Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 1:30 am
Day 6 in the PICU did not go as expected, but I cannot say that it was a bad day. The plan was to attempt to remove the ventilator from Christopher and begin the process of ‘waking him up’ but that plan had to be placed on hold. He had been trying to cough quite a bit on Monday evening, which really seems to agitate him. This was causing his numbers to fluctuate, so they finally threw in the towel around midnight and upped his sedatives and gave him a partial dose of the paralytic to get him settled down. His fever also spiked at 104 degrees, so they put him back on a cooling blanket in an attempt to bring it down. There are two possible reasons for the fever. They took a culture from his cranial/spinal fluid and found contaminants...it is not likely to be meningitis but they are treating it as such. There is also concern about pneumonia because of excess thick mucus in his lungs and some shading on one side. He is on antibiotics for pneumonia and Dr. Newman said that she actually believes that they are correct in that assumption.
In the morning, Dr. Sun, the Neurologist made the decision to remove both the pressure monitor and the EVD, the tube that was draining fluid from Christopher’s brain. Apparently pressure concerns are less relevant than his behavior, which has been viewed as positive. Dr. Sun said that he is no longer concerned about swelling and bleeding in his brain. Now that the pressure monitor is gone, we are free from our ongoing obsession to ‘watch the numbers.’ (photo of Paul 'watching the numbers' while calming Christopher) I must say that I feel as if I have been released from my duty to watch and report on those ever-important numbers!
Because Christopher is doing such a good job of regulating his body now, the blood pressure medication has been discontinued, as well as the paralytic drug. These are all such wonderful things and are part of the move toward ‘waking him up.’ When I asked if that was going to happen tomorrow (Wednesday), I was told that it would be unlikely. They want to give him another day to rest and to continue to maintain his temperature at a normal level.
This evening I had the privilege of assisting his nurse, Reena in the bathing process. As she washed his hair and gave him a sponge bath, I washed his hands and feet and trimmed his nails. I don’t remember the last time I bathed this child. This might sound odd, but it was a very sweet and intimate moment. We talked soothingly to Christopher as we washed and groomed him, teasing that he was receiving spa treatments. He periodically squeezed my hand, giving me the distinct impression that he knew it was me, his mother who was so lovingly caring for him.
I have been asked by many of you with whom I haven’t spoken on the phone (which is about 95%) what exactly happened the day of Christopher’s accident. I wrote about it last week as I sat in the PICU that very first night, about 15 feet away from him, but never sent it out to everyone, so here it is…This is a photo of the tree he was climbing before he fell. The branch laying in the bark is the one that broke off and when he fell, he landed with his legs on the rocks and his torso and head hanging over the curb and into the street.
Written on Thursday, April 22, 2010, 4:30 am
These things don’t happen to me, to my family. At least that’s what I thought prior to 6:30 yesterday evening. My husband, Paul was still in San Francisco, planning to work late; Emily was getting ready to go to youth group; I was in the midst of reading a book and my youngest child, Christopher had called me about 20 minutes earlier to tell me that he and his friends were out in the neighborhood, looking for some good trees to climb. “That’s fine,” I said… “just be home by 6:30.” The dogs were sleeping by the fire and were startled out of their slumber when a knock came frantically on the front door. I looked up and saw a woman that I didn’t know standing there, calling out to me, “Are you Christopher Ackerman’s mother?” It was odd. She kept saying that and waving me over to the door. I set my book down and hurried over there. When I opened the door, she asked me again if I was Christopher’s mother and then proceeded to tell me that he had been hurt, very badly…it was very serious, and the paramedics had been called. Silly me…I assumed that he had broken a limb, and “very serious” meant that there was bone protruding through the skin.
