Tuesday, January 30, 2007

stressful, roller coaster day....

today was tough. as andy mentioned earlier in the last post, things started to get hairy in the middle of the night. as a reminder, yesterday, they put in a new icp monitor and the goal is to keep the icp number 20 and below. today, most of the day, the icp number was in the mid 20s to mid 30s. there was an attempt to get the number down with medications, but they did not work. the doctor came in and told us that he is "concerned" -- which obviously concerned us.

after a day of high numbers, the doctor decided to try to put a drain back in dad's head. this was a "last effort". the drain was put in and the procedure was successful. this took the icp number down to 8. we were told that the drain is a temporary measure and that we can't rely on it for very long. the doctor said that he will come in tomorrow morning and see how things are going. last checked, 8:30pm or so, dad's icp was around 16 -- however, that was with the drain clamped shut. we need dad to be able to keep the pressure under control without the drain, so this part is good.

he has a second blood clot. this is also a concern. his blood pressure continues to be an issue. they do have his fever under control. please pray that his icp numbers can stay under control without the help of the drain. pray for mom, as she is weary -- especially with these roller coaster days. other than the day we came in for the original trauma, today was the most difficult, tiring, and stressful day yet. we know that God sustains us and we believe it, some days are just harder than others. thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement.

rough night....

Its been a rough night. It started around 2 am when i went in to check on my dad. When i went into the room, i noticed that his respiration was off. I believe that they have his machine set at 13 and we was hitting the 30s and the 40s. It seemed as if he was fighting the machine. I also noticed that his ICP was sitting between 20 and 25. I know my dad...i could just tell something wasnt right. I told the nurse, and they told me that they were going to suction his mouth because he had been coughing and take a look at him. I came back out to the waiting room and finally got to sleep about 3:30 am. I was then awoke by the phone in the lounge at about 4:30 by the nurse, telling me that they have had issues with dads ICP all night and they were concerned. They took him to get a CT scan to find out what the problem was and had given him more Mannitol, but the ICP didnt really come down. The doctor came in this morning around 10:15 and was very concerned with his numbers. He said that all they can do right now is continue to give him medications and watch him. The CT scan came back better than it was the other day. They just dont know what is going on. Please continue to pray for dad...pray that his ICP will get and stay below 20. Pray that his fever will go down. Pray that his mind will rest...Pray for my mom. Mom need a "peace that passes all understanding". Thank you for your continued prayer. I will update you later today.

-A