Day #4 in ICU

8:30 am
She says she had a good night. The nurse cleaned her last night and changed her linens. Night nurse K is from Memphis so they had long conversations about that. Nurse D this morning says her blood sugar is good and her blood counts are good. Her wound VACs seem to be working well. Unfortunately Meghan can't eat or drink until after they do the IVC filter procedure. She's very sleepy and says her pain is a 5-6 out of 10. She's listening to Charmed on TV while she rests with her eyes closed.
10:00 am
They've taken her down to the vascular center to do the IVC filter. It's not supposed to take very long.
11:00 am
That was quick! She's back in ICU and awake.
12:30 pm
She's talked to her dad and nanny, Caitlin, Michael and McKinsey. Dr. K's made his daily visit to check for Wegener's issues. He's continually checking her kidneys for red blood cells and keeping an eye out for vasculitis again. So far no issues. She got a very cute nurse bear and balloons from Grandpa and Patty - Thanks!!! We started watching the GA v GA Tech game until she got sleepy again.
2:30 pm
Physical therapist arrived to have a sleepy, grumpy Meghan do "exercises". There was a little bit of confusion about which body parts to exercise. For now, they've asked her to just tighten her left quad and glutes, circle her feet, use her right arm as much as possible to help avoid muscle loss in addition to her left hand/finger exercises.
5:00 pm
Quite a bit of napping and a visit from Kat and Ross.
10:00 PM
She had chicken pot pie for dinner, a visit from the respiratory therapist who removed her oxygen tube and a bath. Caitlin and Mom brushed out her hair for the first time since the wreck and found at least 10 more pieces of glass from the rear window of the car. We french braided her hair and she looks FABULOUS!!!

Day #3 in ICU

Meghan had a rough night. They're giving her 2 units of blood this morning. Her hematocrit had dropped to 25 and hemoglobin to 8 ish. Mike is visiting with her this morning and says she's eaten very little breakfast and resting while she listens to the TV.

The wound care lady came to redo Meghan's VAC dressing. Fortunately they were able to give her more pain meds to get through it.

Ortho doctor update - things are looking good and we may not need skin grafting. They are going to bring a vascular doctor in to consult just to make sure blood clots aren't going to be an issue. They've given her "exercises" for her left fingers that she needs to do 10 times per hour.

Rheumatologist update - Dr. K lowered her daily dose of the steriod

She's pretty out of it this morning...the extra pain meds have pretty much knocked her out. She says she doesn't like being "loopy".

We're a little worried that she's not eating. Doctor told her that her body needs food to heal. She says she has no appetite. We were able to get her to drink three good sips of an Ensure protien drink before lunch.

We caught her in a brief lucid moment and had her speak to her dad.

Lunch arrived - yummy pork chop and sweet potatoes. She ate a good bit of it.

Afternoon was one loooong nap for Meg. Kat and Ross came to visit and Meghan brightened up at seeing them.

Vascular doc visited and said they would take her down to put in a filter to prevent blood clots tomorrow. Not sure what time.

Sounds like Meghan ate a good dinner tonight....she sent Mom a text to let us know. A respiratory therapist visited to make sure Meghan was doing her breathing exercises.

Meghan's evening was spent watching the Lord of the Rings and chatting with Mom and Caitlin. She's doing her finger exercises. Caitlin took Meghan a little Christmas tree to decorate her room.

Thank you Momo and Danny for the balloons and Bear -- now known as "Tex".

Day #2 in ICU & Surgery #2

Meghan's a tropper! She went into surgery #2 at 9ish to clean out more of her leg wound and her arm wound. Nurse Beth said she did WONDERFUL during surgery and that we had a very remarkable young lady.

Dr. W was more positive today - the skin is still there and that allows the granulated (??) tissue to rebuild so that if a skin graft is necessary the wound bed will be ready for it. They replaced her VACs and returned her to ICU.

Post-op was a tough day. She was in some pain and the anesthesia got to her. They had to change her linens which is painful for her. Fortunately she got quite a bit of rest during the day and was awake when Mom and Caitlin came back to visit at 8:30pm.

Dr. K and Dr. W met to discuss our options for treating Meg's Wegener's. We are hopeful the disease will take a break and give her the next two weeks to get these wounds to heal.

Thanks for visiting, Rob!!! Meghan got her flowers from Faye and Chris today too. Although we can't put flowers in her room, she can see them through the window just outside.

Update - Meghan was watching the Friends marathon and looking perky at our 8:30 visit. She had some chicken broth and enjoyed chatting with Caitlin.

