Slow Progress, But Progress

I haven't been receiving many updates, but as of Saturday here's the latest on her status.

"Golightly has shown improvement in her eye reflexes!! When stimulated today she reflexivley blinks and her pupils are both dilating properly the nurses say. Of course we still have to hear word from the primary doctor on Monday but things are vastly improving!! All the prayers everyone is sending her way are making a BIG impact, thank you all for the continued support!!!"


and this from her mother:
"She demonstrated eyelid movements today, .....I live for every
millimeter of movement, for me that is a milestone of hopeful
progress. She moved her lids SEVERAL times....PLEASE continue to
pray, God works in mysterious ways......."


So that's the last update. I guess it seems at this point no news is good news. As always, please continue to pray.

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As for me and my life, nothing too exciting, unless you count the box of hand-me-downs we received for Lucero, which I actually did consider kinda exciting. They were from her three-year old cousin and most of them are in decent shape and very cute, but Lucero won't be able to wear most of them until next year when she's two. Still, something to look forward to.

And on another clothes-related topic, there was this little toddler dress from the kids Gap that I was so going to buy for Lucero, but I put it off until I had the money, you know, the responsible thing to do. It was on clearance, only $9.99 online, but still, I thought to myself, "If it's a good idea today, it'll still be a good idea when I have the money." Yes, I know, it's only $9.99, but isn't
that the kind of thinking that gets so many people in over their heads with debt? It's just a little bit of money, but next thing you know all those little things add up. I waited and a week and a half later the money was in my account. I went to the website and, sure enough, it was sold out! I was so bummed. So if any of yall happen to go by a kids Gap or baby Gap and you see a large floral print tunic-style dress in either yellow, red or green and it's a size 12 months, please get it for me and I'll pay you back. I'm not even joking about this. I wish I had a picture I could post of it, but like I said, it's sold out online, so therefore no picture. Anyway, I've been adoring this dress since after the holidays and I told myself I would get it for her when it went on sale, but obviously I waited too long. Aww, shucks.

Ok, I have a little one pulling at my leg, which I guess means my time is up. Later days, folks.

A Little Slow on the Updates

My apologies, really. I've been meaning to fill yall in on Golightly's status, but honestly I haven't been updated myself. Usually one friend of her's will e-mail me daily to let me know the latest, but she hasn't, which I think might be due to the fact that Golightly's mother returned to Phoenix and was the friend's main contact for updates. I intended to call Cowboy myself, but haven't. Luckily I was just informed via the patient web page that...

"Recently Golightly's vitals have become more stable and she is looking a lot better! She is not as agitated by stimulation now and is looking well rested. The doctors think she might have a slight infection and so will be starting her on antibiotics soon. She also has been moved out of her original icu room and now is in room 29. Still on the same floor in the same icu unit just down the hall a little ways =)"

So that's all I know for now. I will try to keep yall better informed. Sorry.

Good Reports

Here's the latest concerning our dear Golightly...

Via e-mail from friend visiting the hospital Saturday March 21:
"I just saw Golightly and again she looks good. They did some tests on her
today and her reactions were positive. She is having more pupil
movement which is good. She also was more reactive when they did the
pinch test.

When we were visiting, her respiratory tech was checking on her and
told us she is completely breathing on her own. That is great news. In
other news she is no longer being medically sedated, so waking up is
all on her now."



Via patient website Sunday March 22 7:22am cst:
"Golightly is showing signs of improvement through her reflex tests. She also has been taken off of the respirator as she is now breathing on her own. All are good signs of improvement and we hope that she is well on her way to a full recovery soon. Best wishes to everyone who has sent their prayers and their thoughts to Golightly this last week."



Via e-mail from friend visiting hospital Sunday March 22 8pm cst:
"Today was a great day. Our girl is holding her own. Everyone of the
docs and nurses say how impressed they are with her! She is completely
off the vent! And she looks so good without all the tubes. She also is
no longer being sedated, so its up to her now to wake up.

In more good news, she is doing so good she might be moved from ICU.
Its not a definite, but it is something being talked about.

There hasn't been any updates on her brain injuries. So we just have
to keep hoping and praying that she will come back to us.

Her mother is probably heading back to phx this week so Golightly is going to
need everyone who can to stop by and check on her, plus to keep us
updated."


