The Last 2 Weeks

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Lynn. I'm Jennifer Dierking's older sister. I'm creating this blog so all of the people who know & love Jennifer can keep up with what's going on with her & her family. The plan is to update this daily to keep everyone up to date.

This 1st blog will be a long one. I want to fill everyone in on all the events of the last 2 weeks to make sure everyone is aware of what has happened to this little family.

On Sat. Oct 18, David, Jennifer, & Josiah were involved in a head-on collision. Jennifer was air evac'd to St. John's Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. David was air evac'd about 45 minutes later. It was determined that Jennifer had a broken left femur (thigh) bone & a broken right pelvic/hip bone. David needed 6 stitches on his left eye, 24 stitches on his right knee, & his right leg was broken below the knee. Our precious little 2 year old Josiah came out of it without a scratch!

Jennifer was 32 weeks pregnant with little Kacyn Lee. They had to do an emergency c-section. Little Kacyn came into this world 8 weeks early at 4 lbs. & 14 oz! Being premature, Kacyn's lungs were not ready to breathe on their own. He was on a ventilator to breathe for him. He also had some struggles with internal bleeding & needed several blood transfusions.

We had Jennifer in ICU on the 4th floor, David in a room at the opposite end of the 4th floor, & Kacyn in NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) on the 2nd floor! We only got lost a few times before finally figuring out our way around this huge hospital!

On Mon, Oct 20, the nurses & staff in the NICU cleared out a path through NICU big enough to wheel Jen's bed down to see Kacyn for the first time!

Jennifer had her 1st surgery to fix her femur on Tue, Oct 21. This consisted of putting what was described as a long nail in her leg. It runs from the top of her knee all the way up. This is held in place by 8 screws (I think). Also on this day, Kacyn was taken off the ventilator. He was on oxygen, but breathing completely on his own.

Jennifer's surgery went well, but she was having difficulty breathing afterwards. Because of this she was moved back into ICU - she had been released from ICU & had been in the same room with David for a few days prior to the surgery. It was determined through several tests that Jennifer suffered from fatty embolist syndrome. This is one of the risks involved with the breaking of a larger bone. The breaking of this bone released fat tissue, bone marrow, & other tissues into her blood stream. Some of this made it's way to her lungs.

David was discharged on Wed, Oct. 22 until they could do his surgery. It had to be delayed due to swelling around the area they needed to do surgery.

On Mon, Oct 27, they did an MRI on little Kacyn. The neurologist who reviewed the results met with Jen & David that evening. The neurologist told them when he was looking at those results, he couldn't believe this baby had lived 10 days. The results showed a buildup of blood at the back & base of his brain. They think the bleeding has stopped, but they are going to watch this closely. He also has a buildup of cerebral spinal fluid on top of his brain. They are unsure if this is still building up, but are monitoring it. If it continues to buildup, they will need to do surgery to put a shunt in to drain it. He also said Kacyn has some tissue damage on the sides of his brain but wasn't sure at this point what affect, if any, this may have. He had not seen Kacyn yet & rushed right down to see him. He was expecting to find a baby in severe distress. He was very surprised to find our baby breathing on his on & looking like a normal baby! The MRI results looked like they belonged to a baby who couldn't breathe on his own, wouldn't be able to hold a body temp, wouldn't be able to suck a bottle or pacifier. All of which our baby is doing!

David finally had his surgery on Tue, Oct. 28. He had a plate put in his lower leg. This surgery required many more stitches in addition to the ones he already on the knee of the same leg. His surgery went well. He was then put in a room on the 3rd floor. This left us again with 3 family members in the hospital...Kacyn on the 2nd floor, David on the 3rd floor, & Jen on the 4th floor!

Kacyn was well enough now to be brought up to Jennifer's room to see her. He was crying when Jennifer took him, but when she started talking to him he stopped crying & looked up at her. He just laid there in her arms, looking up at her, & listening to her for about 30 minutes. She was able to see & hold him twice before the events of Oct 28.

At this point, everyone except the moms had gone back to either OH or AR. On the night of Tue, Oct. 28, the moms left St. Louis & went to David & Jen's house in Sullivan (about an hour south of St. Louis) for the night. That night Jennifer went into respiratory distress. The next morning, Wed, Oct 29, at about 7:30am, Jennifer went into cardiac arrest & had to be resuscitated. At this point she was put on a ventilator & sedated into a coma-like state. This is when we all got the worst phone call you can imagine. The dr. basically said it didn't look good & the family probably should head back to St. Louis. That 5 hour trip from AR seemed like 10 that day!

This all happened on David's 25th birthday.

It was a shock to us when we got here & went into Jen's room. It didn't even look like my sister! She had 14 iv bags, the ventilator down her throat, & several other monitors attached to her. Her heart rate & blood pressure were way out of whack. She was on 100% oxygen (normally, you breathe only 21% oxygen) & was running a 104 fever. As the night went on, her heart rate & blood pressure came back within normal range & her fever also came back down to normal. The next day, Thu, Oct 30, they were able to reduce her oxygen to 45%. Her lung x-rays showed 50% improvement over the previous day. They were able to take her off her heart medication which was controlling her heart rate & blood pressure. This was done about 2:00 that afternoon. Her heart rate & blood pressure have been perfect every since!

On Thu, Oct 30, the dr talked to us about the "great day" Jen had the previous day. He also told us what we can expect going forward. He said she had a great day, but wanted to let us know that patients will reach a plateau where their progress is slower & in small, baby steps. This was to prevent too much disappointment if things didn't continue to progress as quickly as they did the previous day. He also said it could be another 1-2 weeks before Jennifer is off the ventilator & awake. He said she will be very confused for the first few days & not to be alarmed at some of the things she may say. When asked how long it would be before she's released, the dr's answer was "months". She will then begin a long rehab process. It could be a year before she's back to her old self.

She continues to improve slightly each day. She is now down to 40% oxygen. Her heart rate & blood pressure are still normal. Her respirations per minute are coming down to where they need to be. Her temperature has been normal. Her lung x-rays & blood work continue to show improvement. One of the biggest concerns right now are her kidneys. They are getting worse each day. If they continue to do so, they will need to dialysis to give them a jump start.

David was released yesterday, Fri, Oct 31. Now we only have the 2nd & 4th floors! Little Josiah went to AR to trick-or-treat with his 5 older cousins. He was dressed up as Tony Romo! He had a blast trick-or-treating! He was a little confused at first & tried to go in the first couple of houses when the door was opened! It didn't take long for him to figure out you ring the doorbell, they give you candy, & then you go to the next house & do it again! Jennifer's Halloween plans had included coming to AR so Josiah could trick-or-treat with his cousins. This wish of hers was fulfilled & LOTS of pictures were taken!

Please pray for the continued healing of Jennifer's heart, lungs, kidneys, & broken bones. As well, strength for her to continue to fight & strength for David & continued healing for him. Please pray for the miracles that are being worked on Kacyn to continue. And last, but not least, please pray for both sets of parents for strength & comfort. Everyone still has a long road ahead, but we know we will have a miracle in both Jennifer & Kacyn before it's all over with! Thank you for all the prayers, well wishes, support, & love!!