Monday, April 19, 2010

A terrible day

First let me thank you for loving me/our family/Cameron enough to read what is going on with him. Cameron's overall outlook is grim, so I will tell you upfront there will probably not be especially happy news to report, but I will do my best to be upbeat. This is such a difficult time.
In a nutshell, he spent the night at a friend's house we thought we could trust. We picked him up Saturday at 7 pm. He admitted to Mike that night that he had been drinking Friday night and had smoked pot. Mike expressed his disappointment but did not get angry. It was a positive conversation that ended in expressions of love.
Cameron came home that night, did a few chores, took a shower and went to bed about 10 pm. Mike checked on him at 11:30 minutes before we went to bed. He was fine.
We know from his texts that at 2 am he was "tripping on oxy(cotin)." We don't know for sure where he got them or how much he took. He was too out of it at that time to clean up his texts, a routine he religiously performs because he knows we will read his phone. That was the last contact he made with anyone.
I found him Sunday morning about 8:40 am. He was blue, barely breathing, and had a thready pulse. We called 911. His heart stopped shortly after they arrived. We left the house and he was in full arrest. They got a pulse back before he arrived at Riverton hospital. We are guessing he was deprived of sufficient oxygen for about 5-6 hours.
He was blue for a long time, even at the hospital. Riverton stablized him the best they could then LifeFlight came and flew him to the PICU (pediatric ICU) at Primary Children's. The staff here are great, but even they struggled to stablize him.
As of this writing, he is comatose. They have not given him any sedation. His neurological exam is poor, he has no gag reflex. He is on life support. The doctors want to give him 3 days for the swelling in his brain to come down and then they will scan him and see what is left. The swelling will peek at around 36 hours, so things could potentially get worse before they get "better." Anyone reading this needs to clearly understand that IF Cameron lives, he will never ever be the same. So "better" is a relative term. He will never be "all better."
For my nurse friends: FiO2 50% and sats in the 90s. (For hours he was 100% O2 and sats in the 70s.) He is still on hefty doses of epinepherine and norepinepherine. His MAPs are 60s and 70s, up from 40s and 50s. His left lung is a white-out from aspiration (I found him lying on his left side.) His pupils are fixed and dilated; he will move his right arm a little to noxious stimuli. He has not fought against the vent or tried to take a swing at the nurse. He just lays there, comatose. He spiked to 39.4, so they put him on a cooling blanket and started antibiotics.
He is my gentle giant. He had not an ounce of common sense, but his heart was pure. He was a sweet boy who would never hurt anyone, but couldn't figure out how to stop hurting himself. It's killing me that he will never wrap his arms around me again and tell me he loves me. I miss him so much already.
Thank you for reaching out to my family and crying with us. Thank you for helping us with the girls. Thank you for just being there for us.

18 comments:

~MIRANDA~ said...

I just want you to know you are in my thoughts and prayers. My heart truly breaks for you and your family. I sure love you kristie!

Unknown said...

Kristie,
Please let me know what I can do. I can pick kids up from school or whatever. If you need me to bring Courtney home from school everyday that is not a problem. Just let me know.
Andrea Lunt
luntandrea@yahoo.com

Kim R said...

Kristie, We were so sorry to here about Cameron. Please know that you and your family are in all our prayers. We love you and want to support you in any way that we can. We would love to come spell you off for an hour or two to at least let you sleep. We know you are amazing, but even superhumans need sleep! Know that we love you and are heartbroken for you and your sweet family. We know how much you love Cameron and have done so much to help him. May you have the peace that you so deserve right now... Love, Your Second Family (AVWC)

Sue said...

Kristie and Mike, My heart is breaking for you and your family. You are in my prayers and if you need someone to sit with him, I have time later this week. It would be a privilege to do this service for you and your family. I am so sorry that this happened. Sue Sohm

Charmaine said...

Kristie & Mike, I am truly sorry for what has happened to Cameron. My thoughts and prayers are with your family. May the Lord bless you with comfort and peace at this difficult time. My tears have flowed easily today as I think of your precious son. Kristie we all love you and are here for you. Love Charmaine

Unknown said...

