Caroline Moore has first outing with family

From left are Jane Williams, Kathy Moore, Amy Moore, Caroline Moore Krack, Amanda, Dot Moore and Mike Williams

Sunday was a special day for the family of BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore. Daughter Caroline Moore Krack, who has gone through coma and rehab since being hospitalized in January with meningitis, had her first outing – breakfast at Eat’n Park restaurant.

Joining Carrie, as husband John Krack calls her, were Tom and wife Dot, their children Kathy and Amy, their granddaughter Amanda and Mike Williams, still at the BJ, and Mike’s wife, Jane.

Carrie, Kathy and Amy were weekend copykids at the BJ.

In addition to his other BJ duties, Mike has been trying for a year to round up copies of every Tower Topics and Sidebar employee newsletters printed over the years.

Carrie/Caroline, who lives in Minnesota, moved into Tom and Dot’s house from Edwin Shaw Hospital rehab March 26.

Click on the headline for previous stories on Caroline/Carrie’s illness and recovery.

Carrie Moore Krack update

BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore's daughter, Caroline "Carrie" Moore Krack, had a setback Monday. A problem with her tracheal tube caused cardiac arrest till it was solved. She has been returned to her previous facility, Select Speciality Hospital, 200 E. Market.

Carrie began the year battling meningitis at Akron City Hospital.

Click on the headline for an earlier post on Carrie's situation.

Update on Carrie Moore Krack

John Krack, husband of Carrie Moore Krack, daughter of BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore, sent updates to BJ Alums blog. The main, encouraging elements:

She’s wide awake, very alert, and oriented. She remembers minute details from the past. She doesn’t remember the first trip to the ER on Jan. 1, or the last two months, except maybe some bits and pieces.

She remembers hospital people she talked with recently, even remembering some names.

We went through about 20 of the cards you’ve sent to her. Some she was able to read, and others (particularly those with longer messages in cursive handwriting) she wanted me to read to her. She commented on the beautiful cards, chuckled at the humorous ones, understood the messages, recognized the senders, and really appreciated your thoughtfulness.


Click on the headline for previous updates on Tom's daughter, who was hospitalized with meningitis.

Carrie's husband writes about her recovery

BJ Alums received this email from John Krack, husband of Caroline "Carrie" Moore Krack, who is BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore's daughter.


This is the letter I’ve been waiting for 5 months to write. We brought her home to Minnesota on Monday, June 6. She’s doing very well. Her balance has improved. She’s able to walk most places with a single cane, and walks around the house with no support. She still has some weakness in her right side, but that’s expected to resolve as she (as she puts it) “gets back to being an adult,” and resumes her normal activities. She still needs a little bit more therapy, and we’re working on getting that set up. Every indication is that she will make a complete recovery. She’s lost about 40 pounds, and looks great. (I guess I'll have to buy her a new wardrobe, but I don't mind one bit!)

We saw the cardiologist May 31, and he said her cardiac ejection factor is 60%, which is spot-on normal. She has no apparent heart issues, and he was absolutely amazed that she has done so well. She did a driver evaluation June 2, and the examiner said she’s very close to being able to drive. The biggest problem was that the right-side weakness kept her from moving quickly enough between the accelerator and the brake, and that should improve as she gets stronger. She also needs to process information more quickly, and that should also get better. We don’t have a timeline, but I’d expect her to be driving again in a few months. Meanwhile, she's got a captive chauffeur, though we may need to enlist some of you to help from time to time..

She saw the ophthalmologist today, who said her eyes are very healthy. Next are follow-up appointments with her other doctors to transition her monitoring and care to MN.

