jenallenbenefit

First off I would like to thank each and everyone of you on this e-mail and those others that have prayed or thought about Jennifer during this time. Most of you have been involved in some way shape or form from the beginning of this ordeal on May 2nd. Hard to believe it has been almost a year.

Jennifer has gone thru a great deal in the past couple of days. There is good news. My sleeping beauty has awoken from her nap and is very receptive to me. She is very frustrated with the nurses and the machines running, especially the tube down her throat. She knows what is going on and has had a couple smiles on her face when I tell her little things about the kids. she did tell us that she was not feling any pain. They started a pain med drip just in case though.

The Neurosurgeon came in today and said the Cat Scan looked good and there was no sign of damage. He also said that she is responding well and that is also very good. They are holding off on the Lumbar Puncture (LP) due to some issues with her blood. Having her on the Kidney machine is helping her, but is preventing them from doing the LP. This test would measure the pressure in her head and they would also be able to test the fluid for Infection.

The Infection team also came by today. They said her white cell count is down from yesterday. They don't know about the spinal until they can do the LP. They did say that no infections have grow from any of the recent cultures. This is a good thing.

They last cardiac scan only showed about 10-15% output from her heart. They said the there was no blockage and there was no infection or viruses present at the openings of the heart. We can only hope that this is not a true estimate and the machine is wrong.

I was told by two of the Nurses that take care of her breathing machine that she is doing great. She is back to a normal level and is getting better everyday. Hopefully she will be able to get the tube out soon. They are really only feeding her Oxygen right now. She is breathing on her own.

Kidney levels were very high. Her Kreatnin (sp) should be .6 to 1.0. She topped out at 5.5. Maybe higher, I am not sure. The Dialysis is helping those levels come down. Her Liver is getting a little better too. Everyday they come in with something else to balance her levels out. It seems never ending.

Thanks and God Blees
Tom Allen

Hello Everyone,
I skipped a day of not updating everyone. I am very sorry for this. You all have been very supportive and you amaze me everyday with all the love and kindness you send our way. I hope that one day I can repay you all with that same love and kindness.

This has been a rollercoaster ride these past couple of days. When Jennifer awoke the other night, it took a load off my shoulders. Just the chance to see a smile on her face made my week.

She has been on sedation a little more yesterday and even more today. She was still a little stir crazy from having the tube in her mouth, so they and I felt it best to keep her asleep for the next couple of days. Last night she started to breathe a little harder and stop and take breaks. They finally turned up the breathing machine and gave her a chance to rest. They stated that with all the fluid on her body it may make it harder for her heart and lungs to work. They turned up the return on the dialysis machine to remove some of the built up fluid.

We have again been blessed with some good news. The doctor sat down with me today for the first time. He told me that Jennifer may not have to have dialysis for the rest of her life. He said that he is sure that she will be able to regain the kidney functions again. He also said that they are going to try some heart meds on her soon and see if they can get the heart working a little bit better. The heart could have an infection but he said that they normally end up treating the heart and getting it to go away before they can ever find out what the infection was. The lung functions are looking better and her Liver is almost normal again. The Kidneys still keep coming down in levels and are producing a little more urine. He hopes to be able to do a Spinal tap early next week to see about the infection in the Spinal fluid. The tube down her throat may be able to come out early next week to check and see if Jen can breathe on her own. He told me they would see if she could and if not they would recommend a tracheotomy.

Now for some not so great news. She is having some very small amounts of blood come up from her breathing tube. They told me it is normal and I figure with all the moving around she did that she may have torn some tissue. They also stuck a small item down the tube today to take a culture from inside her lungs. They are checking for any potential infections or viruses. The bleeding was noticed after that so that may have been the cause too. The infections doctors told me that the white cell count was up to 17 this morning from 11 to 12 yesterday. They are still disturbed by this as they have no idea what is going on.

That is really all for now. It seems like a lot, but it really didn’t take much time to get that information. Several people have been by and several are planning trip to see Jennifer. I want to thank you for this and let you know if you are traveling over to have a safe trip and be very careful. If you get here and I am not here just have the assistant call room #404 in the family house.

