Update on Becky

Here's a quick update on my sister, Becky, who had a massive heart attack, including a aortal dissection, last night.

First off, thanks so much for your prayers and general support. At its best, the Catholic blogosphere can be an avenue of grace -- a way of having an expanded experience of the universal Church, and this has been a good example of that.

We arrived in town late this afternoon to help take care of Becky's four small children, including her newborn (12 days old as of today). They are, thankfully, mostly oblivious (although wondering why mom is taking such a long nap).

For her part, Becky has received the sacrament of Anointing and remains in a state of medically induced hypothermia, which they are going to begin bringing her out of tonight through tomorrow morning. They plan to keep her heavily sedated and paralyzed for another two days after that, so we should know whether she will survive sometime over the weekend, or by the middle of next week at the latest. They continue to say that they just don't know whether she will come out of it or not, although there are some encouraging signs. Last night they were giving her a 50/50 chance of survival, which is amazingly good odds considering the circumstances. The fact that she was given CPR by a police officer within a minute of cardiac arrest was a huge factor; the fact that she is at one of the best heart hospitals in the region is another plus. Also, she is going to be the subject of a seminar attended by 50 national heart specialists here in town tomorrow -- her doctor is giving the presentation. Apparently her case is very rare.

As horrible as this has been, there is grace around the edges; the kindness and generosity of people, including complete strangers, is an awesome thing to behold -- a reminder that love has already won the victory.

Becky's blog is called It's STILL a Blessing. We will be setting up a CaringBridge site for her tomorrow.