And that's all the news on our girl. Thanks to everyone who's dropped a line to show your concern. I'm glad to know Golightly is so loved among the blogosphere. She truly is a special lady and deserves the best life has to offer. Keep those prayers and positive thoughts flowing. I just know she will wake up one day and be better than ever.

---------------------------------------------------

As for me and my life, it's been pretty ho-hum. We took Lucero's pictures the other day and she did beautifully. She smiled and giggled right on cue. And if anyone is wondering, we went barefoot. It worked out perfectly well.

I wish I had more to say at the moment, but for the most part, I don't. Sorry.

A Week Ago Tonight

I can hardly believe just a week ago Golightly's life changed forever.

The latest update:
"Today Golightly had the tracheotomy (breathing tube inserted into the neck) and the feeding tube inserted directly into the stomach. She did very well with it and is looking quite rested and peaceful. She shows signs of improved reflexes. It's an uphill battle that she is climbing slowly but surely. She will have a busy and eventful weekend as many friends and family members will be back to visit."


I know it's not much of an update, but at least everything went well with the removal of the ventilator. Keep believing for her, people!

UPDATED Saturday the 21 12:48am cst:
Oops, guess I was wrong about the ventilator. This is the latest update via e-mail from a friend who just left the hospital.

"We just left the hospital tonight and wow is it different @ Baylor.
Today they put a trech in, according to Cowboy she did actually take a
few breaths on her own. She isn't breathing enough on her own so they
are leaving her attached to the vent. She still has swelling in her
brain so we just keep waiting on that. Good news is the docs aren't
ruling out a recovery of some kind. Its far off and would be a very
long road but its something to hope for.

That's all we know right now. Hope to have more tomorrow. She looks so
good today. Its almost like she is just sleeping and will wake up @
any time."

160 Hours Later

Sorry the update took so long. I was away from the computer for most of the day.

This via patient webpage Wednesday night:
"We met with the trama surgeon and everything seems to be ok with the recovery of Golightly's torso and internal organs. The swelling is coming down and she is looking much better. She is settling in well and seems to be much more comfortable here. The staff here has been quite pleasant and informative. We are thankful for all that they are doing to take care of Golightly."



This was a forwarded e-mail with an update from Golightly's mother dated Thursday the 20th:
"Hello to all, friends and family, Day # 6
Today is Thursday and she is hanging in there now more than 160 hrs
i.e.and 5 days.
She has daily CT scans to assess any evolving brain damage, and
today, in addition to her carotid fracture, she was found to also
have bilateral i.e both sides of the neck, vertebral artery
lacerations. The vertebrals perfuse the lower brain called the
cerebellum and also the cerebrum, when there is a laceration it
disrupts blood flow which is still intact in her case, but her
reports mentions diffuse ischemia which is like a diffuse
stroke because of lessened blood flow.
She has intermittent rises in her vital signs i.e blood
pressures temp and heart rate soars concerningly, but it is her
body's autoregulation system that is going haywire for the
thermostat is not working........ usually if she is sedated
sufficiently, it is enough to overide and keep her vitals
balanced and stable, overall she is doing well and fighting
fiercely........I talk to her all of the time ! I KNOW she is
hearing me ! She WILL pull thru this ! !

We prepare for her tracheostomy and feed tube placement. I
anticipate after that we will all settle down into PRAYING and
WATCHING

Thank you for your continued prayers and support."



From the same forwarded email but on Wednesday the 18:
"she had a ct this am which shows slight ever so slight lessening of
the brain swelling so our prayers are working.....she has damage
to her right carotid and vascular surgeons are at this time
evaluating it......this is another serius finding, hopefully it
does not present a problem, keep praying.......and thanks for
the inquiries and support."



And this is the latest via the patient webpage:
"Family and friends met with the doctor today to discuss different approaches to treating Golightly. Everything seems to be okay, while progress is still slow moving. All of the positive attitudes and prayer from family and friends surely is helping Golightly through her journey to a full recovery.

Baylor Hospital continues to be very helpful in offering care for Golightly and information to family and friends."

That's all I know. Per usual, keep the prayers coming.


UPDATED Friday 12:10pm cst:
Golightly will be taken off the ventilater at 2 pm today and put on a trach tube. Pray for success.

