Testing Tuesday

I saw Dad this morning and we made it in time for rounds. He is definitely looking more comfortable today than he did before. I got to see his chest xray this morning and the doctor explained some things to me.

I guess I was confused before, so I may have explained things incorrectly. I will give you what the doctor told me. I thought this was related to the fluid outside of his lungs, the fluid they have been draining and went in and cleaned out.

This is different. He still has those tubes in draining fluid, and the fluid levels are decreasing like they want him to.

The part about his lungs that is so bad right now, is the inside of his lungs. He has pneumonia deep in his lungs and there is just infection built up in the bottom of them. The xray doesn't look good, and the doctors are definitely sincerely concerned about this. I talked to him about the combinations of the antibiotics he is on. He basically said that they are being very careful what they use and how much, and want us to try to be patient and let the medicine work. They want to continue the antibiotic treatment for the full course of seven days.
When his antibiotics arent fully killing all the bacteria, and resistant ones survive, they can make the infection much worse. They want to prevent this from happening because the consequences could be very bad.

His WBC - I can't remember the numbers and me and mom are disagreeing about what they said --- but they were lower today than yesterday so that we will take as a good sign. His temperature is still quite elevated.

I am calling today Testing Tuesday because after reading Sheryl's comment on my last post, I am trying to see everything in a different light. The Lord is constantly testing us in life, and right now, this is not just a test for my Dad, but is a test for all of us. It is testing my strength, endurance, my patience, and most definitely my faith. I think that it is a shame that it takes things like this to shake you to your core, to make you question your whole life, your purpose, your reason to be alive. The Lord has many plans for my father, for me, for my family, for all of us. It is easy to lose sight of that in our day to day lives. It is easy to think we have everything under control, that we know that we will wake up tomorrow, but that just isn't the case is it?

I am stronger today than yesterday. I know that Dad is going to pull through this. The doctor's are doing their part, but the work of the Lord is no where near done!!!

I love you all, Love Meg

The doctors said today that his lungs are in very bad condition. This isn't news I surely wanted to hear. He has pneumonia in both lungs and the antibiotics haven't cleared it yet. They increased the antibiotics dosage today - and hopefully that will be okay.

Mom said they lowered the propofol again today... meaning he is waking up more and is still showing signs of being in pain. This is just torturous for me to watch... I can't stand seeing him in pain.

I need him to get better. I miss him and love him so much. Today is a one of the bottom of the rollercoaster days... it sucks.

I had a dream last night that I called moms cell phone to ask her something and that dad picked it up instead. I dropped it on the floor in shock and picked it up and it was Dad. He sounded calm and told me he was fine and that he wanted to surprise me. I woke up in a better mood, feeling positive, and then of course hearing news like this today feels like it popped my balloon of good energy. This is so so hard. I hate this so much.

No Surgery

His WBC count is still too high for surgery, but it is coming down. We will keep you posted.

Love you all

Meg

Sunday Night...

Hey -

This post will be short and sweet because I am tired. Today was a rough day, though going to church this morning and saying some extra prayers really seemed to help. Singing some songs of praise reminded me again of how blessed I truly am.

I liked one particular part of a song we sang today. It said 'Jesus, I love you. And all of my hope is in you."

That's pretty much how I feel. Today was one of those days where everything felt completely out of my hands --- Dad was in some pain today and that was hard for me to watch again today. They lowered his pain med and sedation and he wasn't comfortable. I know the Lord has him in His hands though... the things the doctors can't fix...He can.

That's all I can hope for and count on right now. I am clinging to the hope that he really isn't in pain, that he isn't suffering.

My Dad is a fighter and a strong man, and I know that God won't give him or any of us anything we can't handle. I keep reminding myself of that.

His surgery is scheduled still for tomorrow--- pending on his WBC count and other results...
sorry I don't have a whole lot more answers or details today. We are kind of playing the waiting game again.

I love you all. Thank you all. Sheryl came up here today and really lifted our spirits and spoke some encouraging words. You know, you can sometimes see God just shining through people and in her positive nature and just lifting spirit... gives you the push you need to make through another day, to not give up, a reason to keep on hoping and praying and pushing through it all.

I will write as soon as I know anything tomorrow if the surgery is on or off. Be patient and I love you guys. Keep those pictures coming into my email box for the photo book please! megbradley@gmail.com

Love Meg

Room Change

Hey everyone

Today was a busy day. When we got to the hospital, there was an awesome nurse with Dad named Roy. He stood with us for like 25 minutes and explained so much stuff about what is going on with Dad.

He said he bumped up his sedation and morphine because he didn't like him looking uncomfortable like he was. He told us something that he has heard the neurologists tell patients families before that really made a lot of sense.

He said, when Mark is agitated, moving around, thrashing, cringing, and getting upset --- it isn't good for him. It isn't good because he is wasting energy. His brain needs every bit of energy it can use right now to heal and to get better. When his brain is stressed out like that it is not healing. Sedation is good for right now as he continues to heal. So, they moved him though today out of the Neuro Trauma ICU back to the Shock Trauma ICU(where he was before).