Thanks and God Bless
Tom Allen

Hello Everyone,

I hope that all is good with you and your families. This time has given me an opportunity to see the way people come together in time of need. It truly is amazing too see the outpouring of love from so many people. I always knew that Jennifer was loved by the kids and me, but now I know it is a much broader scope than that. I can’t thank all of you enough.

Today was a relatively slow day for Jennifer. They tried to change out her Dialysis line but were unable. When they changed her IV line she started to bleed excessively. They knew this was going to happen so they had given her some Plasma prior. The Plasma was supposed to help her blood clot up. They were able to get the IV to stop bleeding. They then decided not to try the Dialysis catheter. They were trying to change it out to see if this would help to bring down her White Cell count. So hopefully in a couple days this will get better and they can change its location.

I think they are going to try and see tomorrow about taking her breathing tube out. Not sure if they are going to give her a chance to try it on her own or if they are just going to put the trake (sp) line in.

The numbers on her Kidneys came down again. They are now 2.3. Other numbers that had been explained to me earlier are coming down as well. However, there are still some numbers that puzzle the doctors because they are not coming down. It seems as though it is a very fine line they have to travel in order to keep everything in balance.

Her heart rate meds did there job and she now is running a good lower heart rhythm. Again though the blood pressure was not supposed to come down very much, but it did. It’s a very fine line.

I told you that she was bleeding from her lungs some. That continued today, but after the plasma was given it seemed to slow down a little. Hopefully this will heal up. They told us that they did not find any infection or virus in her lung. Good News.

They allowed her to wake a little this morning and she smiled a little too some visitors. That was splendid. She was given more sedation before they started the new IV and has been under the rest of the day. This is really best considering all she has been thru.

Well that is it for today. Thanks so much for the thoughts and prayers as well as all the help that has been offered. I will be going home tomorrow to spend some time with the kids. Patty, Jennifer's mother and Patty's mother in law are going to watch over Jennifer while I am gone for the day. Since I will be gone most of the day I will miss my e-mail tomorrow night, but look for an update on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Thanks and God Bless
Tom Allen

Hello,

Jennifer has been okay the past two days. She was able to stay sedated on Monday most of the day. Tuesday they allowed her to wake some to see how she was doing. Thus the reason for sending this email today.

They have plans to finally do the Spinal tap. This will give us very useful information. We are hoping that no Fungus is growing, or in the spinal fluid. With the tube preventing Jennifer from talking it makes it frustrating to know if she is in pain or not. The doctors had to wait until all her numbers were in line and it seems as though they are better for now.

Jennifer has been able to keep her blood pressure up fairly well. Her heart rate continues to keep going higher than the doctors want. She has been breathing pretty good when she is not sedated. However, as she awakes more her breathing gets more erratic. Its hard to tell if she is having problems or if she is just getting upset.

The dialysis machine was giving the Nurses problems. Her blood was getting better at clotting up so the machine kept clotting too. They decided to take it out and put her on another machine that runs 3 hours a day 1 time a day. She is starting to produce a little more urine, which is a good thing.

I am hoping for another Cardioscan today. The doctor had said today maybe, but we have another doctor looking over her. They have the same attending doctors, but the main doctor over the ICU changed out. This can bring new eyes to look at what is going on and possibly find other tests to run, or ways to get her better sooner.

Yesterday morning I played a song that Jennifer likes really well and she smiled a couple times at me. She also winked at me too later in the day. This was a wonderful thing. She is taking small steps at getting better.

I let Jennifer know everyday about all the people thinking and praying for her. I also tell her about all the wonderful things people have done for us, and continue to do for us. Below is a link to a web-site that was created for Jennifer. This is just one of the many things that has been done. Thank you all for everything. I feel so lucky to have such a great group of friends and family.

I was able to go home and see our kids on Monday. They are both doing great. They know Mommy is in the hospital, but have no idea of the struggle she has faced the past two weeks. They are eager to see her and have painted many pictures for her which are proudly displayed in her room. My parents have been taking great care of them. I don't know what we would ever do without them. They are great people, and great grandparents.

I really can't think of any more. It is getting time for visitation so I must go! Thanks for everything.