I love your son so much. He was a huge part of my concern and I desired so badly to help him as I could. I cannot and hope to never know what you are going through. My love and service is yours. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Love you CamiPoops (that is what i nicknamed him) You will be missed.

The Romeros said...

Kristie, I just heard the news of your family and wanted to express our love to you and to let you know that if you need anything, we would love to help you in any way. I know that the lord is by both Cameron and you holding you and giving you strength. Our prayers and support will be with your family. We love you, Debbi Romero

Karly said...

Kristie...
I just heard your horrible news. I just wanted to let you know that I am thinking of you. You were always so wonderful to me and I LOVE you so much! Please know you're in my thoughts and prayers and I will never give up hope for you! Thank you for the update as gut wrenching as it is! LOVE YOU
Karly (Mellen)

DaBlairs said...

Kristie and Mike,
the girls are tucked in and they said such cute prayers for Cams. know that we love you and are here any time and always. Love you Forever.

Brittany said...

Kristie
I am so so sorry to hear about your son, my heart is torn for you! please let us at avwc know what we can do for you! We love you and i love you!
you are in my thoughts and prayers!
-Brittany Hall

Anonymous said...

Kristie, I am so incredibly sorry! There are just no words. If there is anything we can do for you at work, let us know. Beth

Shauna said...

Our thoughts, love and prayers are with you and your sweet family!

All Our Love,

The Chambers Family

spencer said...

I don't know you, I came across your blog from the obituary. I just want to express with you my deepest sympathies and let you know that reading your pages of stories brought tears to this hardened public servants' eyes. I wish you and your family the best.

Marrdy said...

I too do not know you. When I saw Cameron's Obit yesterday my heart broke for you. I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you listing the reason for Cameron's death. My, now 18 year old daughter, has been dealing with the horrible disease of drug addiction. I showed her his obitutary and held her while she cried because someone else has lost his life to drug abuse. My greatest fear is that she too will lose her battle with drugs. I will keep you in my prayers and I hope that through all this you will find some peace.

With love to you and your family-
Marrdy Goehring - South Jordan

Marsha said...

Even though I don't know you personally, my heart breaks for your family and I understand your pain. Another wonderful life has been taken from drug use and addiction and a great deal of pain has been suffered. I thank you for being up front about the cause of Cameron's death and for writing your powerful blog. Hopefully it will help someone to stay away from playing with and using in the first place. I'm also angry that those who drank with Cameron, smoked pot with him, used with him, and supplied him, seem to go unscathed when they all contributed to his death. My prayers are with your family that you will remember the good memories of Cameron and they will warm your heart and make you smile.
Marsha

Anonymous said...

i may not know you but im cindy woods daughter McKenzie. that must be terrible. but
this is something to help me thru my friend lillys hard suicide.
never forget, he'll always be here, he'll never leave our hearts,
its someting we couldnt controll we couldnt see it comming, dont stop believing dont forget, sometimes you may feel like letting go, but never let go. there are times when things are dark and whr things are grim, we all loved him dearly, he was engraved in our hearts he'll forever remain a piece of our lives, never tobe forgotten, hes etched in our lives hes made an impact bigger than a crator on mars bigger than any, never forget and dont forget to BELIEVE.
It must be hard, amd im truly sorry, i am sorry i share your pain, i wish you my best. we love you and we are here for you

IHorseCrazy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
IHorseCrazy said...

Just looking at this blog brings back so many memories of that terrible day at school in 7th grade when Courtney, in tears for some mysterious reason, told me that, quite bluntly,'Cameron's gonna die.' You could not believe the horror and shock that went through my mind at that moment. But, it's been almost three years, and it's amazing what an amazing young woman Courtney hhas become. You guys are an amazing family, and I just couldn't believe how strong you all were while this happened. It killed me to see Courtney, then a brand-new friend to me, go through that. She, and all you Earnharts, are absolutely incredible. I couldn't imagine life without my AMAZING best friend. :) Even now, I can see the grief you guys are going through. Just remember I love you all and you hall have a place very dear to my heart. (I'm tearing up as I write this)It still kills me to think of anything to do with this time. I'm sure you guys feel exactly the same, but now that I know you better, I understand what you guys were truly going through.....

Your Friend
Megan Babcock