Bronchial Angiogram #3

We walked in the house tonight at 10:20. It was a long day. Isy had a good start to the day. She rested while on the ventilator and they started to wean her off the medication, starting the process of waking up. We were so looking forward to this tube coming out today and getting to see glimpses of our usual Beppe by the evening. AJ, Bonnie and I were talking to her shortly before 5pm, calling her name and she was beginning to open her eyes. She recognized that AJ and Bonnie were there. She turned her head towards them and smiled big, but very soon after she started coughing up more of the bright red blood, about 180cc this time, through her tube. This was very significant. She did not have any bleeding for 40 hours (to be exact) until this point. They immediately increased her sedation again and she drifted back to her deep sedation level. So very disappointing. We thought we were so close. It just seems that any time she does any movement on her own, she starts to bleed again. By 7pm she was back down in Interventional Radiology for the 3rd bronchial angiogram of the week. By 9pm she was back in ICU and the doctor had embolized 3 more vessels. I know they are hoping to avoid having to do surgery on her. It's been 8 full days now. They tried to place a feeding tube today down her nose but were unsuccessful. It just refused to go. At about 1 week of not feeding the gut (intestines), it's important to think about that GI system and get some nutrition through the gut too, not just thru the IV. This helps the gut to keep working as it should. I'm not sure what they are going to do about that.
I'm so tired of all the sitting around. They need to have treadmills in the waiting rooms so people have something to do and can stay close at the same time! It's such a helpless feeling to see the doctors and nurses scurrying around everywhere and realize it's not my turn to help hang the IVs and provide direct patient care. I tried to think of something I could for Isy, other than just stare at the poor woman all the time. She always has this "thing" for her feet. They are always cold and she always tells us, "some day when I'm in a nursing home, make sure my feet are covered up and warm!" I brought in some Bath and Body Works soap and lotion and tried to give her some good foot care with warm/hot water, complete with a pair of clean warm fuzzy socks from home; off with the hospital footies! She was pretty sedated so I think she missed her pedicure, but at least it gave me something to do to try and make her feel better. We always make sure to check her feet before we leave, to make sure they are warm! The nurses are happy to get us warm blankets for them. They are still warm and toasty tonight. : )
So tomorrow, I think our goal will be the same again. To try and wean off the sedation, wake up a little bit, and move ever so slightly without bleeding from the lung. (That's my plan, the doctors may have a different one).
Oh, some of you have asked what Madison decided to do. She decided to stay home from the softball tournament, close to her Beppe and family. She had just left the room 30 seconds before the bleeding showed up at 5pm. I was so thankful she missed it. It took her a few hours to work her way back into the room and out of the waiting room. "Sorry Mom, but I'm not going to follow in your footsteps."
Thank you all for your thoughts and your coveted prayers,
Leah