A Few Updates

I've been spending virtually all of my waking moments in the room with Jenni, so I'm still not posting regularly the way I was earlier in the week. However, during shift change I get booted out regardless of any extended visitation hours. While I'm out here doing nothing better, I thought I'd let everyone know what has transpired in the last hour or so.

When I returned to Jenni's side after the meeting with those dubious doctors that Layne has been telling you about, I found Jenni worse than when I left. Her swelling had worsened on the left side (the same side from which they removed the chest tube earlier in the day), her oxygen had been raised to 60%, and she seemed a little flushed. I was informed that they had just performed a chest x-ray before I entered the room (proactive... good) to check on the swelling but I was still concerned about her color. The nurse checked her temperature and found it to be higher than earlier, so we turned off the heated blanket and turned it down so that it didn't cover her torso. The respiratory specialist also came in and fiddled with the ventilator. She is now down to 50%, but is breathing over the vent more often now. I'm not sure what this means in the long run... but I am encouraged by the doctors' willingness to follow up on Layne & Stephanie's research on alternate treatments.

When it comes to experimental treatments, there are never any easy answers. Please continue to pray for Jenni, but also pray that God will lend me the strength to make the tough calls that will be coming soon. I really need strength and guidance...