I drove to Akron on May 30, and spent the week there. In addition to the doctor appointment and last few therapy sessions, we stopped by the ICU and specialty hospital where she spent January and February, and showed her off to the nurses and therapists who worked with her. Carrie, of course, didn’t remember many of them, but was glad to meet and thank them, and they were very happy to see how well she’s doing. Carrie took a bunch of scrubbies along and handed them out to the nurses. Most of the docs I wanted to see weren’t available, but we did run into the doctor who was in charge of her respiratory care at the specialty hospital (oversaw her swallowing tests and trach tube removal) . She (the doctor), who I pegged as pretty matter-of-fact and not particularly warm, almost went crazy with surprise at how well Carrie was doing. We think she even surprised some of the interns who were with her by her reaction. It was fun all around to see these care-givers again under more positive circumstances.

We drove to NW Pennsylvania for an overnight to visit my brother and sister-in-law, and my mom and sister and aunts/uncle. It was a trial to see how Carrie would do on long-distance travel, and she did fine. We celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary with her family on Sunday, and headed home Monday. I had planned to spend a night on the road, but she said she was feeling well and wanted to keep moving, so we got in late Monday evening, to be welcomed by lots of beautiful flowers left in our yard by friends. (And she was able to use the ladies' room entirely by herself!)

She’s been to several get-togethers with friends in the past week, and we’ve spent a lot of time cleaning up the house. She still tires easily and needs to take naps, but is able to do light housework and other activities with no problem.

So, things are moving forward and getting back to normal. The doctors all say she’s a “miracle lady,” and we would have to agree. We’re certain that your love and kindness and prayers and support throughout this journey had a great deal to do with her remarkable recovery. Her parents have been absolutely wonderful through all of this, providing her with loads of support, and a quiet place to recover, as she continued her therapy. Overall, we couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome.

We thank all of you again, and look forward seeing you in the weeks to come.

You can email her at cjkrack@gmail.com

God Watch! Love and Hugs.

Carrie and John



Caroline/Carrie came down with meningitis in January and was in a coma for weeks.

Click on the headline to read earlier stories on her health situation.

Carrie's tubes switched from throat to stomach

Husband John Krack emailed this Jan. 19 report on wife Caroline "Carrie" Moore Krack, BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore's daughter, who has been in Akron City Hospital with meningitis all of January:

They did the tracheostomy today and installed a feeding tube through her abdominal wall into the stomach. The tubes are all out of her mouth and throat, giving her upper airway and vocal chords a chance to heal. This setup should be more comfortable for her.

They had her on ventilator support this evening, but she was initiating her respirations. Given that she has recently done quite well off the ventilator, I expect that once she’s stabilized with the trach tube, they’ll disconnect the ventilator again and have her on a low concentration O2 feed.

The surgeon told me yesterday that the stomach tube (called a PEG) will be in for 6 weeks minimum, even if she doesn’t need it that long. When I asked why, he said “statistics.” Apparently, experience shows that it takes about 6 weeks for things to heal to the point where they can pull it with no complications. The body just heals the wound with no issues. If she can eat regularly before then, they’ll just cap it off, coil it up, and tape it to the belly until the 6 weeks are up.

I was quite concerned yesterday morning because her mental status had regressed to about where she was the middle of last week – wouldn’t respond to commands, wasn’t moving around, fixed stare when she opened her eyes. I think this is why they decided not to do the trach/stomach tubes yesterday. When I visited in late afternoon, the nurse said she woke up about 12:30, and when I got there she was nearly back to her peak at the end of last week. Today she was about the same. I’m hoping that, with the tubes out of her throat, she’ll be more comfortable and will be able to resume improving neurologically.

The physical therapist stopped by when I was there this morning and helped the nurse move Carrie from a chair to her bed in preparation for taking her to surgery. The PT had Carrie stand up, pivot, and sit down on the bed. She was a bit unsteady, but the PT said she stood up and supported most of her weight by herself, and was quite pleased that she was able to do that.

