Update from Mike, 1/29

Karen picked up right where she left off yesterday. Today she took on the treadmill. She did three reps for three minutes each, resting in between each rep. She was winded, but she gutted each one out for the whole three minutes. Then she sat in the recliner for about six hours today. For the Per de resistance, Karen endured twelve hours of initiating her breathing with the ventilator. She has to initiate the breath and then the ventilator shoots air through t...he trachea tube. She was wiped at hour number ten, but refused to give up. She was not going to settle for anything less than the whole twelve hours today. She is absolutely exhausted after her hard work today, but I hope we have a better night than last night. She could not go to sleep so we were both up all night because I will not go to sleep until she crashes. Keep your fingers crossed for a restful night. Again, thank you everyone for your continued support.

Update from Mike 1/27

Well we didn't get into the new room until after 9 last night and it was probably 10. She was in a lot of pain, but they can't give her any more because it could actuall cause more problems for her. It was after 4 this morning before she was able to get a little sleep. The doctors want her to push herself with the rehab she is going to start. This floor is all about getting them up and moving in trying to strengthen her new lungs and off of the ventilator. The key to everything is being able to get off of the ventilator which is tough when you haven't taken a breath on your own for 3 years. Once she gets off of the ventilator she can really strengthen those new young lungs. We are so so thankful to the young man who lost his life in a motorcycle accident for choosing to be an organ donor. Please continue to keep the young man's family in your thoughts and prayers. I want to also thank each and everyone of you for your incredible support through your thoughts, prayers, encouragement, meals, and donations because we could not get through this without you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Update 1/26; Specific Prayer Requests

Mike sent an update saying it has been a little rough today, and they did a bunch of tests  to try to determine the cause of pain she is experiencing.  However, Mike passed on some good news:

The good news is they are going to move Karen to a different ICU specifically for lung patients. This will be good because it is smaller, less noisy, and specific to her illness.  It is difficult to get a bed in this ICU, so it will be great for Karen to get moved! 

And more great news from Mike: "Today our Rock Star went for another lap and for the icing on the cake, she got up and used the porta-potty!" (I am sure Karen never thought that her using a porta potty would be something we would all celebrate, but yay for Karen!!!)

Please keep the whole family in your prayers. Specifically, please pray that Karen will get some relief from the pain she is experiencing and will be able to sleep comfortably.  Mike said the doctor told him today she probably has at least 3-5 more weeks in the hospital. 

Also, Mike has gotten little to no sleep as he has had to stay strong for Karen and interact with the doctors and nurses (and has been "sleeping" on the floor in a waiting room with no couches), so please pray for his continued strength and health so he can focus on Karen.

 Please also pray for Morgan as she is juggling the huge responsibility of caring for Kiersten and trying to go back to work while at the same time worrying about (and missing) her mama and trying to visit the hospital as much as possible. 

Please pray for Patrick as he goes back to school because we know it is tough for him to be away from his family during this time (but per Dad's orders, he had to focus on school work!). 

Finally, please pray for Kiersten as she deals with a different schedule, having "fill-in" childcare providers, and taking orders from her big sister on top of the normal 4th grade stresses.

Thank you again for everything you have been doing - the McGinnis family truly appreciates all of the prayers and words of support.  They still have a long road ahead, but they are strong and will get through it together and with all of the support of their friends and family!

Update from Mike 1/25

Saturday night and Sunday morning were very difficult and a step backwards Karen had a very hard time breathing and was also in a lot of pain. Her numbers fell throughout the night causing them to raise her oxygen intake. She didn't sleep causing her to be exhausted this morning. She became very anxious which in turn made it difficult for her to relax and take deep breaths. The doctors wanted her epidural taken out so Karen would have less chance of infection. With the epidural out, Karen really became uncomfortable so they had to raise the level of the pain meds they were giving her.

Later in the day it was time for some physical therapy, but she was having none of it. She was hurting so bad and she was also extremely exhausted. I know you might find it hard to believe, but Karen became very stubborn. Karen stubborn? I know right!
Well I had a talk with her and she reluctantly gave in and slowly with the help of the PT and some nurses, got out of bed.