Need Golightly's Take On This

One of the great things about my relationship with Golightly is that we could call each other morning, day or night and talk about anything. Duh, that's how most friendships work, right? Well, not exactly. In fact, the last time we spoke she called me Wednesday night around eleven. To anyone else that might be an inappropriate hour to call a friend for some regular old chit chat, but not for me. I was up (and so was Lucero), so I took the call and we began to gab about everything: her wedding planning, X's job search, my frustrations with X, her frustrations with finding a venue, her move to a new apartment, etc. The call lasted over an hour (and during the call Lucero fell asleep in my arms). But besides catching up on each other's lives, we also typically call (or g-chat) to get the other's opinions on matters, as little or big as they may be.

Today I came across a dilemma, a small one, I mean, itty-bitty small, but nonetheless, it was one in which I would've asked Golightly for her opinion. I would've mentioned the issue, what I considered my options to be, and then wait for her to see what she thinks would be better. That's typically how it works.

Here's my itty-bitty dilemma: I'm trying to put an outfit together for Lucero, so we can finally take a professional photo of her. Here's the dress.



The issue is the shoes. I thought maybe she could wear some white sandals with it, but they seem to casual for it, so I quickly nixed those. So I thought about getting some white dress shoes to go with, but at the same time I don't want to buy white dress shoes, 'cause honestly I think it'll be the only time she wears them, since it's already warm and I don't want to squish her little feet in to some white patent shoes that make her feet sweat and are really too fancy for her casual spring dresses, which she'll mostly be wearing sandals with. X suggested we leave her barefoot, which I'm kinda for, because of the sweetness of it, but then at the same time I feel family may wonder why the heck we didn't put shoes on our poor little baby. And there you have it, my itty-bitty dilemma. Thoughts? Concerns? (I also sometimes call Ashley about these things, but she has a job that doesn't allow her the time to always debate these little issues.)

Yeah, so I would've called Golightly and she would've expressed her POV and follow up with how option whatever would be so cuuuute.

As far as Golightly, she was transferred to Baylor yesterday. This is the latest:
"I just talked to Cowboy and he gave me the most recent update on our girl. She had a pretty rough time with the move. She did not like being transferred one bit. During the ride she did a lot of posturing and thrashing about. But they were able to get her settled in late last night.

The docs at Baylor are already on the case. They did a new CT and the good news is her internal injuries seem to be healing. She still has some bleeding but not nearly as much as she had before. They really are not worried about these injuries right now.

As always their major concern is her brain. Cowboy said he knew they took her for new tests this morning but he didn't think one of them was for a new MRI. Her swelling on her brain has gone down some, but it really isn't as much as they were hoping. According to her new docs its really hard to make any accurate diagnosis's while her brain is still swollen.

Clint said right now she is moving around a lot. Esp when she hears voices. I am hoping it is because she recognizes the voices and is trying to come to us.... but that is just what i want to believe. Sadly, she is still doing a lot of posturing, which we know is not a good sign.

Cowboy is pretty shaken up right now. He didn't seem too steady on the phone. I think we need to remember him these next few days as well. I know most of our focus has been on Golightly and her mom, but if someone in dallas could just maybe do a check on him tonight that would be great."


So it seems our prayers are working in some aspect. I know these type of injuries take time to recover from, but let's all continue to hope and pray for a full recovery.

More News on Golightly

I spoke with another friend of Golightly's on the phone last night. She informed me of the same injuries everyone else reported, but included that there are lacerations to her spleen and liver, as well. She basically gave me an overview of the injuries and included that we still have reason to hope.

She informed me that Golightly's mother wants her transferred from the hospital she's currently in to another one, one where the doctors are willing to fight for her daughter. I'm guessing as a doctor herself, she's not satisfied with what the doctors are saying for Golightly. This transfer to another hospital should happen today. And since Golightly will be under different care at the new hospital, this may change their plans of removing her from the ventilator, as was originally suggested.

Her friend encouraged me to make a visit to Golightly if I can, but honestly, I just don't think it's possible. Don't get me wrong, I would love to be there to offer my support and lay my hands on her to pray, but at the same time it's difficult to make the trip. Dallas is five to six hours from Pecos. Financially speaking, I cannot afford the trip, what with gas, meals, lodging. Also, with Lucero, it makes it tough for traveling. I'm still nursing her, so she has to be by my side throughout the day (she absolutely refuses a bottle now). And on top of all that, I'm a bit of a chicken. I know Golightly does not look remotely the same. As her friend put, it looks like she put on sixty pounds, due to swelling. I don't want to see her in that condition. Is it wrong? Am I making up a bunch of excuses?