I’m not sure what comes next in terms of tests and evaluation, but it appears that the next major steps are to get her stable with the new airway (shouldn’t take long), make sure other systems are OK so she doesn’t come back to ICU, and send her either to the main hospital for a short time to ensure everything’s OK and get a little stronger, or directly to a rehab hospital to work on regaining mental and physical function. That’ll be up to the doctors, based on her condition. Getting her out of ICU will be a big step. By the way, a doctor told me the other day that their rule of thumb is 3 days of rehab for every 1 day in the ICU. If that holds true, we're looking at around 2 months of rehab.

I’ll keep you posted as things develop. Thanks again to all of you for your continued concern and support.

John

Click on the headline for an earlier report on Carrie.

Tom Moore's daughter goes back to Minnesota

Caroline Moore Krack in van that is taking her back to Minnesota

Our daughter Caroline and husband John came for a holiday visit at
Christmas time.

That visit lasted until today became of Carol's illness.

Today she climbed into their van and headed back to Minnesota.

That's thanks to all the thoughts and prayers for her recovery and of
course we have to thank the great care she received in the Summa health care system.

Dot and I are a bit sorry to see her go, but we're flying to Minnesota
soon, so we'll see her again there.

Tom


Caroline "Carrie" Moore Krack contracted meningitis and was in a coma for weeks. It's been a long road back, but now she's taken the road back to Minnesota.

Click on the headline for previous stories on Caroline/Carrie.

Update on Caroline Moore Krack by husband John

No major changes since last report. We're still in "wait and see" mode, but there are some positive indications. She's moving around more, and she seems to respond somewhat to voices by rolling her head and moving her upper body. She's moving her arms and legs, but not in response to any particular stimulus. She does a fair amount of stretching and yawning and facial contortions as if trying to wake up from a sound sleep. This evening when we got there she fully opened her eyes for the first time, and was blinking normally, but didn't show any indication of recognizing anything or following motion. She repeated this later during our visit. I interpret this as a good sign that her neurological function is beginning to return. We're told that she'll be taking baby steps for awhile, and this whole process will likely take some time. There's no typical pattern for people coming out of these situations, so we just go day by day looking for small improvements.

Caroline and father Tom

They've had the respirator set to respond to her inhalations with an assist (rather than force breaths into her) for a couple of days, and she's been doing pretty well. They turned off the respirator yesterday to see how she'd do on her own, and she lasted about 15 minutes. They tried today, and she went about 5 minutes. They're going to try again this evening. We're told this behavior is not unusual as they're weaning people off of respirators.

They hooked up a feeding tube yesterday to give her some calories. Prior to that, it had just been IV glucose to support metabolism and keep her from starting to break down fat, which creates toxic by-products.

Her vitals have been stable, but BP runs a bit high so they have to reduce it with drugs to relieve stress on the heart.

They plan to do another MRI Monday or Tuesday to check for any changes since the last one.

Bottom line: They're monitoring, providing support as necessary, and waiting for her to wake up. There's been collateral damage, but we don't know what impact it's going to have. The brain is a complex organ, and each person responds differently. Several people who've had experience with these types of patients have told us that they've seen people in worse condition who have recovered quite well.

Your cards are starting to arrive. Thanks for sending them. I took some in today and showed and read them to her, and I'll continue to do this until she can read them on her own. I also took in an IPOD with a bunch of songs and have been playing them to her through headphones to give her some auditory stimulus.

People have asked how I'm doing. The answer is 'reasonably well, under the circumstances.' I'm at her parents' house (Tom and Dot Moore), about 2 miles from the hospital. I'm sleeping and eating reasonably well, but am not yet ready to turn my attention to much else, and probably won't be until I know she's out of the woods. I'm not used to these waiting games, but don't have much choice on this one. Those of you who've been through anything like this know that it's a gut-wrenching experience, made more so by the uncertainty of the outcome and the timeframe. I greatly appreciate your prayers and support and concern. Please don't be too disappointed if I don't send an update every day. It simply means that nothing much has changed. I'll let you know immediately if she makes a breakthrough.