God Bless
Tom Allen

http://www.jenallenbenefit.piczo.com

Hello,

Jennifer has seemed to take a few steps forward over the past week, but now for the step back. She spiked a temperature of 103.2 today. They had to use several methods to bring the temperature down. When her temp went up, her blood pressure and heart rate came down. They pulled some blood to have it tested after the temp spike. This can only mean one thing. She still has an infection somewhere in her body that the doctors can’t seem to find.

This morning when I got in to see Jennifer they had to turn her breathing machine back up. She was having trouble again. She was taking several short quick breaths. She wasn’t getting enough oxygen, so they turned up the oxygen and had the machine give her a break. This almost immediately fixed the problem and calmed her breathing right down.

Last night she started to get upset again. She had been backed off of the sedation all day, but this was turned back up due to her biting the breathing tube. She was out all day today.

They were able to get the spinal tap done today before the temp spike. They should have the results for us in the next two days. Her opening pressure was around 30. Normally in a regular individual it should be 10-11. This has always been high for Jennifer, but this shows me that she is still having pain in her head. The sedation and pain meds they are giving her must be helping to cover that pain up.

Her kidneys were producing more urine today. It was much clearer than the past week. I hope this is a good sign. The kidney doctor told me not to look at the numbers but to look at the output. She said if the output is getting better than the kidneys are probably getting better too. She has dialysis scheduled for tomorrow. They are using the dialysis machine to take the extra fluid off her body. They said this should help her heart and lungs to work for efficiently.

I did get to talk to one of the doctors after the temp spike and they still don’t know what is going on. They hope with the blood work and spinal tap they will have some information to work with.

Thanks for everything. Have a good night.
Tom Allen

Hello,

It has been a few days since my last update. A lot has happened in these few days.

We started Thursday morning off great. When I went in to see Jen she had her eyes open and looked really good. She was down to 5.0 on her sedation. Normally at this level she would get very agitated. However, today she seemed very calm. The nurses had plans for several things. They washed her and found two bed sores. One is not too bad, but the other is very painful and will take a little while to heal. The nurses are working on getting these cleaned up and they have a long term plan to get them healed. When they messed with a worse one of the two Jennifer hauled off and hit one of the nurses. It wasn’t that hard, but it wasn’t that easy either. It is kind of ironic; the nurses had just been giving Jennifer a hard time about not moving her hands and arms. She made a fist and pulled back and let it go. Fortunately the nurses both laughed it off.

Thursday was Jennifer’s last dialysis treatment. Her Doctor stated that her Kidneys are doing better and unless they have problems she will not need dialysis anymore. The dialysis machine helped remove some extra fluid from her body. Lasix medicine was started after the dialysis. I was told that this would help to draw the fluid off too.

The Spinal fluid has not yet grown any virus or infection. This is good. They did do another tap on her Friday morning and got more fluid. Her pressure was around 20, even after draining her on Wednesday. I have been asking all the time if her head hurts and she keeps nodding no.

They did a cat scan Thursday on her chest and stomach. It found a large amount of air in her stomach area and the nurses tried to get this off. The cat scan also found some fluid built up along the sides of her lungs. I was told one side had more than the other. The doctor wanted to get that off today to see if that would help her breathe better.

Thursday night she was having some issues with pain, so it seemed. I finally got Jen to tell me through many questions that she was feeling sick. It is very hard to communicate when you are only working with yes and no headshakes. They have been tube feeding her and she wasn’t feeling good. The nurse got her some nausea med’s, but soon after she got sick. This was extremely tough since she still has the breathing tube in. The nurses got her cleaned up and she settled down some and felt better since all that stuff was off her stomach. A little later while she was trying to get some rest she started having stomach cramps. I had them give her some pain meds. This did the job and allowed her to sleep most of the night.

Friday when I came in she was awake again. They had backed her down to 1.5 on her sedation. The doctor wanted to see how much of her upper body strength she had. This would tell if she would be able to have the breathing tube removed. All day she worked on getting her mobility back in her hands and arms. She was able to squeeze hands relatively well. She was also able to move her arms pretty good too. Her toes would move, but her legs were not moving. They called the neurology department and they ordered a MRI to make sure there is no damage. I tried to tell them that with all the fluid I would have a hard time moving my legs too.

