Updates from the desk of the ICU....

So, I really don't have anything to say, but i know that all of you wait for updates from us each morning and night. Mom just headed to bed and Joe and Kelli just headed over to the house to sleep. I am sitting here listening to a CD that i just made for dad. "Sade"...great music! The nurse said that we can play music in his room for him. "Just no hard rock-n-roll and defiantly no country!" ...that was what Tom the nurse told us.
Dad's numbers are staying stable for the most part. He has a slight fever tonight. His BP is stable. His pulse is a little high (120-125) but the cardiologist seems to think that is due to his brain swelling.
We will see the doctor again tomorrow morning. I will give you more as he gives us more. Continue to write to dad in the post marked "notes for dad".

-A

late morning update...

Sorry this is so late in the morning... ( i started this at 11:00 am...several distractions :) )
We spoke with Dr. Young this morning and he confirmed that the CT scan from yesterday was better. He also made the statement that we are not at "day 1" anymore. This was one of the most positive statements that he has made yet. I know that it sounds strange, but that is a positive thing to be away from "day 1" since we have been at "day 1" for a few weeks now.

We are waiting today on information from the cardiologist and the throat doctor. The cardiologist is going to look at dads heart and tell us why his pulse is so high (110) and if this is hurting him.The throat doctor is going to come up with a way to do the trachiosticpy (sp?) since they cant do the normal. To do it normally, they have to stretch his neck to get it in. Because his neck is broken, they can not do this, so they have to come up with an alternative method. This might bring about some difficulties. So we just wait.

Please take a look at the last post and take some time to jot dad a note of encouragement or let him know how he has impacted your life.

We appreciate your continued prayers and we will keep you posted.

As I was writing this, we had an update from the case manager of the ICU. She was giving us a snapshot of what was to come in the future if dad stays stable. They said that as soon as the stability comes, he will not stay in the ICU...but if he has the ventilator, they can not take him in rehab here at the hospital. That being the case, he would be moved to a facility in the St. Joe hospital that would give him the care until he wakes up and gets off of the vent. Once that happens, then he would be moved back to rehab at the hospital (parkview or Lutheran...our choice)..this could be a long process. I will update you more soon.

-A

Notes for dad...

I wanted to give some a chance to write dad. I figured that you could use the comment section to write dad an encouragement note or if you would like to leave him a note of how he may have touched your life, that would be great too...I would love to overwhelm him with this encouragement when his awakes and is able to listen or read! Please use this section to write to him only and not to us! Thanks for taking the time to do this!

-A

Roller coaster ride...

The neurologist came in this afternoon to see where dads progress might be. He stated that although we see dad's eyes, he is still in comma and that he is not responding right now to us. He told us to continue to talk to him but as of right now, he is pretty much in the same state he was in. He also made a statement that recovery time could be anywhere from a month to longer than a year. Basically, we are still one day at a time. They really don't want to give us answers as to what the future may hold, including the immediate future. We will just keep talking to him, and praying that he will come out of comma soon and have a swift recovery.

One last thing, the CT scan from earlier today was improved. His numbers are staying stable with out any Manittol or Dipravin. The nurse did say that today was dad's best day so far. Thats all for now...more tomorrow.....

-A

More Positive!

Last night the nurse continued to drop the sedation and mom was able to see dad open his eyes again for about 35 mins. I came in this morning to talk with the doctor and they want to take him off of his sedation meds all together if he will tolerate it. I got to see his eyes too this morning. He was blinking a little. He still didn't respond to commands from us or the doctor but this could take time. The doctor ordered a CT scan for this morning. Mom is VERY hopeful. Please continue to pray! The question was asked to the doctor" when can we expect to be hopeful and think positively about dad moving out of the critical state?" and his response was, "when you see him out of the ICU!"
After we get the results back from the CT scan, the doctor would like to see dad stable with his numbers being down for 48 hours. We are not sure what this next step is, just that whatever it will be will happen in 48 hours...or Wednesday morning (hopefully). Please continue to pray...with hope..that dad will be able to respond to commands soon (although dad has never been one to take commands :) ) we will try to have an update for you later this evening.

-A

something positive....