The visiting hours are back to what they were --- but have changed in the fact that they do not want him getting too upset. An immediate family member must be present at all times for any visitation. I think this will help him with being less agitated. Us visiting him for shorter times and letting him sleep through the night will help him get better.

If you go to church tomorrow, or even for those of you that won't , please say some good prayers for Dad and for his continued healing and recovery. We love all of you guys... and thank you so much for all the sweet comments.

Love Meg

Hey everyone.

Haven't seen Dad yet today, but last night he was looking better. They increased his morphine so I am sure that helped :) --- but he was waking up alot in response to our voices yesterday.

Breanna and Eddie (her boyfriend) came up yesterday to visit. She had a hard time because she really wants to be here and can't because she has to work. She kept saying how much she just misses her Daddy...and I know exactly how she feels. We all really miss him.

Amanda Casey came to visit me and was talking to him and he sure was turning around trying to figure out where all the voices are coming from.

Brushed his teeth again last night... He was completely out of it and didn't seem to mind.

The nurse we talked to yesterday seems to think he will be waking up more and more , and that he seems more responsive. Mom wants to put together a picture book for Dad.

So what I would like everyone to do is to email me pictures of themselves, their family, or even the churches that are praying for dad right now...

We want a book of pictures to be able to show him and remind him who is reading his blogs, who is thinking about him and loves him. I thought this would be an easy way to do this...

So hopefully you all have access to some sort of digital pictures and can email me a picture or pictures. Tell me everyone who is in the picture so I don't have to guess.

I am not just asking this of family. I would like pictures of his friends from work, from family friends, anyone who reads this to please send me a picture so he can realize really easily how many people love him.

My email address is megbradley@gmail.com
Put in the Subject line - Pictures for Mark

Gosh I love you guys... all of you!

Thank you!!!

Megan

No Surgery... sorry to disappoint :(

Sorry to play this game with you... and it took me forever to get on to tell you that it was cancelled.

His white blood cell count was elevated today, as well as his platelet count. They decided they want him to heal a little bit more and rescheduled him for Monday.

Hopefully they will really follow through with it...

Hes sleeping today and hasn't moved around a lot

Some angels came to visit the hospital today. These Lyondell workers are just truly amazing. They tell me a bunch of them are driving to San Marcos next Friday. No, they aren't going to go tubing down the river! These wonderful people are going to Breanna and Tiff's mobile home to finish the wood floors Dad didnt get to finish, to work on the roof, and to do anything else that needs to be done that Dad obviously can't do.

How do you say thank you for this, along with the donations from people at work that they brought along with them. It brought me to tears. Its things like this that make you feel like you are going to be indebted to people forever. The Lord sure surrounds you with Angels in the form of just regular people when you need them most. If Dad could see what they are doing, I don't know what he would do. He's so modest and probably wouldn't believe that so many care for him like they do.

Thank you all --- angels in my eyes for sure. I was so scared that after a while everyone would get weary and kind of fade away into the background. It is amazing ---- I just know this is His way of bringing us peace, comfort, and even more ability to trust that He is healing Dad.

We love you all.

Love Meg

Surgery Today Too

Surgery went well yesterday. Talking to the thoracic surgeon, he showed us before and after pictures of his lung cavity. He has three tubes now draining from his lung cavity and the doctor said these should be draining for 7-10 days.

This frustrated us because we were like great now this pushes his other surgery back again. Nope... orthopedics came in yesterday to look at him and fit him on the schedule for today.

Please say lots of prayers. This surgery does carry a lot of risk - especially in the possibility of losing a lot of blood.

We love you all and we will keep you posted today the best we can.

Forgive me for not writing yesterday...I was so tired.

Love Meg

Surgery at 10 AM

Dad has surgery scheduled for 10 this morning to go in and insert the tubes into his lungs and to clean all the 'gunk' out of there....

They said this procedure can be dangerous in some patients, especially if they are older, but they said Dad is so young that he shouldn't have any problems with it like that.

Say some prayers this morning
Love Meg

Thoracic Tuesday...

Ha. What a dorky title I just wrote. Oh well. Anyway - went to see Dad this morning early and Aunt Lila and Lynn came to visit. The doctor was in there and told us that the thoracic (word of the day) surgeon will do surgery tomorrow on Dad's chest. They are going to go into that cavity where the infection and fluid build up is and clean it out with a fluid rinse to flush everything out of there.

The doctor also thought he might be building up a tolerance to the morphine so they increased that dose today as well.

Dad was just a snoozin away! Thank you for your continuing encouraging words and loving thoughts and prayers.

Love you all

Megan

The doctor decided they wanted a lung specialist to come and visit and evaluate Dad. He talked about using a scope in exploratory surgery of some sort to make sure that all the infection is in fact draining and that there are no pockets of infection hidden. They would also like to insert a scope through the trach. to look for infection there as well.

More about this later...that is all the updates for this morning.

love Meg

Surgery Postponed at Last Minute

Because of all the infection they found yesterday, they cancelled the surgery today and will let us know when they reschedule it.

We should be getting results on the cultures from his chest fluid back today, and with that they will be able to change his antibiotics to more specifically target what types of bacteria have been found there.

We will keep you posted as best we can! All my love

Meg

Keep us in your prayers.....