Before MRI she almost got sick again. They gave her some nausea and pain meds to make her feel better. They also sedated her more to help with the trip to MRI. She didn’t get back till late last night. They kept her sedated to allow her to sleep and rest for Saturday.

Saturday morning also started good. The sedation was back down to 1.5. She still has the ventilator set on pressure support to help her breathe. She moved her leg around a little today. This was another great sign. Even though she had been thru so much in the past two days they had more in store for her. The doctors wanted to drain the fluid from the pocket on her lung today. The doctor said that if she would do okay after that they would give her a breathing test to see if the tube could be removed. A little before 12:00 today they tried to remove the fluid. They were able to get a bunch off, but it started another problem. Jennifer started to cough and have problems breathing. She started to cough up a red foaming liquid in her breathing tube. They had to turn the machine on full oxygen and increase the settings to help her breathe. They also had to sedate her heavily again.

The doctor told me that Jennifer had some fluid on her lungs that they were concerned about it. They also were afraid the tube was clogged or blocked in some way. The doctors had decided to use a camera to go into the tube and look around in her lungs. This was not possible because the camera wouldn’t go past the supposed blockage. Anestestia was called in and they removed the tube and installed a new tube. There was no visual blockage on the old tube. They said it may have gotten kinked in some way. It was now possible for them to get the camera down in and look around. They said they didn’t find any areas of concern, but they can’t explain why Jennifer now has to have 100% oxygen. For some odd reason she is not getting enough oxygen now. The doctor told me that she will not be off the Ventilator anytime soon due to this set back. They may put in the trake now.

The doctors are still very concerned with her heart. With only having 10-15% output they said to will be a long recovery. It still baffles them as to why all this has gone on and continues to go on.

Jennifer is sedated again to give her a rest after such and long and surely painful day. She did have two good days. We will hope and pray that she can get more days like that in the near future.

Thanks for reading. It makes it nice to be able to get this out.
Tom

Hello,

It was a busy day for Jennifer yesterday. It seemed like every time I got the chance to go back and be with her someone else came in for a test of some sort.

Sunday morning when I was able to get in Jennifer was still sedated. She could follow commands and open her eyes, but she was sleeping a lot. Her sedation was at 6.0.
They were able to bring the oxygen on the ventilator down to 50%. It is still set on pressure support to help her breathe. Since it was Sunday not much else went on. She did have a couple visitors and opened her eyes a couple times to see them. She was able to communicate with them. She used her eyes quite a bit. Even rolling her eyes once at a comment I had made.

Monday they backed down the sedation to 3.0. Respiratory also backed the ventilator down some. She is still on pressure support though. She was a little more awake, but I didn’t get to see her much. In the morning they did a dialysis treatment. This was to help get some of the extra toxins out of her body that her kidneys are having a hard time removing. After that was Physical Therapy. They are going to start seeing her until she goes home. Then she had an EMG (I think) test. I was told they were going to be checking for any nerve damage in Jennifer’s arms and legs, as well as her hands and feet. After I thought that she couldn’t do any more. The neurosurgery department did another spinal tap to check pressure, and drain some fluid if she needed it. They also wanted some more fluid to check for infection. I was told yesterday that no infection has grown in the fluid. Late Monday night she got some extra pain medicine. This helped her sleep through the night.

As of Monday night they still have the chest tube in draining fluid from the pocket on the side of her lung. It amazes me how much fluid was there. They have plans to take it out Monday night. Both of Jennifer’s bed sores are getting better. They still bring her much pain, but they are looking better and are starting to heal a little. Now that Jennifer is on a steady medication for her heart, the blood pressure and heart rate are staying pretty even. Before these meds her rate and pressure would be up and down all the time. Now she is keeping her heart rate between 90 and 110 and the blood pressure is normally 120-130 over 70-80. Jennifer is on a very low dosage of pain medication. She hasn’t been complaining to often with pain. However, when she does they help her out by giving her more. Jennifer is also getting nausea meds on a regular basis. They thought that her sick spells last week may have contributed to the fluid on her lungs. Hopefully this will prevent that from happening again.

