Let me start by saying Thank you to everybody who made it to the drumming/glowstick vigil last night. It was really amazing when I pulled into the parking lot and heard the thunder of the drums. I had no idea it was going to be so touching. Thank you to those who wanted to come, but couldn't for whatever reason. We know you're still praying for my Dad and the rest of us.
Yesterday ended up being a really good day for my Dad and the rest of the family. He was able to speak very briefly to Linda and Josh while the speech therapist was working with him. Mostly, it was responding to the therapist asking if he can feel this or that, or other yes/no questions.
Then later in the evening when I got to see him he adamantly shook his head when I stated that his mind wasn't listening to his body, was it. It was completely unexpected on my part because up until that point, I had only heard that he was answering by nodding or shaking his head. Josh told me that it was the biggest shake of his head that he had seen all day, which made me feel good.
Probably the most touching moment that I saw yesterday was when my Grandmother, Joyce, came in to say goodnight to him. As soon as he heard her voice near him, he reached up to her with his hand. She took his hand and he squeezed hers back and relaxed. I know that moment was such a sigh of relief for her, and me as well. He still knows who we are.
Today, he wasn't quite as awake as he was last night, but I think we were all ok with that because we knew he had his surgery ahead of him and he needed his rest for that.
They took him into the OR around 1:45 to repair his left humerous (upper arm) and right wrist. It took about five hours, but he tolerated it really well and stayed stable the whole time. Unfortunately, they were unable to take the skin grafts to close the wounds in his leg because the plastic surgeon had other commitments this afternoon, so he will have to go under again for that. We were all hoping that they could get that done as well and it would mean one less trip to the OR.
The good news is that his Orthopedic Surgeon was very confident in his ability to use his arm to support himself on something to try to start walking soon. He said that if he were awake, he would have him up tomorrow trying to start therapy. That was very encouraging.
Another ray of sunshine was that his Trauma Surgeon told Linda to start looking for a really good intensive inpatient rehab/therapy facility because he expects that he should be able to transfer him. He suggested starting with Loma Linda. If anybody has any experience in this area and would like to make a suggestion, we are very open to hearing them.
I apologize for not updating last night, I was having trouble getting a wifi signal.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support...They are working.
A place where we can all come together to show our love and support and get semi-regular updates about Dave.
Words of a Fighter
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Healing Drum Circle/Candlelight Vigil Update...TONIGHT
My previous post said that the vigil was tonight at 8 pm, however, I was informed that it was changed to 7:30 pm. It will be held in front of the hospital and as long as it doesn't resemble a picket of any kind, then we will be allowed to continue.
Thank you all for your support and prayers.
Thank you all for your support and prayers.
A Better Day
He was able to respond by trying to talk today. I didn't get a lot of details, but my brother, Josh, called me from the hospital and said that our Dad was trying to talk earlier. They had to deflate something in his tracheostomy in order to hear him better. It sounded as if he was saying "mmmmm hmmmm" and "Ya". I don't know what questions he was answering because I'm not at the hospital yet.
I am hoping to get to hear him talk later when I can get there. Right now, I have my girls, so I will go down there once my husband gets off of work.
I am hoping to get to hear him talk later when I can get there. Right now, I have my girls, so I will go down there once my husband gets off of work.
2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back...
After breathing on his own for 5 hours yesterday, my Dad got tired and the pulmonologist decided that he should be back on ventilation in order to rest. His nurse mentioned that often times it's only overnight and then they let the patients breathe again on their own during the day. However, this particular pulmonologist happens to be somewhat conservative and chose to keep him on it for the daytime as well.
He is still looking better each day. His face us healing slowly but surely. The staples came out of his shoulder today, and they were planning to see if they could get the ones in the back of his head out as well, but his nurse needed a second set of hands to do that.
His chest tube is still in. His blood pressure is a little higher than it was a few days ago, but I believe that's normal since they have reduced his pain medication so he is feeling more pain than he was before. As far as I know, that can cause an elevation in blood pressure.
He has been off sedation completely for 3 days, and yesterday they started lowering the dose of his pain medications. Today, he was no longer on the pain drip, but he did have a patch that administered the medication to him in a lower dose, and they were giving him morphine in between if he seemed to need it.
