Two days in the hospital, and more to come--unfortunatly

Kristina is spending tonight in the Hospital after two Spinal Taps and loss of her ability to walk by herself. Yesterday (Monday) I got a call from Kristina saying she was freaking out and if she could come see me in the Cove. She came and she had tiny spots all over her forehead and a horrible headache. I advised her to first go to the Health Center before she called a cab to go to the hospital, like she was planning on. She went to the Health Center and they recommended that she immediately go to the ER. They called a cab for her and the ER immediately admitted her. They performed a blood-draw, CAT scan, and worst of all a Spinal Tap. During her time their they pumped her full of tons of drugs to relieve the pain. I went to the Hospital immediately after leaving the Costume Shop. When I arrived Kristina was doped up on tons of drugs already. In the time that I was there, two separate nurses came and gave her four more shots of painkillers. They decided to let her go home for the night and instructed me to take her to the pharmacy to get her prescriptions. Kristina had lost much of her awareness by this time and I did not agree with them letting her out. On the drive to the pharmacy I realized that I would not be able to do this alone, we made a detour back to UP to pick up Bridget. She helped me get Kristina into the Fred Meyers pharmacy and get the prescriptions. At this time she appeared to be going in and out of consciousness much like she had been on the way to UP to pick up Bridget, but this time more frequently and for longer periods of time. Kristina blanked out again as we were leaving the pharmacy and never really was woken back up to a state of awareness and she was very confused. The Pharmacist helped us get her back to the car, where Bridget immediately called her mother in Salt Lake City (her mom’s a nurse) to see if the symptoms Kristina was experiencing were normal for a Spinal Tap. At this time I asked Kristina if she wanted to go back to the Hospital she said “no.” Then Bridget’s mom answered that this was not normal. At the same exact time Kristina fell into a slump in the passenger seat. I was unable to wake her using standard methods (e.g. talking, requesting, shouting, lightly slapping, and pinching, [in that order]). I immediately put the car in gear and decided we were taking her back to the hospital, even if it was against her wishes. Durring the entire 10-15 minute car ride she remained in what appeared to be an unconscious state. At this time I called my parents and told them to meet us at the ER at Emanuel.

We got to the ER again and nurses helped pull her on a stretcher and rushed her back into the ER where they were able to wake her relatively easily using Ammonia under her nose. I called Betsy (Getting Out stage manager) to tell her that I would be unable to make it to rehearsal at 7. moments later my parents showed up and I was called back just after their arrival. Kristina was in shock and confused trying to answer hundreds of questions and she didn’t remember anything that had happened after we left the hospital the first time. I was able to answer most of the questions both by her and the doctors. Eventually she came around and the doctors told me that she was experiencing pseudo-seizers where she was essentially falling asleep but not loosing all consciousness and unable to wake up. By about midnight they were finally ready to release her again, I drove her back to school and Bridget, my mom, and I helped her up to her room.
Today I visited her in her room after class and she was going to go to the Health Center for her follow up. She still couldn’t walk and was still in extreme amounts of pain. I went to work and supposedly Regina (her roommate) took Kristina to the Health Center where they called for an ambulance and took her back to the ER. I was able to get off work around 5:30 and head strait over to the hospital. Where I entered a room of panic and chaos. Kristina was freaking out and Regina was trying to calm her, I asked what they were doing and Regina told me, “Another Spinal Tap.” Oh God, why? I stayed with her through the entire painful thing, it was not a fun experience to say the least. Being that Regina and I are both in Getting Out, Jason—our director called wondering why we were not at rehearsal, Regina explained, neither of us left. I stayed their until 11:15 tonight. Pat and Amanda were able to come over and spend some time with her, so that was good. Kristina is spending the night there and her mom—who I have been in constant contact with—is flying in from Vermont tomorrow around 10:30 am.

As far as the medical stuff is concerned, she was given Vicadin, Diamox, and Motrin following her first visit to the ER. That prescription has remained the same. The CAT scan, blood test and first Spinal Tap all came back negative. The only thing they could find was that she had an excess of spinal fluid in her spine, she either is producing too much, or she is unable to flush out the older fluid as the new is being created. The Diamox is a drug to cut down the creation of the spinal fluid. The second Spinal Tap was done because Kristina had lost her ability to use her legs. This is the result of something that should have registered on the Spinal Tap, and is common when the Spinal Tap is done too quickly. It was performed too soon, and therefore it would not have registered any kind of infection or disease. They had to do a second one to be sure that their was not infection, and they predicted that it might possibly be viral meningitis. However, fortunately they were able to rule this out. So now it is unclear what is causing all her pain and loss of her legs, headaches, etc.

Prayers are greatly appreciated.