An Unexpected Setback

I was actually thinking last week that maybe we were done with this website. Kate's recovery has been going so well, there hasn't been much to share. Well, not so fast.

Last week we headed down to Crested Butte to spend Labor Day weekend with our friends Greg and Niki. It was going to be the start of a month in Crested Butte for Kate. What better spot for her to continue healing than in Crested Butte - our "happy place"? Labor Day weekend was great - biking around CB and enjoying time together with good friends, great meals and of course the first full weekend of college football! The Bishops headed back to Florida, and I headed back to Denver on Tuesday.

Kate's aunt and uncle arrived on Thursday and shortly after they arrived she started to feel badly. She felt achy and had chills. She took some acetaminophen and laid down for a bit, but the fever persisted. Since infection is a concern with every surgery, they decided to head to the ER over in Gunnison. I talked to her Thursday night shortly after she arrived and she said that they were giving her acetaminophen, IV antibiotics and fluids and holding her overnight just as a precaution. It didn't sound concerning at all, and I didn't hear back from her.

I texted her this morning around 7am and just said, "How are you feeling today?" She responded a few minutes later, "I was life flighted to Denver. I’m at Anschutz Hospital." I grabbed my things and jumped in the car to head across town where she was still in the ER.

I walked into the ER to find her resting quietly, and to try to lighten the mood I said, "So you got to ride on a helicopter! That is so cool! How was it?!" She said that sadly she didn't see much at 4am. It turns out that Kate's blood pressure was dropping in Gunnison and they couldn't get her fever to come down. "Sepsis shock" was their diagnosis and reasoning for getting her back to Denver and her medical team as quickly as possible. Thus the helicopter ride.

The plastic surgery resident arrived shortly after I did and briefed us on the plan. He told us that from the scan they could see there was a significant buildup of fluids around her right implant and they were almost certain it was an infection, which was causing her fever and blood pressure drop. They needed to do surgery immediately, remove the right implant (and possibly the left as well), and cleanse the area to remove all the infection. Sepsis is a very serious situation and there was definite urgency to get her into surgery quickly.

They took her back not long after - nearly noon at that point. The surgery was short - only about an hour, and everything went well. They removed the right implant, cleared "a significant amount of infection," and thankfully did not have to remove the left implant.

We're now in the surgical trauma ICU (the STICU) where she'll need to stay until they can wind down the meds she's receiving to keep her blood pressure strong, and then she'll move down to a regular floor for observation before heading home. So we're going to be here a couple days.

Obviously this is a disappointing setback, but we continue to see God's provision and protection. Kate had zero signs or symptoms leading up to her spiking the fever on Thursday. Doctors say the infection was probably slowly growing while her body tried to fight it back - right up until it couldn't fight any more. So getting to a hospital right away - and then getting to Denver and into surgery quickly - ensured that the infection did not spread. Like so many things, this could've been way worse.

So I guess we'll keep this site up a little while longer and keep the updates coming. Thanks for all your love and prayers.