Update on Kathleen

I made the 6 hour round-trip drive to Jacksonville, Florida yesterday to visit my friend and colleague, Kathleen Duncan. She is still in critical care at the Mayo Clinic/St. Luke's Hospital. We were told on Friday that the doctors have suggested to wait 48 hours to see if Kathleen had made any progress before deciding to take her off life support. The ventilator is doing 100% of her breathing, she is on 24 hour dialysis since her kidneys stopped working, she has developed a bacterial infection in her lungs causing pneumonia, and there is fluid amassing around her heart.

I left my house yesterday morning at 5:45 am and arrived in Jacksonville around 9:00 am. (Will may be surprised to learn that I found the hospital without getting lost) Once I found the critical care floor, I inquired about Kathleen's room and was told that none of her family was present so I needed to wait until they arrived so they could determine whether or not I'd get a chance to see her. I left the hospital and drove to McDonalds to get a muffin and a Diet Coke (the liquid of the gods) ... sat in my car eating breakfast and listening to Charlie Steiner on MLB's The Show for about 45 minutes ... and then trekked back into the ICU. This time I was smarter (thank you UGA) ... I didn't ask for her room; I just went straight there. There were 4 nurses in her small room doing something to all the tubes that were coming from her body.

Kathleen was in a roto-bed, which I will do my best to describe. Since she has been lying on her back without moving for so long, she has started to develop bed sores. This bed straps her in real good, and then turns her like a rotisserie. Evidently it assists her oxygenization AND helps prevent bed sores. I couldn't see much of her for a while as she was upside down. I knelt down near her and talked to her ... telling her the new happenings in SSS ... how we're still waiting to hear about the EOC grant ... and how I am trying to order new computers for the lab but am not sure what she would want (that is part of her duties). I tried not to cry ... I know she wouldn't want me to ... and that was probably the hardest part.

Her sister-in-law, Juanita, came to the room around 10:30 am. I had only met her one other time, and she was just as sweet as the first time meeting her. She has power of attorney over all of Kathleen's personal and medical needs even though Kathleen does have a husband and a grown daughter (perhaps another blog post will address the sad state of familial affairs Kathleen has). After about 30 minutes with Juanita, Kathleen's 85 year old mother, her younger sister, and Kathleen's niece and baby come to the room. It was about this time that I learned that Dr. Kramer (Kathleen's lead doctor) would address all of the family via conference call around noon to discuss what would become of Kathleen. I did not stay much longer ... I left at 11:30 am because I needed to get back home. Besides, Kathleen's niece was staring a hole into me as I stood and held Kathleen's hand and rubbed her arm. I guess her niece couldn't understand why this white woman was crying over her aunt ... she had no idea that Kathleen and I didn't see each other in color ... we see each other in character.

My director, Faye, and Kathleen's best friend, Cynthia, arrived shortly after I left Jacksonville. Faye called me today to tell me that the family has voted to keep Kat on life support until at least tomorrow at 2:00 pm. Although they know that Kathleen's chance of survival is 5%-10%, the doctor's said that she had made a smidgeon of progress and they want to make completely sure that Kathleen cannot pull through this.

So ... we will wait another day and hope that Kathleen is strong enough to defy all odds. She's done it before ... perhaps she can do it again. Either way, Faye and I have decided that at our end-of-year SSS awards we will add a K.B. Duncan award to the student who reminds us of Kathleen's ability to keep positive during adversity.

I'll make another post tomorrow when we know more. Until then, I ask for all of my readers to consider Kathleen in your prayers ... to whatever god you choose to worship.

Jen