Our Cat has Nine Lives
I’ll just say this: as bad as 2020 was, for us it was nothing compared to 2016. I cannot believe it’s four years. Four. How? The knowledge makes my head spin like a small planet, like its moon — time moving inexorably forward forward forward yet tricking you with its revolutions, its constant circling back […]
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Update needed, as Caitlin would say. Three years ago today, on the 9-month anniversary of her lung transplant, during a walk around Walden Pond, I decided to start writing what I called “the Caitlin book.” I wasn’t even sure what kind of book it would be, or if I could manage to write it, but […]
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I thought that losing Caitlin taught me all there was to know about love and loss and “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” but with my mother newly departed from this earth, I’m reminded that life is constantly teaching, and my faulty human self always has more to learn. The practical side […]
Read MoreThe team just rounded. A chest tube on Caitlin’s left side is draining a bit more than Dr. D’Cunha likes. “She’s not unstable but I need to take a look. Clean her out.” Last night, he said she would have a standing slot in the OR, every day for a while, in case they need […]
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Caitlin came back from her trip to the OR. Her surgeon and his fellow thoroughly searched for anything that could be causing the high lactate levels. The good news was that they did a deep and thorough search and everything looked good. No dead tissue to be seen. The liver is likely the problem, because […]
Read MoreCaitlin has new working lungs, but the rest of her is struggling, and she needs all the energetic help she can get, along with everything her incredible doctors are giving her. 1. Her liver is still in tough shape, but the numbers were slightly better this morning. 2. She’s producing a lot of lactate, which […]
Read MoreCaitlin has come out of the OR to her room at the ICU where the team is working to keep her stable. Right now, her biggest problem is her liver. It’s not functioning and needs support. The liver can take a lot of trauma and turn around so we have to hope that’s going to […]
Read MoreDr. D’Cunha just came in and said she’ll be going back to the ICU in about half an hour. The bleeding has slowed down, turned to oozing. They are still concerned about the liver. She’s going back on full ECMO so that’s an issue. One thing at a time. The small tiger is recovering in […]
Read MoreIt’s past midnight, and all are still working on Caitlin, and that is still happening in the OR. We haven’t had an update in well over two hours when one of the surgeons reported that they were trying to stop the bleeding in her chest wall. They were thinking that it was her liver causing […]
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Technically, the surgery is done, but they’re having trouble getting Caitlin off the heart/lung bypass. Her body needs to start up again on its own, generate blood pressure. They’re setting up multiple dialysis machines to try and help her transition off the heart/lung support back to ECMO. That’s all I know at the moment. Prayers. […]
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