Not at all!!! I know how much all of you guys on Cashbreak, Pogo and other sites meant to Linda and that is one reason I decided to try and contact all of you but missed several of you and for that I apologize.
Linda is still in critical condition and is on life support. She has COPD and she is having heart problems as well. She is breathing 40% on her own but they have tried twice to start the weening process but have had to stop the process due to her oxygen level going down and her blood gases taking a turn for the worse. They were going to try again this morning but over the weekend she started to run a fever so the nurses told us they will not try this until the fever is gone. They are not letting her wake up at this point due to the pain and they are keeping her restrained due to her trying to pull out the tubes.
Alot of Linda's recovery is going to depend on the will to live I think and that is why the prayers are so important. She has led such a lonely life and has really been down the last couple of years due to alot of her home situtation. You as her friend probably know what I am talking about.
I received this email this morning from Linda s sister
Sorry it is so late for me to get back with all of you. Just got home from the hospital and the news is not good tonight. It seems Linda had several setbacks over the weekend that we were not made aware of since her regular doctor was not on call. We were told tonight that she has blood in her bowels and there is blood around her lungs and they are monitoring the blood loss to make sure that they will not have to give her blood since she is losing so much. She also lost some of the headway she had made as far as breathing. They had to take her 40% down to 10% and she has had a fever running between 101 and 103. The doctor said she is going downhill and they are trying everything they can think of to do and not really sure why unless she has just gave up. He was very upset with the on call doctor for not letting us know. Since they are keeping her under medication to keep her from waking up all we were aware of was her heartbeat was going nuts and that her oxygen level was jumping up and down and that she had the fever. They are going to try some new medcations starting tonight for her COPD and her heart. They are getting more concerned for her heart because the heartbeat is going so fast that her heart could give out.
I hope you all will forgive me for sending a spam email on this but it is so late and I know you guys would want to know so I decided to tell you all in a group. Please keep the prayers coming and know that we will keep all of you in ours. Linda has been so blessed to have such good friends as you all have been to her. Shirley and I were talking and probably in alot of ways you knew her better than we did since she had to keep her life such a secret in alot of ways because she didn't want to upset her husband. And we sure don't want to upset him at a time like this and get banned. Please do not feel like you are bothering me either if you email me. It is not a bother at all and it is comforting to know that your prayers are with Linda because she sure can use them right now.
I am going to close this now and I will check in the morning for anymore emails. I did talk to her tonight and tell her that all her online friends were praying and thinking about her and I hope she could hear me. Hope you all have a wonderful sleep and talk to you soon. Again thank you so much.
SO VERY SORRY TO HEAR CHAT IS SO ILL - A DEAR FRIEND TO ALL OF US -- WILL KEEP HER IN MY PRAYERS -- THANK YOU FOR ALL THE INFORMATION - ON HER HEALTH AND WE WILL ALL PRAY FOR MIRACLE -WESTIE -- ALICE
Sorry it has taken me so long to answer your email. It was late when we got home last night and I just went straight to bed. They had to give Linda blood yesterday and her temp was back up but other than that no other changes. She has been really swollen the last couple of days and they working on that as well. Just got another update from my sister Shirley and they said that they gave Linda two pints of blood and that seemed to give her some engery and that they let her wake up on and off last night but other than that on change as far as her oxygen level. They are very pleased though with her brain activity at this point so that is a God send to us.
Thank you also for all your prayers for Linda and for the rest of her family as well. It is really hard to see someone you love in this condition and you want to help them so bad but can't. She is so loved by her sisters and as you can imagine we are frustrated and impatient and want her well right now but we also understand we have to leave this in the hands of God and her doctors. Her doctor has been a blessing I think as far as the care he is giving her and is very compassionate towards us but also tries to be very frank. But he has also told us alot depends on Linda herself and her will to live and that is a great concern to us but hopefully all the talking we are doing will get thru to her and she will fight that much harder. WE all know how stubborn she is!!!!!!
Well I better get ready now. We are heading to the hospital in about an hour but did want to keep you updated. There are no words we can say to you to tell you how much we appreciate you.