Thanks to all of you who've offered help. Our next door neighbors are looking after our house (thanks, Jim and Paula), I can pay bills online, papers are stopped, and the PO is holding my mail, so I'm OK for now. Future direction will be decided as Carrie's situation becomes clearer.

Thanks again for all the positive energy you're sending her way. If previous fowarders would do so again, I'd appreciate it. I've added to my distribution those who have sent me emails directly, so you'll get dups, but won't have to wait for forwarding. 'Till next time, (with hopefully GREAT news) .....

John

Caroline Jean Moore Krack, daughter of retired BJ newsroom employee Tom Moore and Tom's wife, Dot, and Minnesota teacher's aide retiree, is in Akron City Hospital with meningitis. John and Caroline Krack have been married for 30 years.

Click on the headline to see the earlier story about Caroline, who at times accompanied Tom to the monthly BJ retirees lunches at Papa Joe's Restaurant on Akron-Peninsula Road at Portage Trail Extension.

Tom Moore's daughter comes home

Daughter Caroline came home today from Edwin Shaw. She'll stay with us for about a month while she takes out-patient rehab. And she thanks all for the prayers and wishes that pulled her thru a most trying time.

Tom

Newsroom retiree Tom Moore's daughter, Carolina "Carrie" Moore Krack, had been in a coma for months after she was hospitalized in January with meningitis. Husband John has been by her side all that time and emailed updates to BJ Alums blog.

Click on the headline to see earlier stories on Carrie's situation.

Carrie moved to Edwin Shaw Hospital

BJ Alums got this email from BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore about his daughter, Caroline "Carrie" Moore Krack, who was hospitalized in January with meningitis.

folks:

daughter carol is being moved to edwin shaw hospital for her rehab, so
looks like she's out of the woods.

thanks so much for all your thoughts and prayers. i'm sure they were a
big part of her recovery.

daddy tom

Click on the headline for previous posts on Carrie's situation.

Hopeful signs by Tom Moore's daughter, Carol

BJ Alums got this email from BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore, whose daughter Carol is at Akron City Hospital:

Here's my son-in-law's latest report. We could have used him as a medicial writer, don't you think? I've got a doctor's appointment this morning and I'll be going to the hospital today. But things are definitely looking up thanks to City Hospital folks and all the prayers.
Tom

The report from John Krack, Carol's husband, who calls her Carrie:

She’s still unconscious, but has taken several baby steps in the right direction the last several days. She’s now opening her eyes a lot, usually in response to voice. Her eyeballs are not tracking movement yet, and I’m not sure if she’s able to focus, but she definitely looks toward me when I talk to her. She’s blinking normally, and sometimes opens her eyes wider than normal. She’s not yet responding to commands like “squeeze my finger” or “raise a finger.”

Today her movements were somewhat subdued because they gave her a little morphine to slow her respirations when testing her ability to breathe on her own. She didn’t last long in the tests yesterday (breathing rate jumped way up) but she went for 2 hours today before they terminated the test on schedule! Her breaths were shallow, but she had good O2 saturation and an acceptable breathing rate. And she was breathing through a tube about 3/8” or 1/2” in diameter, which is like trying to inhale through a large straw. So she did good. They’ll keep the tube in, though, until she awakens enough to maintain her own airway, as unresponsive patients cannot be trusted to do so on their own. Yesterday, without the sedation, she was moving her arms and legs and upper body, stretching and yawning as if trying to wake up.

They put an EEG on her yesterday, and let it run overnight. I could watch the screen as she blinked her eyes and moved, and saw the waveforms get very agitated as they tracked the impulses controlling the muscles. The neurologist told me today that they haven’t had a chance to review the whole thing, but early indications are that she’s not having seizures, which was the main concern. They’ve been trying to do an MRI all day today, but it kept getting pushed back due to other emergencies coming in. I expect they’ll do it this evening. This should give a good picture of swelling and any other damage.

