Friday, 16 January 2009

Dear friends and family,
This blog has been created to help you more easily keep posted on the health developments of Susan Herbert. We went over tonight to Baylor Hospital to visit David and the family, and were also able to see Susan briefly. David told us the story, and asked us to set this up for him. He told us that he receives "many" phone calls daily, and loves to hear from each person who calls, knowing that you are praying for Susan and the family. The calls take a toll on the time he has to spend with Susan, however. David said he would call several times a day with updates and I will then post them on this blog - so, check back daily and even more than once a day, and the updates will be posted as they come in.

The following is the story from David of what transpired on Wednesday evening, 14 January 2009. Earlier in the week, Susan had developed a sinus congestion and had been given a steriod shot, but then on Tuesday morning, she was not feeling any better so she went to the doctor and was given another medication. On Wednesday morning, she took 1/2 of the tablet and reported during the day that she was not feeling "quite right". David left work Wednesday night at about 10:00pm and called Susan on the way home (as he typically does and talked to her as he drove home). When he arrived home, Susan told him she had made Jonathan some supper and there was some left for him. As David turned to eat, Susan leaned on the counter and told him she was not feeling very good and said that she thought it was a reaction to the medicine. Before she finished that statement, however, she passed out and fell to the ground, hitting her head. David called Jonathan who came in immediately, and David told him to call 911 which he did. Susan did not have any pulse and no respiration at this time. The 911 operator talked to Jonathan and coached David on performing CPR on Susan. They continued the CPR until the paramedics arrived. Upon arrival they applied shock to get Susan's heart started again, and before they left the house, they had to shock her a total of 6 times. They then transported her to the Greenville Hospital where they were able to stabilize her enough to transport her to Baylor at David's request. The medical staff told David that she had had a cardiac arrest and gave David a warning that there might be some brain damage due to the amount of time she was "down".

Upon arrival at Baylor the medical staff there further stabilized Susan and continued her on life support (ventilator) through Thursday and Thursday night. On Thursday night, she was showing some signs of being "combative" due to the restraints on her wrists. David told us tonight that Susan hates to have her hands held so that she cannot move, even when he is playing around. During the night last night, she was more aggitated, and while a friend was praying over her, Susan made eye contact with David and appeared to be able to focus on him for the first time. David continued to tell her that he loved her, and he noticed that her right hand was making a waving motion by bending her fingers over and over again as if she were asking for some help. He then told her that she should just relax and that the restraints were there so that she would not pull any of the IV tubes out, and she noticeably relaxed at that moment. She became more aggitated later again, but as David spoke to her, she again relaxed. This was the first sign that David had that appeared to be a positive development in her condition - that she made eye contact with him and held her gaze on him as he talked to her. She had also squeezed David's fingers on several occasions when asked to do so.

This morning, the doctor reported to David that she had been communicating with Susan that morning - even though there was no vocalizations due to the ventilator tube being in place, she was squeezing the doctors fingers, making eye contact and indicating that she was understanding what the doctor was trying to communicate to her. They also took off the ventilator for a period of time, but the blood oxygen level was lower than they wanted, so they turned that back on - Susan appeared less than happy at having that back on. David sees this as a "turning" to the positive and is extremely excited about the events of today.

The medical staff plans to do a heart catheterization next (possibly Saturday) to find out why there is a lower level of efficiency of the heart than normal at this time. Note: Susan has a history of problems with a prolapsed valve, but the doctor assured David that this did not have anything to do with her experience on Wednesday night, but that it was directly associated with the medication she had taken. The medical staff also told them that the CPR given to Susan at home was the reason she was still alive at this time. David recognizes that the timing was all in God's hands, and that all glory and honor be directed to our Father in Heavan.

One final thing tonight before I submit this first posting - when someone asked David earlier today if they could pray - David said, "No, BEG". David told us that he and Susan have spent 32 years together and he is asking God to give him much more time with his bride. Please join him in that prayer...

Again, we will post information and prayers as they come in. Please leave comments and sign in this blog page for the family to read later.