Wednesday, March 1

Today has been an up and down day for Shar.  She did well in the morning, so much so that they moved her out of the cardiac critical care unit and one floor up to the stroke care unit.  However, while in the second floor stroke unit she started having problems breathing during her physical therapy session.  Her blood pressure dropped and they stopped PT.  They ran some tests and found that her carbon dioxide had gone up again and was again in the critical range.  In addition, she has been diagnosed with pneumonia, along with a suspected urinary tract infection.  Because of this,they started her on antibiotics for both infections.  

The doctor is also putting her on the bipap breathing machine for the next 24 hours except when she is eating.  They want to try and do everything they can to get her carbon dioxide in a normal range.  The hope is that once the co2 is lowered and the infection is controlled, she will be able to start progressing again.  

While these are certainly set-backs, we keep reminding Shar of how far she has come.  Following her value replacement surgery and subsequent stroke, she was basically non-verbal and we weren't sure she would ever wake up again.  However, she has made incredible progress and still laughs at funny stories and jokes and her face still lights up when she sees family and friends, both in person and on facechat.  She has made excellent progress with her right side which was affected by the stroke.  Just today she used her right hand to grip a spoon and feed herself yogurt.  She wouldn't have been able to do this even a few days ago.  She also has been compliant with everything that the medical personnel ask of her - reading, working on following directions, taking medicine, etc.  We are very proud of how she has handled everything thrown at her, which wouldn't be possible without her faith and the many people who are praying for her.