And finally, the best news yet. Just before I left this evening I mentioned something to her, and asked her to nod her head if that was OK. And she nodded! A small nod, but a definite movement nonetheless. I tried it again, and she nodded again. And a third time. So it looks like she’s starting to have some awareness, and we might be able to start some basic communication. And it’s particularly encouraging that she’s showing strong signs of being able to hear, since deafness is the most common impairment from meningitis.

The hospital staff is great, and they’re taking very good care of her. Tomorrow they’re going to give her coffee! (Through the feeding tube, of course.)

Your cards are pouring in. Seven on Saturday and 19 today. I’m showing and reading them to her, and will let her read them all when she wakes up. I think she'll be pretty overwhelmed. Thank you.

Thanks again for all your prayers, well-wishes, support, offers to help, cards, and emails. Hopefully soon we’ll be able to report that she’s awake and talking. I told her today that people need more scrubbies, so she has to get better and get to work.

John

Click on the headline for an earlier post on Caroline Jean Moore Krack, daughter of Tom and Dot Moore, a Minnesota teacher's aide retiree who is in Akron City Hospital with meningitis. John and Caroline Krack have been married for 30 years.

Note from Carrie (Moore) Krack:

Hi Everyone!!!

Thanks so much for the cards (that are still coming) all the prayers and that you sent my family, John and especially me!!! I know that is the reason I'm here. That and I think God has something for me to do.

I really enjoyed all the good wishes you sent my way. One of the first things I can remember is John reading them to me until I could read them myself. What an uplifter!!!

I am now out of inpatient rehab and in out patient rehab Three times a week and getting stronger. I don't know how much longer I will be here. It depends on when I am released from rehab and the doctor. We are hoping around the end of April or middle of May or until my parents kick me out!

Again, many, many Thanks.

God Watch.

Lots of love and hugs,

Carrie ( Carol)

"Things looking much better" for Carrie

Jan. 23 status report on Carrie Brack, BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore's daughter who is in Akron City Hospital with meningitis, by Caroline/Carrie's husband, John:

She’s showing more signs of waking up. Yesterday she gave me a couple of “thumbs up” signs, and when I asked her if she was mad at me, she mouthed “NO” and exhaled, trying to speak. The exhalation, of course, went out through the trach tube and not up through her vocal chords. When I asked if she knew who I was, she nodded, and when I pointed to her dad and asked the same question, she vigorously shook her head “no,” and grinned. I think she has a sense of humor.

This morning she was the most lucid I’ve seen her yet. She seemed to know what was going on around her, and was mouthing words trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t understand. She was motioning with her arms, so I undid one of the wrist restraints and she tried to scratch her nose and mouth area. I asked her if it itched, and she nodded, so I scratched it for her and cleaned off some of the dead skin in that area. I put her glasses on, and she seemed to be able to focus on things. I briefly explained to her what had happened, but I’m not sure how much sank in. Her dad brought in a musical Valentine's card and two kissing stuffed bears, which she seemed to enjoy. She’s definitely moving in the right direction, and I’m anxious for them to try diverting her exhalations out through her larynx and mouth, to see if she can speak.

She’s been breathing quite well on her own for several days, with a 30% O2 flow into her trach mask. This isn’t being done so much for the extra oxygen as it is for the humidity, since she can’t humidify her inhaled air through her mucous membranes in the upper airway. She still has some lung congestion, but she has a strong cough, and is able to expel phlegm through the trach tube. I’ve noticed that she no longer has much of a problem with secretions in her mouth. I’m sure that this is largely due to the removal of the old endotracheal tube, but I asked her today if she could swallow, and she nodded her head “yes.”

Her mother and I stopped in late this afternoon today and she was sleeping. The nurse said she'd been up since 7:30, most of the time in a chair, and went back to her bed around 4. She'd had a full day, so we let her sleep, and she hopefully will sleep well tonight.