Sometime this Monday morning Mark will be operated on to fix his pelvis. This will involve placing a plate on both front and back and inserting 4 bolts. (With all that metal...going through airport security will never again be an easy task!)

Our prayer is that the blood loss will be minimal as he has already received 6 units of blood.



Thank you all for you love and prayers. BB

Sunday Afternoon

Went to see Dad. The doctors said that they thought the bleeding might be coming from the cavity that surrounds his lungs. This cavity is where normally the lungs are provided moisture to ensure proper function. They inserted a tube into this space to see what drainage would come out.

They were shocked really is all the nurse could say. She said from the amount of blood and fluid loss from that space and how it overflowed out of there so quickly, that this area is definitely at least a contributing factor to the blood loss. In addition, she said that it gave off an odor that could only be blamed on bacterial growth in that area.

We are hoping this is where the infection is! If they have found it they can hopefully get it under control. They are going to culture the samples and they said they will know something soon about that.

The chest xray they took yesterday also gave them a clue that this might be a problem area because his lungs weren't inflating all the way.

His fever went up today and they have him on the cooling blanket again. He didnt look too happy or too pleasant at all when we went in a bit ago... but hopefully this discovery is a step in the right direction to him getting better.

There have definitely been some angels surrounding us today. You know, sometimes people just are so amazingly good. It goes without saying how much we love all of you. Thank you for everything... we just continue to be amazed by God's goodness just pouring over our family. Thank you --- these words aren't even close to being enough... but thank you.

All my love

Meg

Some Blood Loss

The doctors said this morning that Dad received some blood last night. There is some internal bleeding, but they just don't know where from.

Say an extra prayer this morning that maybe they can figure this out.

Love Meg

Quick Update ... Still Holdin Strong

Hey

Just wanted to add a short update about this afternoon/evening.

Dad looked so much better after the tracheotomy. Really, without those tubes everywhere he just looked so much more comfortable. They had him working on his breathing tonight and he was breathing the oxygen on the ventilator without the ventilator forcing his breaths.

He opened his eyes alot in response to Mom's, Tiff's and my voices and made quite a face in response to mom kissing him. I brushed his teeth today - he didnt seem to be too pissed off at me but he didn't like it thats for sure!

More tomorrow --- hopefully more improvements before surgery on Monday.

All my love

Meg

Positive Improvements! :)

I got in to see Dad today and he just looks so much better. His teeth were a little ucky - for lack of a better term - when I saw them today... He has had a lot of build up and gunk in there that probably hasn't been very good for him. All that stagnant fluids and no circulation of saliva is a haven for som build up --- his front lateral incisor looked brown and discolored, so he very well may have knocked it somehow when he fell. His gums look pretty puffy and aren't very pink. I asked the nurse about it and she said I was more than welcome to come in and clean up his mouth later - so I will do that...though he probably won't like me very much for that.

He is in his new bed in the NTICU (Neuro-Trauma) and had a tracheotomy this afternoon. His quick surgery went just fine and he looks like a new man without all the tubes in his mouth. He only has one tube that goes to his GI tract and all the others are in thru the trachea area.


Mom said before the surgery they had him breathing the oxygen off the ventilator without the forced breaths, making him work to breath the oxygen on his own a little bit.

Him being in this room seems to be so much better for him. There seems to be more attention and more of a plan. Before it felt like we were wandering around aimlessly in search of recovery, but these people seem to have more of an action plan. They talked about when he wakes up from the surgery anaesthesia having him working on breathing on his own. The sooner he can prove to do this, the sooner he can be off the ventilator.

Yesterday I was so discouraged, but some of my prayers have been answered and we feel much more encouraged today. We know he's not out of the woods yet, but the fact that he may be stable enough for that surgery on Monday is a good sign. I know they won't rush it if he's not ready, so it will make me happy if he is in fact ready for it.

I am still scared about the surgery, and we know that it is very complicated and carries with it a lot of risk. We will remain positive and prayerful as much as we can. We love you all and I will update more when I have it. Keep on praying and we love you all!

Love Meg

Quick Friday Night Update

Went back up to the hospital for a lot of the evening. Janet and Karen drove down to see Dad. He looked hot they said when they were in there, his fever had gone up. He didn't look hot when I saw him. He's still pretty jaundiced. Brother Larry came from the Crosby Brethren Church to see Dad today as well. I missed him but Mom was very pleasantly surprised and happy to see him. She said he said some very nice prayers for her and gave her some extra comfort today.

When I went back up there I realized there was something different but I couldn't put my finger on it.....

Oh my! The ventric. tube from his brain was gone and in its place were 2 staples! YAY!!!! What a surprise! They didn't even tell us they were gonna do that today.
They also told mom that a bed in the neurology ICU opened up and he will be moving there tomorrow. This is a good thing, even though it sucks for a while that he can't have the same visiting hours. From what we know, only immediate family can visit there and only for like 20 minutes every 2 hours or something and only from like 10-8... so the visits will be unfortunately fewer and even more precious to us.

This is all for the better though. They are performing the tracheotomy tomorrow morning early and plan on doing the surgery on his pelvis on Monday.