Friday April 3 2009 email from Betty(Linda s sister)
Hi Everybody,
Just got back from the best day I have seen Linda have in the last two weeks. She was awake and very unhappy about the ventilator but was aware of what we were saying and when I told her about all her good friends praying for her she tried to smile and tears streamed down her face. She was able to shake her head yes or no to our questions and as you can imagine that was such a relief to us. The doctor said the antibotics finally broke the fever in her body and she is still swollen but we should see some improvement this weekend as far as that. They were even able to stop the intake on the ventilator and started working towards the weening process. That is such an improvement and we are so blessed. I am sorry if I am rambling but this is such great news. She is not out of the woods yet but any improvement is a step in the right direction. They will be putting a trech (not sure that is spelled right) in her throat sometime next week and she should be able to talk again once the ventilator is able to be removed. The doctor was very encouraging but still said that we have to address the other problems when we get over this hurdle.
Shirley, Vicki and myself would like to thank you all so much for the prayers and the friendship you have gave Linda and I will keep you updated over the weekend.
Sorry it has taken me so long for the update but several things have been going on with Linda and Vicki was in the hospital as well but got released today and haven't been around the computer alot.
Linda had some problems over the weekend and is not as well as she was Friday. Her blood pressure was dropping really low and her temp went high again and they had to increase the ventilator and was not nearly as alert as she was on Friday. The doctor did get to talk to her about the treck but she is refusing to have the operation done so that is still up in the air. God willing she will let them do it because it will make it alot easier when they try to ween her off the ventilator and not cause any more damage to her vocal cords. She has stayed the same since Saturday so not much else to report. I tell her everytime I see her how much you guys have been supporting her and her family with all of your wonderful prayers and emails.
One of the ladies that play on Cashbreak with ya went to see Linda on Sunday. Shirley and I had went to get something to eat and just missed her. She was excited about that you could tell and Debbie called me yesterday and told me about her visit with Linda. That was so nice of her and really appreciated. Shirley, Vicki and I are about the only ones visiting Linda on a regular basis so I know she enjoyed that very much. We are going back to the hospital in just alittle while and I promise I will try and do better with the updates. Just know you all are also in our prayers for we know you care about Linda and want a if not speedy recovery a recovery as well so she can get back to her friends and family.
Well my new friends I had better get in the shower and get ready for my day and hope you all have a wonderful day and sorry if I ramble at times. lol
Great news tonight!!!!! Linda had the operation to have the treck put in and was very alert and looked so much better last night. And are you ready for this!!! She was sitting up in bed tonight and wearing her glasses. Think if she had a computer she would have been on Cashbreak. lol She still is not out of the woods but things look so much better and when I asked her last night if she had anything she wanted me to tell you guys..she mouthed tell them I miss them and to thank you all so much. She really loves you guys and you mean alot to her. We are meeting with the doctor tomorrow so hopefully we will know more about her improvement and where to go from here. As you can imagine we are so grateful to the doctors and nurses and to all of you for the prayers.
Well it is late and I am a walking zombie right now so going to close this for now and tonight I know I will get a full nights rest. Thank you all so much and sweet dreams to you all.
My deepest sympathy to her family. She was a great lady who was always offening a helping hand. I know she helped me out alot of times. She is going to be missed by all her friends at cashbreak.
-- Edited by Maryann18 on Thursday 16th of April 2009 06:23:23 AM
Sorry it has been several days again. Several of you wanted to know what arrangements had been made. Linda was buried yesterday at 2pm in McCurtain, OK next to my parents. As I stated in my previous email there was alot of things going on with her husband and were not told about the arrangements till the last minute. My sisters and I are going to hold our own service in the near future and will keep you all updated on that as well.
If any of you would like to sign the guestbook for Linda you can go to this link and see her obit and sign it there.
WWW.MALLORYMARTINFUNERALHOME.COM
You will never know how much not only Linda appreciated all of your prayers and support but her sisters did as well. We are still in shock and amazed about all that went on since she seemed better Monday and Tuesday she is gone. Just know that talking with her about you brought one of the last smiles we saw out of Linda and when I teased her about cheating and she shook her head her face lit up with her smile.
Thank you so much for keeping us up to date on Linda, my prayers are with her today and everyday, bb Vicki
