This is another one of those times where this has nothing to do with matchmaking, but everything to do with life and this is an update on my sister, Dolly, who is struggling for her life and has been in the hospital for three weeks and two days.
Wednesday when I arrived at the hospital at about 10:30pm as sedated as she was, her eyes opened immediately when I held her hand and talked to her. It has been a heartbreaking experience to see her like this. She cannot talk because she has three tubes down her throat but she spoke volumes to me with her eyes. I held her hand all night and she responded at least a couple of dozen times by opening her eyes and squeezing my hand while I talked about all the things I knew would lift her spirits. She is such a wonderful, optimistic, loving woman and she has not had an easy life. I hate to see it end this way for her but she is not in pain and there is still a little hope.
She is now in a machine they call Roto Prone. Noel, her husband, Doug, my brother, and I met with the doctor yesterday and agreed it was our only option. I saw her in it for the first time an hour ago. My heart just sank. The chances she will survive are so slim, I just don’t know if this is was the right decision. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. She is still alive, literally, but she may already be gone even if they do manage to keep her alive. She is not paralyzed but she is so heavily sedated they assure us that she could never become conscious or aware of what is happening. I pray that is true. The machine is huge and a nurse sits in front of a computer that continuously turns her. It looks like something out of a science fiction movie. She is strapped down like a mummy and her head is incased in a helmet size container so I can see her eyes, mouth and chin. They have lowered the oxygen, which is good. Her vital signs are improving, which is also good. Initially they told us they should know something in a couple of days, but now they are saying it could be four or five days. I asked the nurse what was the average time someone stays in this machine and she said a week. I asked her what was the longest she had seen someone stay in it and she said 43 days. I plan to return to Colorado on Monday and, hopefully, I will have a clearer idea of where she stands by then. And, of course, other things could happen before Monday.
She almost died yesterday morning. There were ten people in the room doing various things and there was also a doctor on a screen that looked like a TV, giving the orders and controlling the situation remotely. I have never experienced that before. Technology plays such a vital role in every aspect of our lives today but I was unprepared for what seemed like a normal, everyday occurrence to everyone else in the room.
I believe in the power of prayer and I believe in positive energy. This is a website for my business but I am going to put business aside this one time and ask any and all of you who would be so kind as to include my sister, Dolly, in your prayers and thoughts.
To be continued……………………………