This just in:
"Good news, she will be moved to baylor today!!!!

She will be moved today at 4:30pm. There is already a team in place waiting for her.

Keep your fingers crossed that the doctors there are able to help her!!!"



That's the latest. Please continue to pray.

Latest on Golightly

I spoke to both Golightly's brother and fiance yesterday. They said she has fractures to her pelvis and spine, as well as internal bleeding and severe head trauma. Golightly is unresponsive. However, she's been on medicine to help her stay under, so they're gradually going to lessen the drugs to see if she'll respond. So far she's only twitching involuntarily. Also, an MRI has been ordered.

Her fiance, Cowboy, as she likes to refer to him on her blog, was released from the hospital and is doing fine, though I use the term loosely, because he has a fractures in his rib and neck. He's supposed to see a neurosurgeon today concerning his neck.

As far as the details on the accident, the term Cowboy used to describe it, which was how it was explained to him, the vehicle they were traveling in was T-Boned. It was Golightly, Cowboy and Cowboy's friend/old roommate, who Golightly refers to as CR1. It was CR1 that was driving, but he wasn't injured.

And this just in via e-mail from one of Golightly's friends in Dallas:
"Friends, MRI results are not good.

This is according to Golightly's mom.....she is a doctor as well and
was able to look at the MRI scans. Golightly has contusions on both sides of
her head, she has tissue tears in her brain that are not fixable. The MRI
showed that tissue on both the left and right side of her brain are torn
from the middle brain or severed.
At this point the doctors cannot do anything to fix it. They are going to
take her off the ventilator in one week, which is pumping air into her
lungs to keeping her alive right now. At that point they will put her on a
trake and hopefully she can breathe on her own."

And according to an e-mail from another friend:
"It's not good, but from what I understand her mom, is checking out second opinions. There is still lots of reasons to hope and pray."

So that's all I know, but I share this with you, because I know there is power in numbers. Please pray for Golightly. The God I serve makes all things possible, so though we may see things as unfixable, God sees it as an easy fix. What we consider impossible, He makes possible. There is no problem too big for our God. So please pray.

Prayers Needed. No, Seriously!

I have horrible, horrible news. My dear friend, Golightly, was in a car accident. I don't know many of the details, but I know she was pretty badly injured, and even that is putting it mildly.

This afternoon I was at my cousin's son's first birthday party. My phone rang. I looked at the ID, saw that it was Golightly and debated taking the call, only because I was at a birthday party, lots of people, lots of distractions, but after hesitating for a second or two, I decided to answer. When I did I was met with confusion. There was another woman's voice on the line. She told me Golightly was involved in an accident. The caller than identified herself as Golightly's mother and explained that she was going through her cell phone notifying her friends. I asked how she was doing. Her mother said not well. This is where it got a bit cloudy. I'm not sure if I heard this correctly, but I think her mother said she wasn't doing well, she experienced severe head trauma (?) and that she was in a coma. I know for sure I heard the word coma, which was absolutely terrifying to hear that a friend of mine, a dear one at that, one I had spoken to only two or three days before, was in such condition. My heart began to beat faster. I asked how it happened. Again, a little cloudy. Her mother said something about them, her and her fiance, leaving a partylast night. I'm not sure if she said there were more people in the vehicle or what, but that Golightly's fiance is doing fine. And I don't know what she meant by fine. No broken bones? Awake? Talking? Stable? She was getting a call on the other line, but I asked that she keep me posted. That is all the details I got out of the call. I kid you not, the call lasted less than a minute, and with the news being so shocking, it was hard for me to take it all in.

Oh my Lord, I'm so concerned, I'm so scared, I just can't believe this. But I've been praying like a mad woman. I'm asking for your prayers as well. Pray that Golightly makes a full recovery. Pray that she lives and is better than before. Pray that the Lord heals all. Just please pray.