For those of you that asked about donating blood, you can go to any blood bank and donate it in his name and it will credit his name in case he needs it.

Love you all --- I am so exhausted. Thanks for everything...really. I know there are lots of you reading this and thinking there aren't really the right words to say right now, and that's okay. Just keep on praying because the prayers are working.


Love, Meg

TGIF --- Update Day 13

Hey everyone. I thought I would add a photo from last Christmas to lift everyone's spirits a little.

Dad looked better this morning, despite the rainy weather outside. He was waking up when we came in the room and was opening his eyes to our voices. He wasn't really looking at us, but it was good to know he could hear us. He is still very jaundiced though.

Medical Update Day 13:

Hearing that it was day 13 today really shook Mom and I up this morning. They said Dad's ICP levels - the pressure on his brain - has been improving. They only drained 10cc yesterday afternoon and didn't open the valve at all overnight! This means his pressure was at acceptable levels through the night. They are of course concerned to see if this good trend continues as he keeps waking up more and more. If he is in pain or agitated at all, they may increase. He is definitely making faces again of squinching up his face in pain and moving around a little bit. You can still tell he's pretty drugged up though.

His temperature was at 99.3 this morning. His blood pressure has been in an acceptable range most of the time. They said his lungs are looking clearer and he is not breathing over the ventilator - not sure exactly if they wanting him to be doing this or not. His food has increased to 75 cc and is very close to their goal of reaching 90cc an hour. His bilirubin levels are down slightly, but not significantly. The doctor looked at his bruising today and is definitely accounting at least some of the jaundice to this, but is still being very firm about continuing to watch his liver and other organ functions for any signs of distress. His WBC count is pretty stable, still high, but down a little bit.

He is on 3 types of antibiotics for both gram negative and gram positive bacteria in his lung sputum. All other fluids remain negative for any bacterial growth.

They will continue to monitor his ICP and wait for neuro to be satisfied with his continuing stability before they will remove the ventricular tube from his brain. We discussed the possibility of doing the pelvic surgery next week and also a tracheotomy.

They are concerned about him remaining stable through the weekend and will continue to monitor his progress daily to see if that is a reasonable goal or not. Talking about the surgery, the trauma surgeon was very concerened about a high loss of blood during the procedure, and did mention that it could cause his blood pressure to drop and some problems with the anaesthesia. They are very concerned about this and do not want to perform the surgery when he is in a high risk state. He continued to remind us how very severe the pelvic fracture is and that with the surgery will come some inherent risk. He is predicting a lot of blood loss, so if anyone feels compelled to donate blood in his name, that would be wonderful.

We will be at the hospital today and try to keep you posted on any further updates. We love you all. Thank you for the cards and notes, phonecalls, really good hugs, and just amazing outpouring of love and support.

We aren't even beginning to take it for granted. The Lord is surrounding this family with an amazing network of encouragement, love, and generosity. God Bless you all.

Love Meg

Thursday Morning

Hey

Me and little Matt just went to see our daddy this morning. He looks a little better than he has been the past few days, this probably has something with him being less sedated.

The nurse and doctors talked to us this morning. His white blood cell count was down to 28 which means that the antibiotics are helping! They gave him more vancomycin this morning. His ICP (brain pressure) levels have been more steady and they said when they are draining the fluid, it is only like 3 mL instead of like 10 or 20 as it was before.

He is still yellow looking. They said they got way less fluid from his lungs today and yesterday. Last night when we were in there the respiratory person came in to check on him and to suction out his lungs and it came back with hardly anything. When she listened she said she didn't hear alot of fluid in his lungs - which is a good thing!

Anyway - I am keeping this brief. Thank you for all the cards that keep coming in, the people that keep calling and checking on us and on dad. We love you all.

Love Meg

Weds Evening Update

Hey

I just left Dad's room. Mom went to Crosby to get papers and stuff for bills that needed to be taken care of and to love on those sweet puppies she misses so much! She knows they will lick her and love on her and lift her spirits!

I ran to Walgreens this afternoon and printed some pictures off, took them up to his room and just about covered the windows in there. They are nice to look at to keep us motivated about how truly blessed we are.

Some amazing men from Dad's work dropped by this afternoon. Man, I tell you what the Lord is answering our prayers for comfort and love and reassurance. I got a card this afternoon from all the guys at the plant that love him... the inside of this card was literally filled with people wishing him well. I got to talk to them and they just kept telling me how much everyone who he works with loves and cares about him, how great he is to work with and just be around. He has such a character about him that he just wants to do things for others... very selfless and thoughtful. It doesn't go unnoticed! He is being missed there right now and they are all in just as much shock about all of this as we are.

It sure isn't a coincidence that people surround you with love and comfort at times like this, and we sure don't take one bit of it for granted. The cards keep coming in, and we got a wonderful gift today which Mom doesn't know about yet, I wanted her to see it when she got back tonight. A prayer blanket. This blanket was blessed at a mass and prayed over for his healing and was given to us. What an amazing amazing gift. How special and wonderful!

As far as a status update - they took dad off the ativan sedation medication. It is completely shut off, but because it is a slow acting drug, it will be in his system and slowly wear off. Hopefully he has enough morphine in him for him to stay comfortable. His temp went up a little bit so they turned the cooling blanket on and gave him some Tylenol to bring the fever back down.

