This is the timeline of Cat's very long summer July 1st, 2024: Cat was having some muscle spasms in her back and abdomen. July 4th, 2024: She couldn’t breath well, and the pain was back and worse than before. Due to holiday she went to the walk-in clinic where the doctor or PA did an X-ray (labs weren’t done at this time). They sent her on her way with amoxicillin and recommended using the nebulizer at home. July 8th, 2024: Getting worse she went to the ER and received antibiotics and a steroid (which made her hallucinate) along with a duo nebulizer. July 12th, 2024: Cat’s breathing became more labored so she went to her Internal Medical team. After some tests she was admitted into the hospital in Park Rapids immediately. She felt much better with Oxygen but on her second day in the hospital she crashed. July 21st, 2024: They did a flight for life from Essentia Park Rapids to Essantia Hospital in Fargo. July 23rd, 2024: Transported by a jet plane to the University of Minnesota Hospital. Here she was given paralytics, put into a coma, put on an ECMO machine (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), dialysis, intubated and put on many types of antibacterial and antifungal medication. During this time, Family, from all over, came to visit. She said could hear their voices, see her loved ones' faces in her dreams, but it was all very confusing. July 30th, 2024: She woke from the coma, she could only move her eyes making communication very difficult. Allyson, her little sister, has been awesome, massaging, washing and all around taking care of her. She was an asset in helping her communicate early on when she could barely lift a finger. Allyson also cut off about 6” of Cat’s hair… and Cat said the haircut is actually not half bad. Her Dad comes on days that Ally can’t and they have both been crucial in helping her relay her many questions about medications and such to the doctors, especially early on. August 25th, 2024: Because it was very difficult on her family who had been making 4 hour drives in shifts to make sure she wasn’t alone at the Minnesota University Hospital. the decision was made, on Gerry and Cat’s 22nd Wedding Anniversary, to transfer her from MN University Hospital to Fargo via ambulance. She almost crashed again on the 4 hour drive. Thank the Lord that the well trained EMTs pulled over and got her breathing again. Cat said it was very scary as she watched the lights dim as she gasped for air. Everyone was so excited that she would now be 2 hours from home, but at that moment, all Cat could see were the goodbye hugs, kisses and smiles of her family as she was fading. This was obviously a very scary moment for her. She has been in a long term recovery hospital since 8/25/23 7:30 pm. She is receiving PT, OT, tons of medications. She is trying to wake her muscles up and living on miracles. She has endured so many procedures. September 27, 2024: She celebrated 2 weeks of NOT needing dialysis!! That is a great accomplishment! Her kidneys are waking up, so she won’t need dialysis when she leaves the long term care hospital. September 28, 2024: Cat was put on a Passy Muir valve which means she can finally talk and is essentially breathing on her own while receiving only 2 liters of O2. She does not need the ventilator during the day any longer so, she has come a long way as she was once on full ventilator support. She continues to have something like a CPAP at night, and is still ventilated to ensure she is breathing well while she sleeps. She is looking forward to the SLP coming next week to help her start eating eat regular- ish food! She is being tube fed for now so is not hungry but said “I’d kill for a glass of water, or any liquid substance”. September 29, 2024: Cat passed her Barium Swallow Study with flying colors so will soon be able to eat food, with caution. Cat is finally able to sit and stand without feeling the world spinning and becoming short of breath, which improves every day. “Who knew how hard standing would be!”. She will get to take a REAL shower soon! She said, “OMG let me tell you if you have a loved one who gets sponge baths… pay someone to help with a weekly shower. It is imperative to feel like a human adult.” Cat is at Vibra Hospital, on the 7th floor of Sanford Medical Center in Fargo. She is requesting no gifts or flowers as the room is very small. She welcomes visits but said her days can still be fairly unpredictable. She is hoping for the trac to come out soon and that she can walk so that she can do OT and PT closer to home. Thank God for the amazing care that Cat received. When the doctors look at her chart, they are amazed because it is a miracle how far she has come. One of the strongest people I know!
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