Tuesday I spent the morning with Jennifer and my parents spent the afternoon with her. They brought the kids up to see me and we went swimming at the hotel pool. They love to go swimming. They went in to see Jennifer on Wednesday afternoon. It was something Jennifer really wanted. As you all know the kids have been in the hospital with her for some time and spent Christmas in the ICU with her. They both did great and are okay with the ways things are. Jennifer was so happy to see them, but it was hurting her not to be able to talk to them.

Jennifer was still on sedation Tuesday morning. She wanted to tell me something so bad, so she tried to write on paper. She is having problems with fine motor skills so she is getting better at writing as she tries. She worked with my parents all afternoon trying to talk to them. As most you know Jennifer is never really worried about her self and she was asking about the kids and me. She has been trying to use sign language, but no one here knows it. Going out tonight to get a book and see what we can do.

Not much was done on Tuesday. She was backed down on the ventilator, and she is breathing on her own. Wednesday they allowed her to come off the ventilator with the tube still in and see how she would do. She was breathing okay, but she wasn’t getting enough oxygen. They had to hook her back up. The doctors talked again about doing a trake. They will try to let her breath again on her own tomorrow and the next day. If she can’t come of the vent, they will do the trake. Jennifer said she would be okay with that. The doctors said she is still very weak and they don’t want to chance a set back. They told me that she would go from here to a rehabilitation center to help her with physical therapy to get her strength back. They have a cat scan tonight because the neurology team thinks she may have some issues with her upper legs. This was the only problem they saw with the EMG test.

No infection has grown in the fluid or the blood. She continues to have temps and had one pretty much all day. They are keeping her on nausea meds around the clock. She keeps getting sick. Jennifer is moving quite a bit in her bed. She has a special bed to help with her lungs. It moves her around a bunch and vibrates her chest occasionally to help release anything in her lungs that shouldn’t be there. The sedation is now turned down to 0.5. Jennifer wants to keep something there to help her keep relaxed.

Jennifer is still keeping her spirits up. She continues to draw nurses into her room with her loving personality and will to defeat this thing. She knows of many of the e-mail and cards that have been sent. She also knows about all the generosity that so many of you have shown our family. I know if she could she would tell you all how much she loves you for it. Thank you all.

Please if you will all say a prayer for anyone and everyone that is in the hospital dealing with an illness. I have met several people here with loved ones dealing with so many different types of problems. It would just be a great thing for all those others to feel the love we have felt through this.

Sorry that these keep getting longer, but I hate to take time away from Jennifer. Plus the only place with wireless internet is McDonalds.

Thank you all so much for everything,
Tom Allen

Hello All,

Great things have happened today. Jennifer is now breathing by herself. No ventilator. It all happened around 2:30 today.

Last night after sending out the e-mail to you all, Jennifer was doing fine. Later last night she got really agitated with one of her bed sores. It was itching and causing her all kinds of problems. They tried pain and anxiety meds, but that didn’t seem to help. She started to cough up some red foamy fluid in her breathing tube so I told them to sedate her again. After all she has been thru she didn’t need to take a step back. They got her calmed down and turned the ventilator on pressure support to give her breathing a break too. She then was able to sleep all night with no problems.

This morning when I went in she was awake and had no sedation on at all. The kidney doctor said her levels are creeping up slowly and they want to give her a couple more days to see if her kidneys will be able to do the job without Dialysis again. If not, they will do a treatment on Saturday. The ICU doctors said they had no plans to give her a chance to breathe on her own again today. We were told since she had coughed up some fluid they wanted her to have a break. At that time I had no idea she had other plans.

Today the nurses decided not to tie Jennifer’s arms down. This was good for her because she needs to get more mobility in her arms. She has been pretty good about not getting her hands around her mouth and the tube. However, when I left her for a quick break I came back to a room full of doctors and nurses. The doctor told me she had pulled the tube out! I told him that’s what she wanted. He said that she needed to get the tube back in, but she kept trying to tell them NO. They wanted me to tell her it was okay. The doctor said they couldn’t put the trake in right now and would have to put the tube back in. Finally the main doctor said since she has it out, give her a try and see how she does. If she has problems than put it back in.