A Speech Therapist came in today to start working with him in order to wake him up. The do a type of therapy called "Coma Stim". It's a technique that they use for patients in a coma or similar state (like my Dad) that helps to stimulate them and bring them up to consciousness. During the therapy, he was able to move some toes on his right foot when she asked him to.
The Speech Therapist will continue to work with him, not only on the Coma Stim, but once he's awake, he will have to re-learn how to swallow again since he now has a hole in his throat and his face has been rearranged. He will also need to learn to speak through the trach when the time comes. We've been told that it could be 3-4 more weeks before he will be stable enough to add the part of the trach that allows him to speak through it.
My little Brother, Josh, came into town today on the train. It's so good to see him, although we all wish it were under different circumstances. He and I got to visit our Dad for about an hour before they needed us to step out to change his bandages.
On our way out, we were informed that when we came back in, we would need to wear hospital gowns, gloves and possibly masks as well, because my Dad now has an infection. She told me the name, it started with a B from what I recall, but I can't remember it for the life of me. Anyhow, they didn't seem too concerned with how it may effect his recovery, but they did tell us that it was contagious and that we would have to gown up to protect ourselves from being exposed.
Josh and I went to grab a bite to eat and it took about an hour. That seemed like plenty of time to get the bandages changed, especially since it only took 40 minutes yesterday. But when we got back, they asked us to give them another 40 minutes, but didn't really tell us why. When I told Linda, she decided to call and see if everything was ok. We were hopeful that it meant that maybe he was coming around, but that wasn't why. Apparently, while she was changing his dressings, he got "Riled up". We don't know for sure what that means, but it more than likely means that he was in pain and got aggitated. I think Linda said that they gave him more pain meds and were working on finishing his bandaging still.
As of right now, I believe he is scheduled for surgery on his left arm later this week.
Thank you for your prayers.
He is still looking better each day. His face us healing slowly but surely. The staples came out of his shoulder today, and they were planning to see if they could get the ones in the back of his head out as well, but his nurse needed a second set of hands to do that.
His chest tube is still in. His blood pressure is a little higher than it was a few days ago, but I believe that's normal since they have reduced his pain medication so he is feeling more pain than he was before. As far as I know, that can cause an elevation in blood pressure.
He has been off sedation completely for 3 days, and yesterday they started lowering the dose of his pain medications. Today, he was no longer on the pain drip, but he did have a patch that administered the medication to him in a lower dose, and they were giving him morphine in between if he seemed to need it.
A Speech Therapist came in today to start working with him in order to wake him up. The do a type of therapy called "Coma Stim". It's a technique that they use for patients in a coma or similar state (like my Dad) that helps to stimulate them and bring them up to consciousness. During the therapy, he was able to move some toes on his right foot when she asked him to.
The Speech Therapist will continue to work with him, not only on the Coma Stim, but once he's awake, he will have to re-learn how to swallow again since he now has a hole in his throat and his face has been rearranged. He will also need to learn to speak through the trach when the time comes. We've been told that it could be 3-4 more weeks before he will be stable enough to add the part of the trach that allows him to speak through it.
My little Brother, Josh, came into town today on the train. It's so good to see him, although we all wish it were under different circumstances. He and I got to visit our Dad for about an hour before they needed us to step out to change his bandages.
On our way out, we were informed that when we came back in, we would need to wear hospital gowns, gloves and possibly masks as well, because my Dad now has an infection. She told me the name, it started with a B from what I recall, but I can't remember it for the life of me. Anyhow, they didn't seem too concerned with how it may effect his recovery, but they did tell us that it was contagious and that we would have to gown up to protect ourselves from being exposed.
Josh and I went to grab a bite to eat and it took about an hour. That seemed like plenty of time to get the bandages changed, especially since it only took 40 minutes yesterday. But when we got back, they asked us to give them another 40 minutes, but didn't really tell us why. When I told Linda, she decided to call and see if everything was ok. We were hopeful that it meant that maybe he was coming around, but that wasn't why. Apparently, while she was changing his dressings, he got "Riled up". We don't know for sure what that means, but it more than likely means that he was in pain and got aggitated. I think Linda said that they gave him more pain meds and were working on finishing his bandaging still.
As of right now, I believe he is scheduled for surgery on his left arm later this week.
Thank you for your prayers.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
He's breathing on his own!