Emily and I quickly hopped in the car and drove the 2 blocks down to where he was. What I saw when I arrived on the scene is something a mother knows is possible but always prays she will never see. There was already a crowd gathered. Christopher was lying on the ground but I didn’t know until I arrived by his side that he was unconscious. There was a man kneeling on the ground and holding his head and neck steady. He told me that he had previously been an EMT and that Christopher had been unresponsive since he’d arrived. His friends, Alex and Logan said that he had fallen out of a tree when a branch broke off. Unfortunately, the ground below the tree was not forgiving…there are large rocks set in cement and the asphalt of the street. Amazingly, this man who was there by my son’s side told me that he had driven by the boys just minutes before the accident. As he passed by them, he thought to himself that what they were doing looked dangerous, but he continued on. After driving about 50 yards further, he decided to turn around, go back and talk with them. By the time he returned, Christopher had just fallen and he found himself immersed in the situation. I will forever be grateful to him for following his instinct and being there by Christopher’s side and for the wonderful neighbor who drove to my house and pounded on my door in search of the mother of this unconscious child.
While we were waiting for the paramedics, who Christopher’s friends had beckoned by calling 911 within about 5 seconds of his fall, Emily began calling people to let them know what was happening. Soon the medics arrived, assessed the situation, stabilized him and loaded him into the ambulance to take him to the waiting helicopter. After many attempts by the paramedics and my neighbors to let them drive me to the hospital, they finally acquiesced and let me drive myself. That trip to Oakland Children’s Hospital was filled with prayers, tears and phone calls. Paul arrived at about the same time as Emily and I, and we were escorted into a room to meet with a social worker. Paul, of course fought that, saying that we had no need for a social worker and almost got himself escorted right out of the hospital in the process! We were able to peek in on Christopher as we passed the room he was in and had the opportunity to speak with the paramedics who had cared for him while being transported via helicopter. They told us that en route to the hospital, Christopher had begun to awaken and they saw him move both arms and legs. This was very encouraging to hear. They had to sedate him immediately to keep him stable, but it was such a relief to hear that he had ‘come to’ after so much time of being unresponsive.
The first test that was run on Christopher was a CT-Scan. We spent some time with Sandy, our very kind social worker and then found ourselves in the waiting room with friends who had so kindly dropped everything and come to the hospital to be by our sides. Emily and I both posted Christopher’s status on our facebook walls and were overwhelmed by the compassion of friends and family in comments sent to us via text, e-mail and phone calls. Being surrounded by friends was so comforting….
Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 2:00 am
Little did we know how very familiar the elevators, halls, waiting rooms, cafeteria (otherwise known as “The Friendly Café”) and PICU of Children’s Hospital would become to us, nor did we know how VERY surrounded physically we would be on a daily basis by friends as time marched on. Little did we know how humbled we would find ourselves by the outpouring of support by friends, family, friends of friends, friends of family, churches, humanitarian organizations, mother’s groups, entire communities, both here and around the world as we continue to receive literally hundreds of e-mails and text messages on a daily basis. Little did we know how amazing the staff here at Children’s Hospital would be as they cared for our precious child day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute.
Little did I know that I would find a friend in a physician with the knowledge of a scholar and a heart of gold. Today after Dr. Newman and I finished discussing Christopher’s condition, she humbled me by saying that she felt honored to have met our family and to be Christopher’s physician. She then told me that once Christopher is out of the PICU, she would like to have a cup of coffee with me and discuss her plans for my future… She told me that she has something in mind for me and then chuckled at my reaction, which was, “I’m intrigued.” I then told her that she had no idea what has transpired in my life during the past 12 months, and that had she said something like this to me a year ago, I would have smiled and politely told her “thanks, but no thanks.” But today? I can’t wait to have that cup of coffee with Dr. Newman… If you are not already aware of the personal journey that I have found myself on over the previous year, you might find yourself entertained by reading my earlier posts here on my blog.
I can tell that the adrenalin is decreasing in my body because it is only 2:10 am and I am exhausted and ready for sleep. It is my turn to sleep by Christopher’s bedside and while I know that it will be a short and fitful night’s sleep, I also know that when sleep does overtake me, there will be a sense of calm and peace, knowing that I am right where I am supposed to be.
Love, Laura
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