Rebecca Leonard

There has been a page devoted to Becca Leonard updates on Facebook that anyone can join. Just go to Rebecca Dorfmier Leonard and you can click to join. It's difficult waiting and not knowing what is going on. The letter below, writen by her husband (earlier this evening I think), is printed there as well:


"Well, I think that most of you know at this point about Rebecca. For those of you that don't I will give the lowdown of the last week.

Tuesday-Friday Rebecca was complaining of being sick. It didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary so we just went about our day. By Friday she was feeling extremely ill and asked me to take her to a walk-in clinic. At the walk-in clinic the doctor told us that he was very concerned for Rebecca and felt that she needed additional help at the hospital. So, the doc called an ambulance to have her taken to Clovis Community because she was too weak to walk. She arrived at CC about 10 AM. By 2 PM they determined that the problem was her gallbladder. They informed me that she would be alright and they would perform the surgery in the morning. About 11 PM that night I got a call from the GI doctor and he informed me that her situation required that she have it out immediately and they took it out that night. Later he called to tell me that everything was fine and she would likely be coming home Saturday afternoon. Rebecca never called me on Saturday and the hospital informed me when I called that she was unable to speak. Later that afternoon the nurse called to tell me that Rebecca wasn't getting any better and they were moving her to ICU (Intensive Care Unit). At that point I went to CC to pay her a visit (it is difficult to get away when you have little ones to care for). The doctor told me that the gallbladder was not the problem but that her liver was failing. At that point he suggested that if her condition worsens she will need to be taken to UC-San Francisco for additional help. I left the hospital and by the time I got home he told me I needed to come right back because her liver was failing completely and she was going to have to go to SF right away. From that point things began to deteriorate very rapidly. It was about 9:30 PM Saturday night that the ambulance arrived to take Becca to the airport to fly her to San Fran. For some reason it took her around 3-4 hours from the time she left CC to arrive at UC-SF. During that time she developed a heart problem. The Cardiologist says that it appears that she had a heart attack because half of her heart is not functioning properly (it is very weak and there is scar tissue around the heart). She arrived at UCSF at around 1 AM and her status became critical. At about 5AM on Sunday the doctor called to tell me that Rebecca’s system was shutting down and she was likely in the final stages before death and I needed to come immediately. He informed me that her liver now completely shutdown, her kidneys had completely shutdown, her heart was failing and her brain was swelling.

It took me a little while to pack the bags for the kids and make arrangements for their care while I was gone. I got on the road and drove as fast as I could to get here. By the time I had arrived they were still working on Rebecca and it was sometime before I was allowed to see her. By the time I got in the room she was in pretty bad shape. She was swelling up all over and her eyes were half open and lifeless. She was non-responsive and not moving. The doctor told me that she likely wasn’t going to make it through the day.

Many family members arrived and we took turns being with her. When the doctors determined that it was safe to move her, they took her down for a cat scan. This revealed that though her brain was swelling, it was not completely herniated which was their initial fear. (A complete herniation would indicate that she had lost all brain activity.) This left us with the waiting game to see what her brain would do. They have told us at this point that her liver appears to be trying to rejuvenate itself. They have lowered her heart medication and find that her heart is doing alright by itself. But we still have to wait for any news on her brain. Everything depends upon this.

We are thankful for your support and ask for continued prayers and faith on her behalf. As we are still just waiting for any change, we ask that no one call or text as we will offer updates as they come.

Love,

Jared and family

**Note from sister, Lisa: We just received an update and the swelling in her brain appears to be worsening. We know Rebecca is in the palm of His hand so we continue to pray for comfort and peace while we wait and sit with her and Jared."

6 comments:

Valerie said...

How scary for them and for all of you friends. I hope that she improves very soon.

Mary said...

How very heartbreaking. The thought of losing a parent or a child cettainly puts all of our other trials into perspective, doesn't it? I'll continue to pray for the entire family.

Does anyone know what started all of this? The gall bladder, an infection, a virus, what?

Eileen said...

This is devastatingly unbelievable for me, a stranger to Becca, to be reading, I can not imagine what family and friends are feeling right now with all these shocking turn of events.
I pray for God to Build a Wall of His Loving Protection around Becca and her family & friends.
Love and Prayers,
Eileen

Amy Nielson said...

So very, very sad. To go from thinking it's a routine gall bladder surgery to this. I can't imagine what they are all going through. I don't know them but they will be in my prayers.

grandmapeg said...

I am sure many, many people are praying for her and her family and friends. I don't know them at all but I am keeping them in my prayers. They certainly need our Heavenly Father's blessings during this difficult time.

rowdy RN said...

Hi Jill,
I just got on here to check out the twins. Strange that I was at the hospital on Saturday night and was aware of when the helicopter came in. Didn't imagine it was someone that knew a family of mine. My thoughts and prayers are with this family.
Nurse Tracie

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