This afternoon while I was hanging pictures and talking he moved around a little, not like before or anything, but just to see a little bit of movement of him made me smile and feel a glimmer of hope.

I love you all and will write more tonight if we hear anything new.
Love Megan

Quick Update

Hey ---

Just talked to the doctors again about any updates on the tests. So far, none of the cultures of CSF, urine, or blood are showing any growth. This is a good sign so far.

The radiology team did look at the ultrasound and found nothing of significance or abnormal to be alarmed about.

They put him on a little bit of insulin to stabilize his blood sugar a little and the ativan dosage is lowered a bit also. His feeding that they want to increase to get up to their goal of 90 is at 45 and is steadily increasing.

They were gonna clean him up a bit this afternoon so I left them alone to do all of that.

I'm sitting here, just thinking how this all feels so unreal, like its all not really happening. But it is. Mom and I went up to the Catholic church this afternoon where Matt and I will be getting married. We are saying prayers continually.

Love you all.

Meg

Wednesday Morning Update 7-18-07

We went to see Dad this morning and realized they did rounds early --- how kind. Maybe they were trying to avoid our questions - maybe they were just early birds this morning who knows.

We called two of the residents over and they answered some questions for us this morning --- none of which made either of us feel that much better.

His temperature overnight was pretty consistent - definitely not as high as it was - it was about 99-100 all night. The nurse sounded positive about this that it hadn't risen any higher.

They did many cultures yesterday in search of the infection. They took samples of his urine, Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), blood, and lung sputum. Most of those are not back yet. The only one that came back was the lung sputum. It tested positive for Gram positive bacteria Streptococcus and Staphylococcus. They started him on Vancomycin this morning to begin treating this to see if it will clear that up. This is the second time they started this drug, maybe they will let him stay on this longer so it can do its job and work this time. This antibiotic is specific to Gram positive bacteria, and its pretty strong and hopefully should work well on clearing up the infection.

The ativan sedation medication they have him on still has him really really zonked out- for lack of a better term...

They said they bumped this down a little this morning again, to see if they can keep this balance with this and the morphine. They said they were trying to wean him this down on the ativan and less on the morphine. They don't want to take his pain medication down much, since they want to keep him as calm and comfortable as possible.

Here is some of the results as far as numbers go for some of you that are interested.

The white blood cell (WBC) count two days ago was at 26.2, and was 30.5 yesterday. Today it rose to 33.3. This is a most definite sign that his body is reacting to infection and trying to fight it off. Normal WBC counts in a healthy person are between 4 to 10 --- so this is significantly higher. Hopefully, the antibiotics will lend a helping hand in this infection battle!

His RBC, hemoglobin, and hematocrit levels are all lower than they should be. The doctors are hoping all of this is attributed to some of the severe bruising that he has on his back and other areas. The body has to process all of this and they are also saying that this might be the reason he is jaundiced. They said that the hematoma - the bruises - are reabsorbing and healing. This accounts for some of these levels being out of whack.

The bilirubin level I mentioned in the last blog rose much higher. It was at 6, and then 8, and today was read to be at 13.5. The normal for this is 1.3 or lower, so this is pretty significant. He still looks very very yellow today, and the doctors say they are working hard to figure out why. The results from the ultrasound on his abdomen haven't been evaluated by radiology yet, but the floor doctor did look at them. She said, "Now granted I am no radiologist, I don't see any swelling of the ducts or any issues with his gall bladder or liver." So, she didn't see anything jumping out at her, but the specialists will give that all a very close look today to see if they can find any explanations.

The doctors mentioned again today what they call ischemic cholestasis. This is an obstructive jaundice, which would mean that there is some blockage in his bile ducts, a gall stone blocking something somewhere, or something of that nature. We just don't know right now, so we will let you know when we do.

Uncle Michael and his wife Michael --- no it's not what it sounds like they just have the same name --- they are actually very normal !:) ---- they came by last night and just really really lifted our spirits. They sang Peace Oh Peace to Daddy when they went to see him upstairs, and then they sang it for us in the hallway. It was so sweet and comforting. They prayed with us after we visited, and it was the type of prayer we needed. So sincere, real, and just amazingly comforting. Their positive attitude and complete trust in the Lord that Dad will be better makes it so much easier to trust in that ourselves.

So, all in all, today we will be waiting for lab results and I will post them here as we hear something to keep you all informed. Again, as we have been saying, thank you so much.

We love you

Meg and Mom

Frustrating Day...

Another frustrating day today - waiting for tests and it just seems like we keep leaving without answers that make us feel any better. We ask questions, we nod, and things kinda make sense, but it still feels like nothing. Nothing to encourage us or for a doctor just to look at us and tell us it's all gonna be okay. I guess they just can't do that --- get your hopes up or make any promises to us...but it sure would be a nice thing to hear.

There seems to be some sort of infection still in his body --- but they just don't know where it is. His temperature goes down with these horrible cold things they make him lay on...but really it's only covering up the fact that something is wrong. A fever is the body's way of announcing that somethings wrong... so it is upsetting us that this is all that is being done, and even then it doesn't seem like its working all that effectively. His temperature got back up to over a hundred today, but at points was almost normal. They have a fan blowing on him and he's just shivering. I hate to see him like this.