Life at Ten Months

I wish I could say Lucero accomplished so much this past month, but considering it was such a short month, I didn't really notice any major accomplishments. She still cannot crawl in normal fashion, but she's really gotten better at pulling herself up on furniture. She's objecting to food a lot more, as in when she no longer wants the crummy green beans, she shakes her head no, but then when offered dessert, she gladly accepts it. How does she know the difference?! Besides that the dessert is not green, but still. She's regressed some: she no longer says buh-bye, so I guess that was a fluke. On the other hand she's gotten better at addressing me as mama and this usually happens when she's starving and dying for me to put her on my boob. So really, I can't think of anything else she's done new lately. Or maybe I'm beginning to take her advancements for granted. OH, wait, she did finally learn to put the ball in the mouth of the giraffe toy all by herself. That was a big deal, considering I never thought she would do that until much later and I even said it was ridiculous that Fisher Price thought this toy was fitting for such a young infant. Guess it goes to show that I don't know much. (Funny thing is I excitedly told X about this accomplishment and he said she did that like two months ago by herself. I was like, oh, really, so she did it once two months ago, but never did it again until recently? I find that hard to believe. But if you know X, he's constantly advancing Lucero far more than she is.)

Latest Stats:
Height: (oops, forgot to measure her, will input later....or never)
Weight: about 18lbs, rough estimate considering I measured her on the scale at home.

And here she is in all her ten month glory.


I seriously cannot believe we are two months away from her first birthday! Oh my word, how time flies!

Proof: the scale does not lie


Lucero climbing on her walker. Such a risk-taker, I say.


I liked the look of this old building, so I plopped her on some dead grass and snapped away. Yes, her hair is long enough to make piggy tails.


With cousin Jeremiah. He will be one in a week.

He's far more interested in taking pictures than Lucero is.


What her hair looks like once the pigtails are pulled out. Remind anyone of Bozo the Clown?


My ballerina girl

Peeking in cabinets. She's doing a lot more of this.


Just had to get a picture of the back of her little leggies. "Leggies" is what I call legs. I also call feet "feets."


I forgot to post this picture from Christmas. Lucero with cousins Logan and Jeremiah. Only Logan was ok with the photo-snapping. Plus, we were missing some girl cousins. Oh, well, maybe next year.

This whole post is possible because X took Lucero for the night. This is the second time he does this. The first time I was royally annoyed, because he didn't understand what it takes to put her to sleep and keep her asleep, so I sent her away with him. Tonight I decided I needed a break, due mostly to the fact that I'm also dealing with allergies and it's a pain to finally fall asleep on my own, only to be awaken by Lucero an hour or minutes later. The first time X said he really didn't experience any issues with her. (This is also typical X, to make it seem as if the experience was an easy one, no big deal at all. He's such a liar, or in such denial.) He just called me a few minutes ago, saying Lucero keeps calling my name out. Then he asks, "So do you want me to bring her back?" I suggested he feed her some baby food, give her the pacifier and hopefully, then she'll fall to sleep. He's supposed to call if it doesn't work out. I just find it funny that he called at 12:30 ready to toss in the towel. Ha! Call me when it's 3am, dude.

But having her away has been nice. I can get coherent thoughts out completely. I can actually complete tasks I begin without constant interruption or constant worry that the typing is going to wake her. It almost feels like my life before Lucero ever was in it. I kinda miss that. Don't get me wrong, Lucero is a doll, but this doll doesn't come with a mute/pause button.

By the way, I did finally get the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby. It's taking me some time to read it, but I am reading it. The first 100 pages made me feel like a horrible mother for depriving my child of sleep, but some of it also assured me that I'm not so horrible, because in the beginning it was just science, not my lack of motherly know-how that couldn't calm her fussiness. Now of course that she's ten months old, it truly is my fault for not establishing better sleep habits. I haven't really attempted any of the advice yet. I'm waiting to take it all in before I decide how I'm going to approach it, considering the circumstances.

X just called again, saying she's still not asleep and she keeps calling my name. It's now 1:07. I suggested a couple of other things for him to try. He said he's tried them. So then I reluctantly said, "I guess bring her back." He said he would try a little longer, then call me back if it doesn't work. Honestly, the girl should be tired enough by now to fall asleep, regardless if I'm there or not. However, X doesn't know how to put her to sleep, considering I've done it the last 300 times or so. He doesn't know how to soothe her or calm her or rock her gently and he certainly doesn't have nipples that secrete milk (or anything for that matter), but still, he has a bottle, so I don't see why he's having such a problem. Oh, I should probably mention how Lucero doesn't like bottles anymore. She seriously will only drink an ounce or two and then flat out refuse it. So there goes wasted formula. But at least in the future I won't have a problem getting rid of the bottle-feedings.

So anywhoo, I'm pretty tired. I'm gonna shut things down around here before X calls again to say he's bringing the little one back.