It is now 8:10 and she has been without the tube for 5-1/2 hours. She has a very tight fitting mask that feeds her a heavy amount of oxygen when she breaths in. She got a break from it at 6:00 and had just a regular oxygen mask for an hour. Jennifer did great on this too. She is sleeping right now and is breathing fine and is keeping her oxygen number up as well. Her lungs are not getting enough oxygen so they have to keep her on a mask until she can breathe enough oxygen on her own.

She wants to talk so bad, but her voice is really horse from the tube being in her throat. She is very happy to have been given a chance to show everyone what she can do. Several of the nurses who have taken care of Jennifer have come in and congratulated her on her achievement.

All the thoughts and prayers were heard last night for this fantastic event to have happened today. I know that the prayers for others were heard too. A gentleman in the ICU had his breathing tube removed today as well. His family was one that I met in the family house that needed the prayers. I am also sure seeing the kids yesterday played a big part in the today’s event for Jennifer. Thanks so much for everything. I can’t wait for Jennifer to be sending out these e-mails in the coming weeks.

God Bless you all,
Tom Allen

Hi Again,

The roller coaster ride continues. Today started out good. Jennifer had slept almost all night. She was able to tell me that she was up at 4 and 5 o’clock this morning. I was able to get in at 9:00 to see her and she had been up for a couple of hours. Not a bad night sleep.

She was in a very good mood and was trying to talk with the pressure mask on, but nothing we could hear. She did write a few things down on paper for us and joked a little with us. At about 10:30 they put her on a regular mask to see how she could tolerate breathing independently, just giving her oxygen without any pressure. She was talking a little and was able to say a few things in between breathing. I left her to have lunch and her mother Patty and Patty’s husband Mark stayed with her. When I came back she was very fidgety. She had been on the regular mask for about two hours. They had moved her back on the pressure mask, but that didn’t help her any. She was starting to have an anxiety attack, or so it seemed. Jennifer was breathing heavily and was not getting enough oxygen.

She did well on the regular mask, but looking back on it now I realize that she was starting to have problems. They put the tube back in and restarted the ventilator. There was no other option. Jennifer’s number had come down to dangerous levels. After they got the tube in she was taken for a cat scan of her chest and found some fluid in her lungs. I was also told that she has some more fluid in the lining around her right lung again. She was started again on Lasik treatment to help remove the excess fluid. If this doesn’t work they will try a chest tube.

I overheard the doctor say that she just got tired, and was not getting enough oxygen in her lungs. He also said that she went into Cardiac Failure again. Not bad enough to start CPR like last time, but not good either. I am glad they caught it quicker this time.

She is sleeping now. The nurses sedated her and have a pain med drip too. They started another antibiotic. She has a urinary tract infection which has been irritating her, as well as the bed sores. This may have been what caused the downturn. She was telling us she was hurting earlier, but the nurses didn’t want to give her pain meds. They were afraid that it may make her drowsy and unable to breathe on her own. Double edge sword. Hopefully the pain meds will keep her mind off of the infection and sores.

She did well, but looking back on it now I realize that she was starting to have problems on the regular mask. I was told that maybe in a couple days she may be able to get the tube out again. Or, knowing Jennifer she just might decide on her own that its time. She had a great run, going almost 24 hrs without the ventilator. She wanted to prove to the doctors that she could do it, and that she wasn’t as weak as they first thought. I think they are all amazed at the will and fight she has. I know I am.

Thank you all and have a great weekend,
Tom Allen

Hello again,

Tonight I share great news with you all. Jennifer had her tube and ventilator taken away around 11:30 this morning. She has been able to breathe almost all day on a regular mask without any assistance.

Saturday was a very busy day for Jennifer. She had several visitors and also had a couple of things that the doctors and nurses had to do. We were told Saturday morning that Jennifer doesn’t have to have dialysis anymore. The doctors took out the dialysis catheter on Saturday afternoon. She had some problems with bleeding so this prevented some visitation in the evening. She was able to visit with some family and friends. She was also able to see Sarah and Tiffany. They brought Jennifer and I our t-shirt’s, and told her about all the great things that have been done to help Jennifer and our family. It was hard for Jennifer to fight back the tears and emotions. Sarah and Tiffany had to stop about half way through because it was too much for her to handle. Since then Jennifer has been able to tell me that her heart feels so good to know that so many people who know her and don’t know her are willing to help her and her family.

