pressure room designed to keep out germs since her immune system is suppressed in order to prevent rejection of the new lungs. We are able to watch her sleep from behind glass doors and send [...]
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Email From Aunt Susie
Hi all, we wanted to let you know that Amber is doing very well. All the love and support is amazing and the energy is most definitely felt here. Last night 20 membes of the family and friends were at the hospital until after midnight waiting to hear the results of her transplant surgery. Today, [...]
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Amber Remains Heavily Sedated
The latest is that Amber is doing very well. her primary doctor said that she is extremely optimistic. Amber remains heavily sedated (not conscious) and stable. She remains on the breathing machine.
My opinion is that this means the concern of post-operative bleeding or complications from the surgical technique are minimal if not eliminated all together. [...]
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Amber’s Operation Finished
Amber’s operation finished around 12:15 AM. Her surgeon said she did very well and they are very peased with the function of the new lungs. She did have to go on cardiopulmonary byupass for a while during transplantation of the second lung.
Currently she is in the surgical intensive care unit and stable. She is receiving [...]
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First Transplant Surgery
Laurie called me and gave me updated information. She will call back periodically to update me so I can update the forum.
Amber went into surgery around 1:00 PM today. The lungs arrived around 6:00 PM. She is doing very well and the nurse said the emvironment in the operating rom is very positive. The first [...]
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She Is Out!