Judy strong!

Hello everyone we are the Swaim family, we are facing something we never thought we would have to face. It’s never easy to ask for help but we don’t know what else to do. On 12/12/2022 Our Momma(Judy) or Nana (as my daughter calls her) was taken to Hugh Chatham in Elkin NC due to a fall and very low oxygen levels. The doctors drained 700 ml of fluid off her left lung and from the tests and imaging said she had pneumonia and the flu type A. As momma(Judy) struggled to breathe she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs because one had completely collapsed, the doctors suggest a ventilator to help her lungs rest, that was the last time she was awake. All we knew to do at this point was pray and trust in the lord to see her through this. Time went by she was not improving, her temp shot up to 102.9, her blood pressure continued to drop and she developed Afib. We decided at that point to have her transferred to baptist in Winston where she could get the care she needed. She was taken by AirCare and the team of doctors worked around the clock to stabilize her and figure out what is wrong. The doctors said she was in septic shock and diagnosed with a staph infection in the lungs along with double pneumonia, the flu type A and severe fluid build up due to her kidneys and heart not working properly. A short time later she had a chest tube put in to drain fluid and puss and the next day dialysis was started. The doctors had called us all back to a conference room and told us that her outcome wasn’t looking very good and we had to decide if her heart stopped what we would do, if her organs start failing would we take her off the ventilator? The doctors said they needed to drain more fluid then they were putting in and they didn’t know if her heart could handle it and if they couldn’t get the fluid off then she would start to go into organ failure, they gave her a 24 hour window. Our hearts were shattered, how do you say goodbye to your momma, such a sweet, kind and caring woman. We prayed even harder that night and didn’t get much sleep because we did not know what might happen throughout the night. We woke with heavy hearts but Praise the lord we went in there and her vitals had improved, she was tolerating the dialysis and they were getting off the fluid they needed too! Momma continues to improve with her vitals and they have reduced the meds keeping her heart rate up and lowered her ventilator to 75%, and increased her dialysis, the only thing is she has not woke up and she has no sedation. We are around the clock trying to get her to open her eyes or move a finger or a toe because she does still have brain activity it’s just sluggish due to the sickness and stress on her body from the machines and dialysis. While all this has been happening we have been sleeping in the hospital waiting room because we live a ways away from the hospital and we don’t want to be that far away. Security has told us we can only have one person stay at night and we can’t sleep here anymore. we were accepted into a place called the SECU house and it’s 40 dollars night and we just don’t have it, at this point we are barely eating because money has almost ran out. We have put a goal on here but anything will help more than you know, it’s 240 a week to stay In The SECU house along with some help with food and washing our clothes would be a weight off our shoulders. We just want to be as close as possible to our momma and not have to leave her here alone. We are so very thankful for all those who have called, messaged, came by the hospital and most importantly prayed for Judy, that means more than you will ever know to us. We continue to pray and have faith that the Lord will see her through this. Thank you in advance for everything, even if you can only send us prayers .

The Swaims