Since she lost so much blood from the catheter removal she was very tired on Sunday. They were going to try and take the tube out Sunday night. She tried very hard to get some sleep in the morning, but had no success. They went ahead and gave her some blood to make up for what she had lost. Jen is in a mild containment for a few days. Nothing major but she has an organism in her urinary tract and they are taking extra precautions. She also got sick again on Sunday afternoon. Then she was told they would wait till Monday morning to try and take the tube out. Fortunately, I saw this coming and had warned Jennifer ahead of time. They gave her a bath and washed her hair last night to prepare her for the big day ahead.

I got in to see Jennifer just after 9:00 am this morning. She was doing well and was feeling okay too. She told me that she has a double ear infection. They are starting new meds for that. As time drew closer to the doctors making there rounds Jennifer got sick again. Her nerves got the best of her. She was afraid of getting the tube pulled out due to the pain it caused the last time. The nurses got her cleaned up and the doctors came in and asked if she was ready to have the tube out. She gave him a big thumbs up! He told us the chest X-rays look good and that the fluid is almost all gone. They will be keeping Jen on the Lasix to make sure that no fluid builds up again.

At around 11:30 they removed the tube. They gave her a regular mask and 40% oxygen. She has done great. No extra breathing. No increase in her breathing pattern and she feels awesome, besides the nausea that doesn’t seem to go away. Jennifer was able to take a quick nap while I watched over her today and she didn’t skip a beat. She did great breathing even while asleep. They are giving her meds to help with the nausea and it seems to subside it for a while. She is moving around a lot more in bed. Her writing is getting better and she is even talking a little.

They may have to do a small procedure to correct a problem that occurred when they removed the dialysis catheter. Seems that when it was installed that they got an artery and a vein crossed. Now they have merged together and her leg isn’t getting all the blood it should. The blood travels down to her hip area and then goes right back up to the heart. She is still getting enough blood to this leg, but they think this may be causing extra fluid to be building up around her heart. May be tomorrow or the next day. No definite answer yet.

I was confronted with a situation that made me have to tell Jennifer what happened over three weekends ago. Jennifer doesn’t remember that Friday leading up to the heart failure, but she does remember her heart beating really fast. I told her they had to perform CPR on her to bring her back. Surprisingly she didn’t have much issue with it. She told me she was confused about it. We talked a good while and she said it will take her some time to process it all. I can understand that. Jennifer also talked to the nurse taking care of her tonight and that just happened to be the one that did the chest compressions on her. Jennifer said it was very emotional for the nurse to talk about it. We will see how she does over the next couple of days with all this new information.

We read all the cards that she has gotten over the past three weeks. There were several of them. She was very happy to have received so many heart felt words. She soon will be telling me what to say on these e-mails, and then she will be writing them to you all. For now, thanks to everyone that has thought and prayed for Jennifer, my family and me. Jennifer has a long road ahead still, so keep prayer for her.

Thanks and God Bless you all,
A very happy Tom Allen

Hello,

This is a quick note to give you all the most recent information on Jennifer’s miraculous recovery. I am going to keep it short. I don’t want to take much time from Jennifer. It’s nice to finally get to talk to her a little.

So much great news as the minutes go by. I sit here beside Jennifer as she takes a little nap. Jennifer is no longer in need of extra oxygen to breathe. She is doing it all on her own and is keeping her oxygen number in the high 90’s. They did a cardio scan yesterday and told us her heart was up to 30% output. This number was 10-15% earlier. They are holding off on the procedure it fix the vein and artery in her leg at the moment.

She has been able to eat and drink some. Not having much luck with her nausea, but this will get better. Her talking is really hoarse, but this too will get better.

They are moving her to a Step Down unit today or tomorrow. This is a great sign. They will be working to build up her strength there and beyond. She is very weak and gets very tired. Understandable!

