Update of Rhonda Brandenburg - 09-27-19
Rhonda had a quiet night last night. She was able to watch the Thursday night Football Game with us and was able to get a good night’s rest. She has been seen today by the ICU doctor, infectious disease doctor, respiratory therapist and regular doctor. They have told us that she continues to get stronger in every area. They have identified the causes for most of her physical issues and are able to continue to treat them specifically. They have changed up her antibiotics to more specifically treat the infections. She does have a pretty strong infection in the blood, but it is responding to the treatments and they have been able to reduce the number and lessen the type of antibiotics.
She has excess fluid around her heart. They said there is no damage to her heart, and it is pumping normally. They had discussed doing a heart catherization, but the cardiologist said there is no need for that, just need to reduce the fluid around her heart. They are also concerned about the level of enzymes in her liver, which is causing her INR level (related to the blood thinners) to be too high. Her white blood cell count is still elevated, and her magnesium is low. They are planning an ultrasound of her liver.
They are having her do some breathing exercises to increase her breathing and are lowering the amount of work the ventilator is doing so that she can keep her O2 levels up and CO2 levels down. When those numbers are in the correct range, they will be able to remove the breathing tube. She will still need oxygen but will be able to move out of the ICU to a step-down unit. She will still be in the hospital for a while.
In summary, Rhonda is doing better and is getting stronger. We have to let the medicines do their job. She needs an improvement of her blood oxygen levels and a lowering of the CO2 levels and for the fluid levels to go down. Please pay that things continue in this positive direction.
Thank you for your love and concern for Rhonda and our family.
The Brandenburg Family