AMANDA'S STORY
Donation protected
Well..how do I begin to say what we have been through in the last 4 days. On Tuesday I introduced my new grandson Bentley and said Mama and baby doing well. By 6:00 p.m. Tuesday evening all of that had changed. My 29 year old daughter Amanda had life threatening complications and went into cardiac arrest twice and possibly suffered a heart attack. I had left the hospital and by the time I got back I was told that she had coded twice (her heart had stopped) and they didn't expect her to make it. They put myself and my son in a room with the Chaplin, and when they bring in the Chaplin you know its not good. There were a good 25 medical personal surrounding her, she was transported by special life supporting ambulance to another hospital where we followed and our nightmare began.
The first 48 hours doctors didn't give us much hope. She was on life support, oxygen tube down her throat and sedated. Her blood pressure was so low, her kidneys began to fail and she developed venus blood clots throughout, several of which were in her left arm. I began to notice small bruces on her left wrist and within a few hours it was completely purple way past her wrist and the hand was swollen to 3 or 4 times its normal size. Surgery was needed on her abdomin and her wrist but the doctors determined that she was not stable enough to go into surgery. We were told at that point that her left hand would most likely have to be removed.
By morning her kidneys had completely failed and we were in even more jeopardy of losing her if they didn't get her on dialysis. It seemed like forever before they could get her hooked up on dialysis and every minute that past was excrustating. After she had been on dialysis they brought in an OBGYN Surgeon that normally removes cancer. He told me that her abdomen was full of blood and it was causing pressure to her kidneys and causing them to shut down, and that all her organs were slowly shuting down. He said he needed to do surgery to drain the blood, and remove her uterus, but could not guarantee us she would make it, but a worse prognosis if we didn't have surgery. I signed for the surgery not knowing if I had just signed my daughter's life away.
In the meantime I was contacted by phone by the hand surgeon they had called in and he wanted to take her left hand. I broke down and cried and begged him not to take my 29 year old daughter's hand. They just kept saying to me we have to save her life, and I cried and begged him, "save my daughter's life and then save her hand". He called me back and said he was going to be in the OR room and when they finished her abdomin he would do hand surgery and try his best to save it by doing a procedure where you split the arm wide open on both sides from elbo to hand to release the pressure.
We are blessed to be able to say that Amanda lived through the abdomen surgery and the hand surgery. She has been in ICU since then. Her kidneys had continued to fail and she continued to be on dialysis. She also had developed fluid in the lungs. As of yesterday Amanda was off of the breathing tube, off of the dialysis and her kidneys are functioning on their own. They finally lifted the sedation and she was devasted to look down and see her arm. She was crying for her baby and didn't understand how she came to the hospital for the happy occassion of having a new son, and had not only almost lost her life, but was now in jeopardy of losing her hand. It is wrapped in huge layers of gauze and drains blood constanly which soaks through and has to be changed. She just kept looking at it and crying and asking "what happen to my hand? Is my hand still there?".
Today at noon she will have her second surgery on her wrist to try and close it up more so the bleeding will stop. I don't know at this point how many surgery's she will have on it, but we have a long ways to go. Although she is off life support, she is not out of the woods.
The hospital released her beautiful baby boy to me yesterday, her dream of taking her son home from the hospital gone. I did take him to visit her and it was beautiful. She is aware now of what all has happened and it is heart breaking. She is a stong young woman but she has a long road to recovery ahead of her and will be unable to bond and care for her infant son for quite some time. Amanda will be hospitalized for weeks to come, have physical therapy on her arm, and we have no idea what use she will have with it at this point.
Amanda is alone, does not have a partner in this. On top of everything else, she suffered domestic violence 3 days before Bentley was born and we had moved her home with us just this past Sunday.
