Coffee? Tea? Serenity?

Today is March 10^th. This is the 17^th day of hospitalization.

Arline phoned this morning. It seems that Grandma Foreman's condition had become more critical. This morning, she was running a fever. The doctor reported that she has yet to respond well to the medications that he was treating her with. This is causing him to believe more strongly that her condition is caused by fungi/mold in the lungs. He named this condition Aspergillis. He mentioned that he has treated persons with this since the recent hurricanes. The way to properly diagnose this is with a biopsy of the lungs. He does not want to do this because he feels it will only place her in a more critical situation. There are medications that can be prescribed for this, but they cause risk to other organs of the body. At that time, he mentioned that her having to work so hard to breathe was causing her to burn up he caloric intake from the PulmaCare which is fed through the feeding tube. With this in mind, he was considering placing her on a respirator.

The doctor feels that her chances of surviving this condition has fallen to about 20% and feels that she is now in a semi-conscious state.

Mom and I headed for Lake Charles. As we arrived, we found her very weak. The Bi-Pap machine had been replaced with the oxygen tube to the nose. Her breathing was very struggled. Her blood pressure was low.

During the afternoon visit, the doctor arrived. He spoke to her and shook her gently. She did not respond. He commented that she was simply having to work too hard to breath and made the decision to place her on the respirator. After this procedure was done, we were able to see her again. He mentioned that doing this will alleviate her struggles to breathe, therefore allowing more oxygen intake. He mentioned that we might even see a slight improvement in her condition and perhaps a bit more consciousness after her being on it for the entire night.

Our concern remains very high. They are truly doing all that they can. The doctor is being very caring and compassionate with her, and with us.

Please continue praying.