Day #1 in ICU

Meghan got the bad news about her injuries bright and early from Dr. W. She was very upset to hear that she wouldn't be able to take her finals at KSU next week.

Dad and Terry went into see her and were surprised that she was awake. She was very glad to see them and she got to talk to Nanny. Deanna came to visit and brought a cute bear.

Meghan got to eat normal food today! Bacon and eggs for breakfast, roast beef for lunch and chicken for dinner. A nutritionist visited and said she was on a diet designed to help boost her immune system and give her extra protien for wound recovery.

The were watching her blood count today but by 5pm it appeared to be holding steady in the 8's - it was 13+ when she got to the ER on Monday.

Dr. W visited and said he wanted to do surgery again tomorrow. He also said that methotrexate was not going to be allowed while she's recovering from this trauma. This upset Meghan because she knew the methotrexate had been working to keep her Wegener's at bay.

Dr. F - AKA "the plastics guy" (plastic surgeon) came by to visit Meghan and gave her an optomistic view of the potential for skin grafting on her leg and closing the wound on her arm.

Dad and Terry visited had to get back on the road and said their good bye's to Meghan. It really meant a lot to her to see them.

Surgery #1

Meghan went to surgery at 3:40pm. Mom, Mike, Caitlin and Josh waited in the surgical waiting room after following Meghan through the halls and through pre-op. Nurses called to the surgical waiting room hourly with updates.

"The doctor has wrapped the wound on Meghan's leg."
"The doctor has finished the ulna (plates and cadaver bones to fill in the shattered parts)."

Dad and Terry arrived at 6pm-ish and were quickly brought up to speed on her progress. Michael and McKinsey returned with Mike for an adventure at the hospital and to "eat out" at the hospital cafeteria.

"The doctor has finished the radius (more plates and cadaver bones to fill in the shattered parts)."

Then the doctor came to the waiting room around 9:30ish.

He said that Meghan's leg wound and arm damage was more serious than we thought. She will need many surgeries to repair the wound. He explained how her two bones in her forearm were repaired and that her wrist was also pinned. He did not fix her elbow in this procedure because she had been under so long. He also told us that Meghan would be in ICU while the wound needed attention.

Mom and Dad went to see Meghan in recovery. Mom went home to try to get some sleep (after having only1-2 hours of sleep over 24+ hours). Shane and Terry went to a hotel and Meghan was in ICU by 11:30 pm. Nurse K called and gave Mom an update on Meghan and the rules for ICU visitation.

The ortho floor

Meghan saw her ortho (Dr. W) bright and early at 7am. He said she had broken both bones on her left forearm and possibly fractured her left wrist. He also wanted to X-ray her left elbow. He checked out the rest of her and said the wound on her right leg would be troublesome to close given the tension on the leg (it was very swollen) and her sensitive skin (due to the prednisone). She wasn't allowed to eat since we knew surgery was definitely going to happen.

Her potassium was low so they gave it to her in her IV which was very painful.

Unfortunately, Xrays and CT Scans had to happen first and then she had to "get in line" for an operating room.

The Emergency Room

Meghan was taken to the trauma room and her clothes cut off. In the abulance they discovered a terrible gash on her right leg at the groin that crossed her thigh toward her hip. She was sent for CAT scans and then brought to ER room 10 where Mike and Mom were waiting to see her.

The nurses in ER took the boards off of her and gave her massive doses of pain killers. Mom washed the blood on her face and found there was just a half moon scratch under her chin. Her right arm was bandaged and her left arm in a splint.

She was sent for X-rays and it was confirmed her arm was broken. The nurses splinted her arm which was very painful for Meghan. Then the nurse cleaned off her right arm and discovered she needed stitches. The doctor put in 12 - 8 on top and 4 on the bottom. It looked like hamburger meat.

Mom and Meghan waited in the ER until about 3:30 am for a room on the ortho floor.

Miracle - No head trauma, no spine/neck trauma, no internal injuries

The Accident

Meghan was driving home from work on Monday, Nov 24th when she had a terrible accident. Fortunately, no one else was injured.

A young man (Jamie), got out of his car and went to help Meghan. He called Mom at home around 9:20ish and notified her that Meghan had been in an accident. He told Mom he would stay with her until the abulance arrived and that he had gone to EMT school. Mom drove to the accident site.

At the site they told Mom that she probably had a broken arm and possibly a leg injury but that she was concious and talking (and in pain) the entire time. Meghan was somehow wedged between the seats with her head near the rear windshield.

They had to cut the roof of the car of to remove her from it. The abulance took her to the hospital.

Miracle - she made it out of this car alive and she was the only one who went to the hospital.