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.