Last night, the nurse decreased the amount of dipravin (sp?) that dad was getting for a bit to see if he would respond at all. Mom was able to get a glimmer of hope. Dad opened his eyes just a flicker. It wasnt much or for long, but it was enough to give mom some more "wind beneath her wings". Once his ICP level and BP went up, they sedated him again. They are going to continue to lower his dipravin this weekend to see if we can get more of a response. His sedation level is at 40 right now. Please continue to pray for my father. Pray that he will begin to wake up. Pray that his levels will continue to stay level while waking him up. Pray that mom will find some rest and that she will have great patience during this time.

-A

saturday update 2......

I was made aware that i need to continue to update you even when things do not change. The last post that Jason gave is pretty much where we still are. We really appreciate your continued prayers and support. Thanks for following us thru this blog and earnestly praying. Jason or I will update you in the morning or later if there is any change.

saturday update...

there isn't much to report this morning. dad has been pretty much doing the same over the past two days. his icp numbers continue to hang around the 19-21 range and his temperature and blood pressure have occasional spikes up and down. we were reminded again today that the longer this goes on, the less favorable the outcome. while we want to say "staying the same is good", the reality is that we need to make some steps forward. please pray that dad's icp numbers steadily go down in the next couple of days. thanks again for all of your constant prayers and encouragement.

friday morning update...

"no significant change.." those were the words of dr. young. dad had a pretty stable night. his icp numbers are staying in the 19-21 range and his blood pressure has been pretty much under control. his temperature has been under control as well. the plastic surgeon did come by last night and said that his hand will heal up just fine and is nothing to be concerned about.

the plan. once again, the goal is to have a stable weekend with lower icp numbers. if this happens, we will do a CT scan on Monday. if there is improvement and numbers stay down, they will start backing off the sedation medication again and see how he responds. pray for continued stability, and pressure numbers to go down. thanks as always for your prayers and encouragement.

update from this morning...

In the past 1.5 hours, dads temp has gone back up to 98.5. This is good...but another issue has arisen. Dads ICP level is back up. They are reducing his Fentinol and giving him morphene instead. This could be the reason for the elivated ICP and blood pressure but unsure.The word "sepsis" was used in the conversation with the doctor this morning, but it was more of a "possibility" of the reason for the temp drop but not an absolute. The chances of sepsis being the reason for the temp drop is slim and more likely due to the medications that he is on. This is one of the reasons they are reducing some of the meds. This ride is such an emotional roller coaster! Please continue to pray, and write! We love all of you! More to come...

-A

more bad news.....

Met with Dr. Young this morning and although dads ICP's are hanging in there where they should be which is a good thing, we have a new problem. Dad's temp. is very low right now. It is around 95. They said this is most likely due to infection or "sepsis". This is very severe. They told us that this is just as severe as his ICP level. They are going to run several tests on him to find out where the infection is coming from. Please continue to lift dad up in your prayers. Pray that the doctors will find answers quickly and be able to get the infection under control. Pray for my moms nerves.

I will update you more later...

-A

short evening update...

Met with the Neurologist tonight. He showed us the CT scan. The body is such an amazing thing. It was really wild to see the "shift". The doctor really cant determine anything right now until the swelling comes down. He said that this could be another week. At least that is the hope. In the mean time, we just wait and hope that it doesnt increase anymore. More in the morning...

nice family time....

The morning started off pretty tough. The nurse called again this morning saying that they were struggling with keeping dads numbers down again. They did another CT scan and found new bleeding, but that is due to the procedure of putting the "dipstick" back in. They were not as concerned about that as they were the elevated ICP. The ICP would be fine when they let the drain work, but when they clamped it off, which they have to do so that dad can heal, the ICP would go back up to 20+....That was early this morning....a little later ( around 9:30) we were able to go back and see dad and he was better. His ICP was sitting around 18 which is good and this was when it was clamped. He was also ready for his next dose of Manittol which helps with the swelling and they were not going to give that to him unless he needed it...basically, if his numbers stay down, there is no need to medicate him. This was great news compared to the hopeless feeling that we had this morning.

After the new news, my mom wanted us kids (Kelli, Jason, myself, Anna, Joe) to go eat breakfast together...to take a break from these 4 walls for a while. We all went over to Hall's and really had a good time together. We got mom laughing quite a bit! It was very nice.

Now we are just waiting...second by second.

Thanks again for your continued pray and support. Your comments are so encouraging to us! It helps carry us through to know that you all are there, thinking, praying, supporting and doing all the things that you all have!