Our kids will be visiting her tomorrow (Thursday). This will be a great day for her. She told me that she would like to see anyone else that would like to visit. Keep in mind she is weak, but she would like to see anyone that can come. She needs the love and support.

Thanks for the prayers. Jennifer will soon be writing these, it’s just around the corner. She did get to see the web-site last night and read some of posts and e-mails that were sent. She is amazed at everything. I don’t think she knows what to think about it all. So thank you all so much for the support through this. All the encouraging words kept me going.

Thank you and God Bless,
Tom

Hello,

Jen is doing great. She was transferred to the 8th floor yesterday. She has gotten out of bed for two really short walks today. They are getting her on pill meds to try and get her to Health South or someplace like it mid next week. She wants to try and take a shower tomorrow.

We seem to think the headaches are back. We will be meeting with the Neurology doctor Monday to discuss the next step. No surgery until the antibiotics are done late next week.

Jennifer is looking better and talking better each day. She has done so good this past week. Its amazing. Thanks so much for all the prayers that have been said on our behalf.

Thanks and have a great weekend,
Tom

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for not sending this sooner. I can't seem to pull myself away from Jennifer to go out of the hospital to send an e-mail. I was lucky enough tonight to catch a wireless access in the hospital while she is sleeping.

Jen is doing great. She walked 200 yards with minimal assistance yesterday. She
had a great dinner tonight from Outback that her parents brought in. I have been getting her out of the room just about everyday to roam the hospital in the wheelchair. She is doing better than the Physical therapy department thinks she should.

Being sick at her stomach has been the only real complaint. Some headaches, but they seem to come and go. The nausea is extreme. We also got the doctors to get her on the right med's which seem to be helping too.

She is now on pill form of the Blood Thinner, no IV machine to drag around. She also finished her anti-biotic's today. Health South in Parkersburg next week. That's what they told us today. They don't have any beds open yet.

Jennifer has been overwhelmed with all the cards, emails, posts on the web site and money that has been offered to help our family out. She and I can't thank you enough for everything. It is tremendous. We both can't wait till we can thank you all personally. She is waiting to send an email, but she can't seem to find the right words to say at the moment. Chokes her up to think about it all, me too. We can wait. Jennifer did tell me to let you know that she loves you all.

Thanks and God Bless you,
Tom Allen

Hello,

Just wanted to let everyone know that Jennifer is going to Health South today. I am going to drive her there this afternoon. She is still feeling sick, but we hope they have it almost fixed. Health South is going to be helping with that too. Finally she will be within a couple miles from the house.

See you all soon,
Thank
Tom Allen

Hello All,

Jennifer is still at Ruby hospital in Morgantown. She started having pain in her head on Friday of the week before last. She went to the Emergency room on Monday and got some pain medicine to help her enough till she was able to see the Neurosurgeon the next for a pre scheduled follow up appointment. On Wednesday morning she told me the pain was back again. We went to the Emergency room again at Ruby and they decided to admit her. They wanted to do a spinal tap and drain some fluid, but her blood is too thin. The blood thinner she is taking helps her from clotting and makes it easier on her heart to pump the blood. On Saturday night the blood looked good enough for a spinal tap. They told us the pressure was not abnormally high, but she may not be able to even that much pressure. They drained some fluid to send to the lab for testing. This morning they told us that Jennifer’s white cell count in the spinal fluid is 128. It should be below 5.
They are going to do another spinal tap tomorrow to drain more fluid and see if that helps her. That fluid will be enough for the lab to do a culture and see if the fungus is still there. Two things could come from this. One, if the pressure is the problem they will have to do a brain shunt. They have to wait 6 months to make sure all the infection was destroyed. This will leave her in severe pain until they can do the operation. Two, if the infection is still there they will be able to start her on an antibiotic and run it for a full year to destroy the fungus. This will leave her in pain for a short time until the medicine starts to work.
Jennifer is doing fair. She is still being a trooper. I don’t know how she does it. She was able to take a shower today which made her fell a lot better. Being in the hospital was not exactly how she wanted to spend Mothers day, but she didn’t want to spend Christmas, New Years, Valentines, or Easter this way either.

Thanks for keeping her in your thoughts and prayers.
God Bless and Happy Mothers Day,
Tom Allen

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