This, in combination with his yellow, jaundiced complexion is not something you want to see. He just looks sick, so of course it discourages our spirits as we try to be positive. Today, they are doing an ultrasound on his abdomen to see if something is wrong with his gall bladder or liver. They are reculturing just about everything they possibly can to search for the infection...

His pulse and blood pressure seem to be at acceptable levels.

They are watching his ICP levels very closely. They were up higher yesterday, so today is better from that, but are still higher than normal. They clamped down the tube draining the fluid from his brain, and instead of it continuously draining, they only drain it when it gets too high. This is letting them see if his body will be able to work this out without the drainage tube and be self sufficient. They are anxious to remove this tube because of the high risk of infection as the days increase that it is there.

He is so heavily sedated he has barely responded to anything or anyone today. Very little movement or response definitely is disheartening a little. They are telling us it is for the best to try to steady out the ICP levels and keep his blood pressure down...

When I got back from the airport last night, I couldn't wait to get back to see Dad. I couldn't stop thinking about him while I was gone and really missed him. When I walked in the room, I saw all the pictures, and read all the posters and wonderfully thoughtful notes and cards... and I pretty much broke down.

This man that I have for a father is just amazing. He has so many people that think the world of him, and I am lucky enough to have him for a Dad. I truly couldn't ask for more, except for the fact is that I want him to get better. I love that man so much, and it is really hard to see him like this. I have to have faith and strength to get through this, and I know that our family and friends can. We have to lean on each other and lift each other up. Keep positive, and don't stop praying. Please don't stop praying. Right now, I just pray that he is staying strong and not getting tired of fighting this. That he's not giving up, that he knows we're all here cheering for him. Man my dad is awesome. I can't wait to remind him of that when he wakes up. Patience is a virtue, and its a virtue that he and I definitely lack. Pray for all of us to have a little bit more of it while he is healing and the doctors do the very best they can at their jobs.

I love you all. The cards, the phone calls, the visits, ... you are all amazing. We love you and cannot begin to explain how much it all means.

We will write more as soon as we get a chance when we hear any more news.

All my love,

Meg and Mom

Monday Morning

Sorry I didn't post last night, I was just exhausted. At 5:30 am he is receiving 6mg per hr of morphine and 9.6 ml per hr of propofol (sedative). His ICP (skull pressure) goes from 10-20 within an hour so they have to keep draining it so it doesn't escalate above 20. His temperature is at 100.3 and his blood pressure is 126/66, pulse rate 76. They had to put him back on the sedative so he wouldn't get agitated. I am waiting on a bed in the NICU unit and hope one will open up VERY soon so they can take really good care of him.

This morning the floor doctor came in and shook him a little bit and he opened his eyes, but he is so sedated he didn't respond to their commands. They said they weren't expecting anything since he is so sedated at this point. He is on 2 antibiotics now, 1 for pneumonia and another for a bladder infection. His pneumonia hasn't gotten any worse in the last couple of days, which is good!!!

I found a computer in the hospital so I am able to update the blog from here instead of leaving and going to Megans house. I am going to listen to rounds this morning with my friend Mandy Adams who is a nurse and can help ask important questions and better help me understand a little bit more.

Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated and can really be felt. Thank you all for your support and keep the prayers coming.

Sunday Morning

Yesterday they started taking Mark of his Propofol which was causing his yellow color and started him on Valium. As the night wore on he became more agitated and his ICB(skull pressure) became elevated. They are taking him off of the Fentany (sedative) and just putting him on straight Morphine. The doctors from neurosurgery came in the morning and want him to be transferred to their unit so they can do more advanced care but there are no beds available at this time. His blood pressure is 178/91, his pules is 95, and his temperature is 99.5. So guys, the prayers for today is that someone in SNICU is transferred out to a room and a bed opens up.

Thanks and we love you guys!!

Betty

Week 1

Hey guys this is Sarah Jo (Marks cousin). I am in town staying with Betty and I am going to type what she says since she is an INCREDIBLY slow typer.

This morning at 8:00 am Marks temperature was up again to 101.7, so the chill blanket remained all day. By tonight at 12:00 am it was down to 99.5 again which was great. Betty noticed around noon that he was starting to turn yellow so they drew blood and the result came back around 4:30 and they said his liver enzymes were slightly elevated. It was caused by the sedatives they were giving him. They started him on Valium today and it seems to be working. His blood pressure was around 127/91 when we left and he stayed at a good level all day. His dependency on the ventilator was 8 breathes per minute and he came down today to 4 breaths per minute, which was a huge improvement. By 12:00 am his coloring had improved and he looked more healthy but the chill blanket was leaking(which is 42 deg F) and this definitely couldn't have been fun to be laying in. Needless to say we weren't to happy about that one but they were going to fix it when we left tonight. He seemed very calm today which is what they are wanting since they are trying to keep his blood pressure down. They are trying to lower the sedatives because the long term effects it does to the liver.

I'm sorry guys but until Megan gets back we are only hear very late at night and can go only post 1 blog.