My Dad is off the ventilator now. He has been breathing on his own since about noon today. He is still hooked up to it and it's streaming continuous O2, but the breaths he is taking are all on his own. He huffs and puffs a little from time to time, but after some soothing, he calms down again.
He is moving his head quite a bit more today also. I believe he is slightly more aware of us than he was yesterday. So far, he hasn't come all the way out of his unconscious state yet.
He is moving his head quite a bit more today also. I believe he is slightly more aware of us than he was yesterday. So far, he hasn't come all the way out of his unconscious state yet.
Nothing New to Report
I just wanted to check in and let everybody know that there really hasn't been any change since yesterday. He isn't awake yet. They plan to start backing his pain medication down slowly today to see if that helps him wake up. If he isn't awake by tomorrow, the doctor said that he would have a speech therapist come in and do something called 'coma stim'. Even though he isn't technically in a coma, his state of unconsciousness is very similar to a coma and what ever exercises the therapist will do helps to bring them to consciousness.
Most of us are ok with him still being out because we figure he needs the rest and time to heal. But the doctors want him to wake up, even if it's just for a short time because they want to evaluate his mental state and see if they can get a better idea of the extent to the damage to his brain.
Keep praying for him, pray for him to not have to experience much pain, pray for strength during his recovery and therapy, pray for his mind and that it is still in tact.
Thank you all for your prayers.
Most of us are ok with him still being out because we figure he needs the rest and time to heal. But the doctors want him to wake up, even if it's just for a short time because they want to evaluate his mental state and see if they can get a better idea of the extent to the damage to his brain.
Keep praying for him, pray for him to not have to experience much pain, pray for strength during his recovery and therapy, pray for his mind and that it is still in tact.
Thank you all for your prayers.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
He is off sedation now
They stopped the sedation this morning so that he can slowly come to consciousness. He is still not fully awake, however, he is able to move his head toward the sound of our voices. So far, he hasn't gotten aggitated or too upset.
We continue to remind him when he stirs that he's been in a terrible accident and that he's at RCH and will be ok. We tell him not to try to talk because his jaw is wired closed and not to try to move because of his broken bones. He is trying to breathe on his own but he is still on the respirator.
His most recent CT Scan showed some minor brain damage, mostly to the part of his brain that controls his inhibitions. They have prepared us for the possibility that he will wake up very aggitated or angry and that it is likely that he will just say what he is thinking and will not be able to help himself.
They say that it may take a couple of days for the sedation to completely wear off depending on how quickly his body metabolizes the medication. We all agree that the longer he can sleep, the better, since he still has the trach in and is on the respirator. Not to mention that the longer he sleeps, the less he's aware of his circumstances.
He looks much better today. Most of his swelling has gone down and he has a lot more natral color in his face and body. He isn't so red and puffy.
The lacerations on his face look like they are healing really well and he's had some of his sutures removed.
Now that the swelling has gone down, I can see a horrible goose egg on his forehead. Seriously, it's like what you see in the Tom & Jerry cartoons.
Thank you again for all of your love and support and prayers. Ultimately, they are working. While he is still considered critical, he is stable and responding to treatment.
We continue to remind him when he stirs that he's been in a terrible accident and that he's at RCH and will be ok. We tell him not to try to talk because his jaw is wired closed and not to try to move because of his broken bones. He is trying to breathe on his own but he is still on the respirator.
His most recent CT Scan showed some minor brain damage, mostly to the part of his brain that controls his inhibitions. They have prepared us for the possibility that he will wake up very aggitated or angry and that it is likely that he will just say what he is thinking and will not be able to help himself.
They say that it may take a couple of days for the sedation to completely wear off depending on how quickly his body metabolizes the medication. We all agree that the longer he can sleep, the better, since he still has the trach in and is on the respirator. Not to mention that the longer he sleeps, the less he's aware of his circumstances.
He looks much better today. Most of his swelling has gone down and he has a lot more natral color in his face and body. He isn't so red and puffy.
The lacerations on his face look like they are healing really well and he's had some of his sutures removed.
Now that the swelling has gone down, I can see a horrible goose egg on his forehead. Seriously, it's like what you see in the Tom & Jerry cartoons.
Thank you again for all of your love and support and prayers. Ultimately, they are working. While he is still considered critical, he is stable and responding to treatment.
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