Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Hearts are Hurting IV

Here's the latest encouraging news, written by Kori's father, Tim:

An echocardiogram was performed on Kori this morning and the results were very encouraging. Dr. Benton said that the function of the left side of her heart had increased to approximately 20% and that he was very pleased with her progress and how rapidly it had come. They will do another one on Friday. He wants her sedated when it is done, but they are bringing her out of sedation right now and I believe they will take her off the ventilator and get the tubes out her her throat. They will have to put her under and back on the ventilator on Friday to perform the echocardiogram, but Dr. Benton said it would be worth it to have her able to talk for the next 2 days. They did a heart biopsy yesterday, but the results of it won't be back for 2-3 more days. Dr. Benton said Kori was definitely moving in the right direction.

Even though Kori has been sedated, we are still able to communicate on a limited basis. She moves her tongue for "yes" and even though they have her paralized to restrict her movement, she can shake her head slightly for "no." She indicated that her neck hurt, so I was rubbing it. When I stopped, she said "no." Her 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. nurse that we really like was to be off for the next few days, but she cancelled all of her plans so she can continue working with Kori. She is remarkable.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Resa,
A friend passed this blog along to me and I wanted to write you and hope you could pass along some information. I too have PPCM like your friend. There is a site, www.amothersheart.org with one of the leading physicians in the WORLD concerning PPCM. His name is Dr James Fett and is always willing to work with other doctors to help save a life. My email address is Luvnlala@aol.com if you would like to contact me directly or have her family contact me. I would love to be able to visit her page and read her updates if you have that available and could email me the info. I am praying for your friend and can feel the families pain. God Bless.
Tish from SC