HI Al,

Again, sorry to hear about this latest turn of events. The only words of comfort I might be able to offer you are these: when my daughter Samantha had a laryngeal cleft surgery at age four, she actually HAD pneumonia going into surgery (the only way to get rid of it was to make the repair, as every time she ate, small bits of food were going thru the tiny hole into her lungs, creating the environment for constant pneumonias to develop.)

My point is that she too was intubated post-op and also treated for several days with antibiotics. She was kept sedated for I over a week -- again, so as not to be freaked out by the experience and also in her case, to prevent her from breaking the sutures from her very delicate procedure. You'll likely see them doing some fairly vigorous chest P/T on her...to loosen up the mucus....and then suction. While certainly Helen has other more serious issues to contend with and compound the situation, it's pretty tough to watch...but after 13 days, Samantha came out of intensive care.

So remember that hope still lives. Just try to make sure they are VERY READY to extubate, b/c she needs to be awake for that, and if she's not able to breathe on her own, they'll need to reintubate immediately. NOT FUN.

I hope I'm not giving you too much and/or erroneous information. I am just a firm believer that information is power and ultimately, you are Helen's best advocate.

So please, try to stay calm, and keep us posted as best you can....our thoughts are with you both...

Beth

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