I wish you could have seen our girl. She made a full lap around the entire ICU. Feeling very embarrassed, I had to plead with Karen to slow down because she was going too fast causing my pulse to skyrocket, in trying to keep up with her. The Roadrunner would have been jealous.
Our tough tough girl made the lap without having to stop and sit. It brought tears to my eyes. I am so so proud of you Karen!

Update from Morgan 1/23

I know I had posted an updated on my mom earlier, but deleted it.  Here's an update from my dad:

_________________________________
Well Karen was doing very very well overnight and this morning so they felt extremely positive about taking the tube out of her mouth and turning off of the ventilator. They never want to take the tube out unless they are 100% sure it's going to stay out. It started out well, but Karen was very anxious about breathing on her own and her numbers started falling. She was struggling to breathe while her blood pressure rose significantly. 

 

 

So they all felt that Karen had to go back on the ventilator to keep her safe. They took a chance that they were very confident with, but it just didn't work. Nonetheless, they will give it some more time. There's a real good chance they might have to perform a tracheostomy. This isn't as bad as it sounds because they'd have the tube out which reduces the chance of infection settling in on her new lungs. Plus it's much easier to suction and she can start physical therapy getting up and moving around which will help strengthen the new lungs. Even though Karen and I were a little disappointed,  some lungs take a little longer to get going 100%. The lungs themselves have been severely traumatized. First they were harvested, moved around before being packed in ice, cut on, manipulated, and probably bruised while being put into Karen.

 

So we were going to have to wait until Monday or Tuesday,  but an OR (Operating Room) team wandered up on the floor and had a little time, so our nurse practitioner told them about Karen. As I finish writing this Karen is getting the tracheostomy right now in her ICU room. That truly is fate. So keep those prayers and positive vibes flowing because they are working. When has anything in the McGinnis household been easy?

My dad meanwhile was downstairs getting a Cardiac Catheter done. Things turned out better than we thought. It turns out he has Aortic Stenosis which we new, but everything else is good. He'll still have to have surgery,  but a new procedure that he can have done will be much easier to do.

 ______________________________________________________

Please keep praying for my beautiful mom!

Look Here for Updates; Ways to Help

The McGinnis family is completely overwhelmed with all of the texts, calls, emails, and offers of support!  Since so many people have been asking for updates and for ways they can help, we thought we would set up this blog so you could find everything in one place. We will try to update it daily!  Also, feel free to leave comments on this blog for Karen and the family as they will be sure to check it often, so I am sure she would love to hear from you!

The surgery went well and she has started the very slow recovery process.  At the end of this post is the latest facebook post update from Mike.

As for ways you can help:

***the links referenced below aren't seen in "mobile view" - if you are looking from your phone click on "view web version" at the bottom of the page and it will bring up the links on the right***

1. Thoughts and Prayers - This is most important to the family and they really appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers! As noted above, please leave a comment on the blog for Karen to read!

2. Food - On this site is a link for the food calendar. There are no allergies and the only food that is not a favorite for all of them (but some of them do like it) is seafood.

3. Other Gift Cards - If cooking is not your thing, they would always be happy to have gift cards.  The gas costs are piling up as the kids drive back and forth to the hospital.   Grocery store gift cards and gift cards to places like Walmart or Target for household items would also be very much appreciated.

4. Monetary Donations - the GoFundMe site is also linked on the side of this page.  They have recently found out that insurance isn't covering Karen's last hospital visit, which is costing more than $17,000!  Also, they will be eating a lot at the hospital over the next several weeks and that money can add up as well.

--If you would like to donate something but can't get it to their house (or mail it), please let me know and I would be happy to pick it up and deliver it to the family!  stacey.grote@huschblackwell.com

Update from Mike:

"She's ok. They took her off of one pain med causing her to be in a lot of pain. So they have another one she's taking that isn't as strong. They want her to work the lungs more so she is on and off the ventilator. She hasn't been able to do it by herself yet. So they'll keep trying until she can do it by herself.

I know there's joy but also sorrow. We've lost a child and there isn't anything worse than having to bury one. We all need to pray for the family who lost their son. Through his unselfishness he saved the lives of others with his donations.I pray that they will have peace after their grief knowing that their son is still living in the bodies of others. Their son gave life to others. I know he will always be inour minds with every breath Karen takes. He gave us a miracle through the grace of God."