Deanna Babcock - Thoughts and Prayers (Page 3)

I am Deanna's coach, and I am the author of the posts which I am grateful to ellasdad for posting. The last week has been a terrible time for Deanna, her family, her fellow grad students at NC State University, and her teammates on the NC State Triathlon Team. We have been at Deanna's bedside 24/7, and have seen her go through really rough times with solid determination and bravery.

In short, Deanna is making small and continuous steps towards recovery. Deanna is by no means out of the woods yet. When I left her last night she was still sedated, and is not aware of anything that has happened, including the drowning, her five deaths, her five saves by lifeguards and emergency medical personnel with defibrillators, and the amputation of her left leg above the knee. Last night she was breathing mostly on her own, but will remain intubated for some time as a precaution.

Deanna's cardiologist has discovered an enlarged right ventricle, and possible evidence of a cardiac event. Did she have a heart attack during the swim workout? We are considering this. Was the situation compounded by exhaustion, lack of glucose/glycogen, and dehydration? This is also a consideration. The doc's feel the heart issue is fixable, and are really making it a minor priority right now.

When not sedated (which is neccessary becasue of the significant leg surgery) Deanna is making some cognitive movements. Saturday evening her mom told her to raise her right hand if she wanted her mom to stay with her. Deanna put her right arm in the air pretty fast. She is also, when awake enough, tracking prople in her room with her eyes.

Deanna and one of her teammates asked me last Fall if I would race IM Florida 2007 with them since it would be their first IM, and I knew the course from having raced it before. I agreed, and the three of us have been training steadily for this huge event. Priorities really do shift overnight as they have done this last week. Now we are focused on just getting Deanna to the finish line of this incredibly tough race she is in the middle of right now. You see, she is racing for her life as I write this post.

Thanks for letting me post on this cool website,

Daren
Head Coach
North Carolina State University Triathlon Team
[email protected]

ellasdad, Daren - thank y'all for posting about Deanna. I just found the thread, but will definitely be praying. And finding a card.

How terrible..Prayers and thoughts to this brave girl!!!  I bet ya she tackles IMFL someday anyway!!!

Thank you so much for sending cards to Deanna.

Just wait until she wakes up. She'll be so overwhelmed
with the amount of concern, love and support that so many
of you have shown.

Thanks again and keep sending happy thoughts her way.
Address below.


Deanna Babcock
Critical Care Unit
Wake Medical Center
3000 New Burn Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27610

In response to your question about hypoxic training - my assumpion is no. She is iron training with a focus on total engurance, and very little intensity. She was swimming 3000 straight yards at a very easy pace. There were no intervals, drills, etc. in the planned workout.

A house full of thoughts and prayers to her. Thank you for sharing her story with us.

Wow! What a story. Everyone there is definitely in my prayers (as well as in my family's prayers). She is obviously a fighter. What a fight she has to win!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,..." Jeremiah 29:11

LOL ~Rachelle

I'm Deanna's aunt. I've been reading your messages all day. Thank you so much for all your encouraging remarkes, prayers, and cards you are sending Deanna! When she can begin reading, she will be overwhelmed! I've no doubt that she will overcome this setback and be back on the triathlon scene, especially with all this support and encouragement! I'm doing my first triathlon this month (Sanford and Sun, Sanford, Michigan). This web site is very interesting. I will enjoy reading stuff from here.

Dear Crazy Aunt Cheryl---

I have never met Deanna, but Coach D (Daren) and I are going to the hospital tomorrow
for a visit. I truly look forward to meeting her when she finally wakes up. I know it will be soon!!!!

Good luck with your first triathlon----enjoy every minute of your journey!!!!!! Watch out...the sport is very addicting. Thanks to Coach D, I am proud to say that I am an Ironman. I just
raced Coeur d'Alene and now I am signed up for Lake Placid 2008.

Margo P.

Last night I took several of Deanna's tri teammates to visit with her; they will be instrumental in her recovery and rehab. Here's the latest Deanna news as written by one of her fellow grad students:

Hey everyone, more continuing good news from Deanna today. Her respirator
is providing her with four breaths per minute. She is providing the rest
of the power to her lungs. Deanna will soon be eased off the respirator
and dialysis that she is receiving. She returns to the OR tomorrow for
additional treatment of her legs. She will undergo surgery to "debraid"
some more muscle that is no longer functioning on her good leg (they will
scrape away dead muscle) and if all looks good in the other incision on
her leg, they will close it up and keep the other side open for more
drainage of any infectious material.
She was up and active in the last visiting session today at 5 to 6.
She was opening her eyes, fighting the restraints (that keep her from
pulling IV's and other tubes out) on her arms, and tracking people in
the room. It is very good to see her move her eyes from one person
in the room to the other and try to focus on someone. The nurse,
Holly, said that she may have a tough time seeing now that the
anesthetics are wearing off and she doesn't have her glasses.
Deanna will be a little groggy tomorrow due to some more heavy
anesthetics from the surgery. They are hoping to remove the dialysis
machine tomorrow that has been running on her 24 hours a day for the
last 10 ½ days. She will then be kick starting her kidneys with a
dialysis procedure every other day for four hours at a time.
This is all excellent news only 10 days after her accident. Deanna
has created quite a buzz in the intensive care unit at Wake Medical
Center. Nurses that don't even know her call up to see how she is
doing on their days off. I apologize for my emails not being as
articulate as Dr. McLaughlin's, but I am hope I get the point across.
As always, keep D$ (D-Money, as her Albion college friends call her)
in your thoughts and prayers. They are all paying off and we'll see
her off to rehabilitation soon. The good news is that there is an
ironman athlete in the rehabilitation center that will be helping her
out! Deanna's a pretty lucky individual and will continue to be until
she is off and running again.

