Urgent Prayer Request-Great News!

I've posted my number in the Luxury Box thread. Please call anytime. Know that your Mom and your whole family are in my prayers!

 

Just got off the phone with Raul my friends and he asked me to post an update from our conversation.

The situation is very grave. While the injuries do not at this time appear life threatening, the doctors are telling the family that the injuries around vertebrate T6 (a little above the small of your back) are so severe that paralysis is very likely. It would affect walking, bladder function and all the rest of the lower bodily areas. Her name is Mercedes but the family calls her Mercy. I believe Raul said she is 76 (it was middle 70's if I'm off a year or so) and unfortunately has never worn a seatbelt.

She was t-boned into, of all things, the parking lot of a hospital. She was treated by their trauma team immediately and then sent to Jackson where the Miami Project for paralysis (formerly known as the Buoniconti project) is located. I told Raul that Mercy is in the best spot on the planet for her kind of injury.

It will take a few days for the swelling to go down and she is getting good care. Raul and his twin sister have gotten a chane to speak to Mercy briefly.

They need your prayers and best wishes desperately. The shock and numbness are terrible. He appreciates the good wishes and support of his friends here.

 

I spoke with Raul last evening and thought about that but in the press of things forgot to ask. It is on my list to ask when next we speak. His Mom's first name is Mercedes but the family knows her as Mercy.

 

Spoke with Raul at lunchtime. They have been told that Mercy has fractures throughout her vertabrate in a run from L1 though T6. The damage to L1 is extensive. The doctors are deciding whether her health (age and diabetes) allows her to be a candidate for stabilizing surgery.

The family appreciates your prayers and good wishes and asks they be continued.

 

Spoke again with Raul today. The situation has taken a turn for the worse. Mercy's oxygenation is not high enough and they are having problems getting it up. Her back causes her to have to lay flat while for the sake of her breathing she needs to be more elevated. The catch-22 has serious medical implications.

The doctors have spoken to Raul about intibation. Now he has to talk to Mercy and the discussions of how to answer her questions and what to do with her answers are heart rending.

He continues to thank y'all for the prayers you have offered and asks they be continued, please!

 

Just got off the phone with Raul again. Mom is resting more comfortably. They did not have to intibate her, yet. Instead they put in chest tubes on either side and withdrew large quantities of fluid that was building up due to injuries from the crash and that was what was constricting her breathing.

Raul says no doctor has mentioned "vertabrate" in a week now as they try and deal with the injuries to the chest, et. al. Once the other injuries have been dealt with they can get further into the spinal issues.

Raul is very tired. Family struggles and issues are always magnified at times like this and his fatigue, both physical and mental, is really catching up with him.

He greatly appreciates the prayers, notes, etc he has recived and continues to hope you will send your prayers.

 

Wednesday 9/9 update

Just spoke to Raul by phone again. They are looking to take out Mercy's chest tubes and hoping to move her out of ICU. That is the good news. The bad news is that the prognosis regarding regaining mobility is still not good.

As many of you have experianced in crisis such as this, family dynamics often break down. Raul has been thrust into the role of "grown-up" decision maker. There are lots of pressures that come with that role, many of which have nothing to do with Mercy's injuries directly.

He continues to covet your prayers and good wishes!

 

I am sorry to report things have taken a serious turn for the worse. Mercy was not able to be removed from ICU and was this morning sedated and intibated. (A tube was put down her throat into her lungs and is now aiding her breathing.) The prognosis is becoming more grave and just before she was put under, Mercy expressed her fatigue at the ongoing ordeal.

Please dear friends continue to hold Mercy, Raul and the family in your prayers. Raul is especially feeling the pressure because now that Mercy is unconscious, Raul has the health care proxy and must determine "what is in her best interest". I have done this and advised on this before. The weight is enormous!