Betty had a pretty rough day today. It is starting to hit her all the changes that life has tossed her way. Just worrying about the house, pets, and bills is become a little much right now. But she truly appreciates all the support she has been receiving.

Waiting

Mark started the day with a temperature and it progressed and continued to go higher. The doctors stated it was probably going to pneumonia which isn't unusual. The fluid in his lungs has continued to increase and he is now on antibiotics. He had a rough start today and by the evening time they decided to put a chill blanket underneath him. By 8:00 pm his temperature was 102.5 but as of 12:30 am it was down to 101.3. We had alot of people visit today (nieces, nephews, cousins, and Bree). He wasn't as sedated tonight and seemed more comfortable after they added a fan to his BLAZING HOT room. Bree was her usual entertaining self and seemed to enjoy trying to get a rise out of Mark. She was making up things to try to get a reaction out of him. He was very active tonight with moving him arms and head when there was alot of talking around him. He is getting more baths than he has ever taken on his own in his life. He gets 2 a day. He is one squeeky clean fella!!!

Your continued prayers, visits, emails, comments, phone calls, and card means so much to all of us. Sometimes people come up to visit and they can't go in but just remember they might be doing things to help Marks progression at that time. I truly appreciate all the support that we all have been receiving.

I just wanted you to know that the cell phone doesn't always work in the hospital. My cell phone #281-728-0372. Visiting hours are everything but 6:30 - 8:00 am and 6:30 - 8:00 pm. I was unable to visit with the doctors like I wanted today so I am going into the hospital extra early Saturday morning around 5:30 am to try to catch them before their rounds.


Today, I had just started to cry in the hall with my head in corner and some one put his hand on my shoulder and said he was a minister and asked if he could pray with me.... I guess God new that I needed comfort at that exact moment.

Pictures,card and e-cards

Today I filled Marks room with pictures of our family. I hung a large copy of our family over his bed. I put his cards on his wall. I played a little Jimmy Buffett next to his ear. He is a parrot head after all. I feel so helpless. The blood pressure medication seems to be working. They didn't take out the drain out of his head like we were hoping. They took him for his CAT scans and I will talk to the doctor about the results tomorrow. They kept him so sedated today. I know he was comfortable. They gave him a dose of potassium because his electrolytes were low and that was causing him some problems. They had to raise his oxygen level back to 45 from 40% because of the fluid in his lungs. He had a slight temp. of 101 and the gave him some Tylenol. They were going to have to use a chill pad to lower his body temp if the medication did not work. All in all he's holding on. It's just taking a while to get him were he needs to be for the next step.
The girls came to see him today and Matt saw his dad for the first time like this. He made a poster for his dad, and wanted to stay in the room for a while so we played some more music.

I know he is going to be ok. I guess it's just not fast enough. So I wait. I comfort other family's that have loves ones in ICU. And I count my blessings. .........Thank you for caring. Betty

I am truely blessed!!

I want to thank each and every one of you.... you are my wings. you are helping me thru this...each and every phone call, visit, card,blog, hug, prayer that is sent my way...is working. I'm so blessed..... It'2 am I can't even think straight...much less type...but I know Mark's going to be OK. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Mark is truly blessed to be alive. Thank you all !!!!My family, our girls, how lucky we are. His family, my family, the friends from scouts, Marks co-workers, my co-workers, our friends from soccer, neighbors, long time friends, people that we have not seen or had contact for so long..its amazing... I love Mark with all my heart and I know that you all mean so much to him. We all take life for granted. We don't thank each other enough . We say stupid stuff. We don't always do the right thing. I have never known this pain, and I can tell you, there is a reason that Mark survived this. Thank you all, for being by his side.

Quick Update Wednesday

Went in to see Dad at 8 AM as soon as they would let us in the room. All the doctors and residents were in the hall going over his entire charts and updates. They were very positive today. CT scan tomorrow on his head and pelvis. They gave him 2 pints of blood last night and will continue to monitor his hemoglobin levels.

Good news is that they are putting a clamp on the tube draining his hematoma today --- to see if the pressure is still staying stable or not --- if it does, then they can remove that tube in the next day or so.

They have continued to lower the dosage of the sedation and increased his pain meds. He opened his eyes a lot this morning for us and responded a lot --- not squirming and looking as miserable as yesterday. He looked much more relaxed and in less pain.

They want to do the pelvis surgery soon. Not sure on a date yet.

Connie Harrison came by this morning to visit and Scott came by and traded shifts with Mom so she could go home to Crosby and pack a good suitcase and take care of bills and stuff.
Paw Paw and Dedo (Wayman and Sharon) are coming this afternoon also and Mom will be back later.

For now, I am going to New York. Mom assured me that this was okay and that people would be here to take care of her and it would be alright. Matt and I bought tickets months ago to go on this trip so she and everyone else are telling me to enjoy it. I had a hard time leaving his side this morning --- but I know he is in good good hands.

I showed Mom how to use the blog so she will post updates or she can call me and I will post them. Tiff and Brea will be down from San Marcos soon and Matt will be with them and finally get to see Dad. The children's nurse has to prepare him before they let him in because of his age. He is really looking forward to seeing Dad, though I don't think he really understands all that is going on.