Coach D
[email protected]

Good morning, Thank you all for praying for our Deanna Banana (as her family and old friends call her) As my name states I am one of her 2nd Moms, having loved her since she was born. Last week as all of us were praying and thinking of little else, it crossed my mind as to how many others around the world were doing the same. Last night when I received this link and I started the read alll of these letters of prayer and good wishes the tears started again. Thank you Coach D, for bringing Deanna's fight to all of these wonderful athletes.
Thank you also for keeping us updated in a very factual way of Dee's progress.
In the comming weeks and months all of you athletes who love Dee, will I'm sure play a huge roll in her recovery and rehab. If we all know Deanna, she will be running again and maybe even passing some of you.
Lets keep up the prayers and bring Dee back.

Denise Barbier
[email protected]

Just wanted to say Deanna and her family will be in my thoughts and prayers.

As one of Coach D's athletes and a huge Wolfpack fan, I wanted to extend my best wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery for Deanna and for her family. It sounds like Deanna has the best family and support system you could ask for, and with that in place, she will fight this and win. She is a triathlete, after all.

Chris DeMorat
Cary, NC

Hi-
Deanna's Mom, Deb, and I, Brent, her dad would like to thank all of you for your thougnts and prayers.

Today, Tuesday, July 31st, Deanna had surgery on her good leg. It went well and that leg, her right, is going to be OK! They had to take the left leg off above the knee. She continues to recover and we expect her to be competing again, soon, eg, 90 days to a year.

Thank you all, so much!!!!!!

Love

Deanna's dad, Brent

Deanna is a very strong lady and so lucky to be surrounded by such great friends and family.  I am keeping all of you in my thoughts and prayers.  I know she will be out there competing soon.

Dear Pigfinn,
Thank you for your kind words. We wouldn't miss the chance to chat with all of you on this web site. There are many, many(!) other family and friends of Deanna reading these sincere expressions of love and hope for our Deanna -- helping all of us get through this nightmare. This site and the hundreds of card and messages Deanna is receiving will be a tremendous contribution to her recovery and rehab! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
Crazy Aunt Cheryl

(I'm honored that Coach Daren asked me to post this exciting news on the BT site! Thank you, Chris for your factual and thorough update. Crazy Aunt Cheryl

DEANNA -- WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1

All updates are looking positive again for yesterday. Deanna was
scheduled for surgery around 3 pm yesterday and was taken in around 4 PM.
The surgery was for her right leg, to close the incisions the doctors
made, allowing for swelling. Before the surgery, she opened her eyes when
the therapeutic dog, Teddy, came to visit. She became more alert when
people came in the room and I got to see her open her eyes again and
maintain them open for about 15 seconds, with even a couple blinks thrown
in.
Deanna is off permanent dialysis and is now on a treatment regimen of
3 1/2 to 4 hours of dialysis every other day. The doctors decided to
remove the dialysis even before her surgery, which her coach, Darren
deemed a "pedicure". Also before the surgery, her breathing was
still doing great, only 4 breaths a minute provided by the
respirator. The swelling is down in her legs and hands and her skin
does not seem so tight. Before the surgery, Deanna sustained eye
contact with her grandmother who was at the foot of the bed and then
the nurse told her that her mom was to her left. Deanna deliberately
immediately moved her head and eyes to the left. This seems to be
the most encouraging news so far. It takes me a second to
differentiate my right and my left and Deanna had no hesitation while
heavily medicated.
As for the surgery, they were going to close one side of her leg.
The muscle looked so good that they closed her leg all together
except for a couple of drainage points. The doctors informed us that
there was no "debraiding" or scraping of the muscle because it looked
so good. Deanna's muscle looks as strong as ever, and the doctors
are more than pleased and amazed. She was excellent through surgery
and the superficial marks and colors are clearing up. Even her
discolored toes are clearing up very well, and the doctors are not
worried at all about this. They also popped a large blister on the
bottom of her foot due to swelling. This is another encouraging
sign, because they are not as worried about infection as they were
earlier this week. Her temperature also is looking much better from
102.9 F yesterday morning to 98.7 F at 6 PM.
This morning, they will attempt an exploratory test to try to remove
the respirator. The respirator will only assist when Deanna breaths
on her own, providing no other force or breaths. We all can't wait
to see her without the tubes in her mouth.
Again, all signs point to a positive recovery. This was one of the
last major hurdles of intensive care. She is on the road to recovery
and hopefully it will start to snowball. Deanna is a very strong
individual as you all know, and being the 12th day, she should make
some leaps and bounds soon, as opposed to the baby steps the doctors
have been telling us about. Keep D$ in your thoughts and prayers.

Chris

My thoughts and prayers are with Deanna and your family.

So glad she is making good progress.....may Deanna to keep healing and those who care and love her be close by to give her support.