I’ll probably find out tomorrow when they’re likely to release her from the ICU and move her to the rehab hospital. She’s really starting to get antsy, and I think it’s important to get her started on rehab as soon as the docs give the OK.

Bottom line: Things are definitely looking much better. Thanks again for your tremendous support, positive energy, cards, prayers, etc.

I’ve added a number of people to the distribution along the way, so I’ll repeat the mailing address, should you like to send a card:

Carrie Krack
c/o Tom Moore
669 Davis St.
Akron, OH 44310

Thanks Again,

John

Click on the headline for an earlier report on Carrie/Caroline's situation.

1/12/11 update on Tom Moore's daughter

 BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore, whose daughter Carol is at Akron City Hospital with meningitis, sends this update from Carol's husband of 30 years,  John Krack:

She continues to make a little progress each day. Yesterday she was moving her eyeballs around, nodding her head more in response to questions, and could squeeze my fingers. I showed her some pictures and cards, and read her some cards, and she seemed to understand. When I asked her if she knew where she was, she nodded.

Both her dad and mom visited her yesterday, and I think it was a big help to her to see them. (They've only been in a few times, since they've both had colds. I've got it now, but always wear a face mask when I’m with her.) The MRI was finally done late yesterday afternoon.

Today her mom and I visited her late this afternoon. They had about 6” of snow here, and we waited to give the snowplows a chance to clear the streets. Carrie was in a chair, and more awake/aware than yesterday, but pretty tired. I asked her to squeeze my finger, and she gave an aggressive squeeze. Her mom did the same thing, with the same result.

The nurse said that she asked Carrie earlier if she wanted to go back to her bed, and she indicated no, that she wanted to stay in the chair. Her usual state now is kind of half awake, and generally aware of things going on around her. She was moving her legs and feet pretty steadily today (fidgeting), and her arms occasionally. She’s still pretty weak, and isn’t able to reposition herself to get more comfortable, so she just has to lay there and look around. I read her an email from an old friend that reminisced about exploits in their younger years, and she seemed to comprehend. I asked if she remembered the friend, and she nodded her head.

They’re still working to strengthen her breathing, and she is really uncomfortable with the breathing tube in. It’s particularly difficult because she’s generating a lot of secretions, and can’t swallow or expel them. She coughs, but is fighting the breathing tube. They suction her occasionally, but it doesn’t help for long. She also can’t speak or make noises with the tube in, since it goes in between the vocal chords. It’s hard to see her this way, but it’s necessary to keep her breathing, and it will be a big milestone when she gets it out. So far, she’s been a very good patient.

They gave her some coffee yesterday and today. No milk in it, though, but through a feeding tube you can’t taste it anyway.

I talked to the neurology intern about her MRI. She didn’t have a full report, but said that it indicated no further damage from what they saw last week. Swelling is reduced, and there’s a spot that looks like an abscess, so they will continue the antibiotic treatment. They’re seeing no aneurisms or other blood vessel damage. They’re a bit concerned about apparent weakness in her arms, so will do a test to track the electrical impulses to see whether it’s muscular or neurological. She said the EEG from the weekend hasn’t been processed yet. Overall, the neurology team seems quite pleased with her progress. Also her current nurse, who’s worked ICU her entire career, says she’s doing well.

Her sister donated an old unused IPOD that had a bunch of songs loaded, and I’ve been taking that in for her to listen to. I’m adding some of her favorite songs to give her some familiar music.

So we’re still in “wait and see” mode, but at last we’re getting some “see” along with the “wait”. Getting the breathing tube out will be a biggie, then talking, and waking up completely. There’s still a long road ahead, but I think she’s moving in the right direction. Baby Steps.

Thanks once again for your cards, emails, prayers, and support, and for your nice comments about my reporting. Forwarders, please forward.

John

Click on the headline for an earlier post on Caroline, a Minnesota teacher's aide retiree.