-A

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

a new dipstick...

dr. young came in this morning and decided that a new ICP monitor should be put in. he wanted to be able to monitor what was going on with the brain a little closer again. he said that there wasn't really any change one way or the other this weekend from what he can see. his numbers (blood pressure, etc) have been pretty stable. doc reminded us again not to focus on the numbers....he said it will "drive us bonkers". mom and i talked this morning and thought it would be good to spend the day praising God that dad has made it this long and that he has already overcome a lot of obsticles this week. thanks for your prayers and comments, they are very encouraging to us.

"...it takes a long time..."

we were reminded again today about how long the healing process takes. the doctor told us that he would prefer to sedate dad further again because he feels that his body is not ready yet. we will try to ween him off of the sedation meds in a couple of days. dad's blood pressure is still elevated at times and his respiration is up and down. it is difficult to have to wait especially after living off of a "high" of improvement like yesterday. pray for patience and endurance. pray that mom continues to stay healthy as most of us have already been sick at one point or another. thanks again for your constant love and support. we do sense the Spirit because of your prayers.

quiet night....

Its a quiet nite. I'm on the couch in the ICU lounge typing, my mom is reading all of the comments that have been left and gaining great encouragement and my sister Kelli is reading the "guest log" and also gaining great encouragement. Your love and your prayers have definitely carried us in times that we can not walk on our own. Thank you for your encouraging words and your prayers. Please continue writing as it is something we look forward to daily! You all mean the world to us. Dad is resting. His blood pressure is staying stable. Mom is getting ready to go to sleep after she goes in to visit dad and kelli will head to bed as well. Joe will be strolling in here any minute to help me cover the "3rd shift". I will give you more of an update tomorrow morning.

-A

positive update!

We got the results back from the CT scan and got good news. The scan didnt show any aparent bleeding, just "residual" blood. With that information, the doctors decided to remove the ICP sensor...or in laymans terms...the dipstick that he had in his head. Although, still considered "critical" this brings us great hope! They are hoping that they can get him to open his eyes in the next few days. Please pray for several specific things: please pray that his blood pressure will stay down (its a bit elivated right now but is ok given the circumstance), please pray that dads fever will go down ( the temp could be a direct result of misinformation from the brain due to the swelling) because right now it is 102.2. Please pray for his left arm, this is swelling due to a clot in the clavical. Pray that the clot will fizzle away on its own. Pray for dads heart...that it will stay strong thru all of this stress and pain on his body. Pray for dads neck, as it is still broken and needs healing. Continue to pray that dads brain get healthy. Thank you for your continued prayer...we will continue to update you as we know more. God is good!

Morning message from mom...

Good Morning family and friends,

We have now passed the 1 week time period and my Jim is still with us. Praise God. In the beginning, they didn’t think he would make it through the night. God is good all the time.

There are no words to express our family’s thankfulness for all of you holding us up this week, in prayer and comfort. It has been a blanket of love that has kept us warm and together

I’d like to tell you that through all this support and prayer, I’ve stayed strong and encouraged, and for the most part, I have felt that. But, in my weakest, scariest moments He’s allowed me to see how my own strength will never be enough to sustain my life or my husbands. I am totally dependent on Him. I shake at the thought of what is ahead. I want to be the strong wife and mom, just like the women in pioneer days who toiled day and night through rough terrain, horrible weather, attacks and setbacks…..but, during these times, I am not. I am a pile of jelly. But God…..

Although I would never wish this experience on anyone…I will always treasure the path we’ve walked with all of you by our side. It has been a sweet, sweet time in so many ways….like a glimpse of heaven. But keeping it real, it’s also like walking through the fires of hell. I watch my kids faces each time the phone rings in this ICU waiting room and see the strain. But when things are calm and the numbers our good, the laughter, warmth and common shared stories are rich with God’s grace and a little of what heaven must be like.

Some of you know I dabble in writing. I’ve been encouraged to write because God has seen fit to give me constant writing material. Pray I will be sensitive to God’s guidance in using this experience to share his grace and love with others. I’ve had the awesome privilege of having my oldest friend, Merrie with me from Florida. She goes home today. My grandkids, including Tyler from Arizona is with me, My sister Becky, from Albuquerque arrived last night….and not the least, all my immediate family.

Ok, here are a few prayer requests that are on my heart: That we have a good cat scan result today. That numbers will stay steady. That I will see his eyes soon. Also, please pray for Hansen Fitness and Dale Hansen, my place of employment. He has been ever so kind and understanding about the past few weeks and my absence, as well as some of my family who work for him. May God bless his business.

Take care, keep praying and writing …we love you all.

Sue