I have never asked anyone for a penny in my life. My Daddy raised me proud and taught me never to take charity and to work for everything you get. But today I come to my friends, family and strangers asking for help for my daughter and her infant son Bentley. I would tell you its the hardest thing I have ever done, but it is not. The hardest thing I have ever done is living through these last 4 days. Please if you can donate to help Amanda and little Bentley it would mean so much. If you can't donate, please share this page so that others can. I can't tell you what it would mean to Amanda to be able to help her and Bentley get through this and start over.
The first 48 hours doctors didn't give us much hope. She was on life support, oxygen tube down her throat and sedated. Her blood pressure was so low, her kidneys began to fail and she developed venus blood clots throughout, several of which were in her left arm. I began to notice small bruces on her left wrist and within a few hours it was completely purple way past her wrist and the hand was swollen to 3 or 4 times its normal size. Surgery was needed on her abdomin and her wrist but the doctors determined that she was not stable enough to go into surgery. We were told at that point that her left hand would most likely have to be removed.
By morning her kidneys had completely failed and we were in even more jeopardy of losing her if they didn't get her on dialysis. It seemed like forever before they could get her hooked up on dialysis and every minute that past was excrustating. After she had been on dialysis they brought in an OBGYN Surgeon that normally removes cancer. He told me that her abdomen was full of blood and it was causing pressure to her kidneys and causing them to shut down, and that all her organs were slowly shuting down. He said he needed to do surgery to drain the blood, and remove her uterus, but could not guarantee us she would make it, but a worse prognosis if we didn't have surgery. I signed for the surgery not knowing if I had just signed my daughter's life away.
In the meantime I was contacted by phone by the hand surgeon they had called in and he wanted to take her left hand. I broke down and cried and begged him not to take my 29 year old daughter's hand. They just kept saying to me we have to save her life, and I cried and begged him, "save my daughter's life and then save her hand". He called me back and said he was going to be in the OR room and when they finished her abdomin he would do hand surgery and try his best to save it by doing a procedure where you split the arm wide open on both sides from elbo to hand to release the pressure.
We are blessed to be able to say that Amanda lived through the abdomen surgery and the hand surgery. She has been in ICU since then. Her kidneys had continued to fail and she continued to be on dialysis. She also had developed fluid in the lungs. As of yesterday Amanda was off of the breathing tube, off of the dialysis and her kidneys are functioning on their own. They finally lifted the sedation and she was devasted to look down and see her arm. She was crying for her baby and didn't understand how she came to the hospital for the happy occassion of having a new son, and had not only almost lost her life, but was now in jeopardy of losing her hand. It is wrapped in huge layers of gauze and drains blood constanly which soaks through and has to be changed. She just kept looking at it and crying and asking "what happen to my hand? Is my hand still there?".
Today at noon she will have her second surgery on her wrist to try and close it up more so the bleeding will stop. I don't know at this point how many surgery's she will have on it, but we have a long ways to go. Although she is off life support, she is not out of the woods.
The hospital released her beautiful baby boy to me yesterday, her dream of taking her son home from the hospital gone. I did take him to visit her and it was beautiful. She is aware now of what all has happened and it is heart breaking. She is a stong young woman but she has a long road to recovery ahead of her and will be unable to bond and care for her infant son for quite some time. Amanda will be hospitalized for weeks to come, have physical therapy on her arm, and we have no idea what use she will have with it at this point.
Amanda is alone, does not have a partner in this. On top of everything else, she suffered domestic violence 3 days before Bentley was born and we had moved her home with us just this past Sunday.
I have never asked anyone for a penny in my life. My Daddy raised me proud and taught me never to take charity and to work for everything you get. But today I come to my friends, family and strangers asking for help for my daughter and her infant son Bentley. I would tell you its the hardest thing I have ever done, but it is not. The hardest thing I have ever done is living through these last 4 days. Please if you can donate to help Amanda and little Bentley it would mean so much. If you can't donate, please share this page so that others can. I can't tell you what it would mean to Amanda to be able to help her and Bentley get through this and start over.
Organizer and beneficiary
Patty Scott Van Valkenburg
Organizer
Taska, MS
Amanda Lancaster
Beneficiary