That is all for now. Keep on praying and loving on my mom, grandparents and family! You guys are amazing and I love you all ! THANK YOU so much for being so so awesome and supportive. We love you.

More News... Improvements and Encouraging Words

Thank you all again for everything. Our family is so blessed to be surrounded by such an amazing support group. I can't say it enough - the phone calls, the visits, the many many prayers, the hugs... they all mean more than words can begin to describe.

As an update from the last blog posting, I went to visit Dad today around dinner time. The nurse was in there with him reading numbers off the machines. I said "Hey Dad" as soon as I walked in and held his hand. His eyebrows came together and he squinched his eyes and opened them. He could most definitely hear me! He recognized my voice, as was obvious by the beeping blood pressure machine alerting everyone that it was high.

He squirmed a bit and didn't look at all comfortable, and I tried to reassure him. It was obvious from his facial expressions --- a look you might make if you just dropped a 20 pound weight on your big toe --- could show that he was in a lot of pain. Of course, I don't like to see this and the blood pressure and heartrate went up significantly. The nurse shooed me out and said I was upsetting him... but I think it was the need for more pain meds that was really upsetting him. Punching the machine to dispense more medicine eventually calmed him down into sleep.

Uncle Bill and Mary and Shane came to visit that evening when Mom came back from my house after I sent her there to shower and freshen up a little bit. They went and visited him and talked to him, telling him all about everyones well wishes and about the blog. The nurse there tonight was sweet as could be. I went up there to tell him goodnight just shortly ago before coming back to my house. I walked in and the nurse was in the hallway with his chart. I didn't figure he would wake up since Mom said he didn't - so it sure surprised me when he woke up again when I started talking to him. I am afraid to talk too much to him since I know it wakes him up so I didn't say alot --- just tried to reassure him that he was alright and that he needed to go to sleep good tonight. He wasn't near as frantic tonight as earlier - I think they increased the pain meds and decreased the sedation medication - he looked so much more relaxed. He didn't squirm--- his eyes were just wide open staring straight. Still don't think he really sees me but he definitely knew we were there. When he went back to sleep I assured him as mom did that the nurse would take good care of him and that I was taking mom with me to get a good nights sleep. We will be back bright and early!

He has a big day tomorrow the nurse told me after I walked out. She told me they are going to do a CT scan of his pelvis and decide what to do to prep him for that surgery. This is good if he is well enough to operate on! However, she did tell me his hemoglobin levels fell this afternoon a bit and they were gonna give him 2 pints of blood. I was a little upset, but she assured me that this was nothing to be alarmed about, that it was just precautionary. He is possibly bleeding from his pelvis internally, which they said isn't unusual. This is something they will be aware of from the scan and also when they do surgery.

Mom is at home with me for the night --- getting some rest so she can be 100% tomorrow for Dad. Scott is coming tomorrow and so are Dedo and Paw Paw (Sharon and Wayman). They are gonna stay tomorrow so Mom can go to Crosby to get some more clothes, pay some bills, and just tie up some more loose ends over on that side of town.

Everyone has sure pulled together to make it possible for her to stay here. Donna and Mark and other neighbors are taking good care of the MANY Bradley pets - Kallee, Gidget, Joules, Dottie, Kisses, Marley, Max, Elsa, Lady, and all the fish. The neighbor kids have been coming over and playing with the pups to keep them company and make sure they aren't lonely.
Tracy called today to tell Mom that her girlfriends in her sorority have banded together to buy her a month long parking pass so she can come and go in that expensive garage as she needs to and even money to pay for gas for the car.

I am just utterly stunned and thankful for the blessings being poured over this family. It is truly remarkable. Thank you isn't enough ---but thank you from the very bottom of our hearts. We love you all so so much.

If you have a Verizon phone let us know ---- we are making a list of what people we can call unlimited on the daytime minutes and which people we can't talk to as long as we would like :) If we have to cut you short during the day, forgive us! We Love you and love to hear from you all. I am showing Mom right now how to use this so she will be posting online as well. We have all the cell phones on - we are using Dads too when our batteries run low and they are charging.

Goodnight and God Bless every single one of you. THANK YOU!!!

BP High - Tues Afternoon

Hey guys...

His blood pressure is up a bit so they gave him some pain medicine to bring that down. The pain is causing him some discomfort, so that causes his BP to go up/

Me and the nurse got to talking early this morning about her brushing his teeth. He sure doesn't like it but I keep reminding him that I am making them keep those teeth brushed!! He fusses and moves when they do it - but they are taking good care of those teeth for me as well as everything else! Amazing people!

We will keep this updated...

Love Meg

Medical Update Tuesday July 10th

Well - there is really so very much to say so I guess I will just start from the beginning.

On Saturday, July 7th, my father was helping his friend Shane cut tree limbs . Shane reminded us that, as always, Dad was being Mr. Safety, showing up with gloves and safety goggles and ear plugs. The building was 25-30 feet in the air. It is to my understanding that he was just moving tree limbs that had already been cut. He lost his footing or something when he accidentally fell through the sky light. There was nothing below him but solid concrete. He was rushed by ambulance to Hermann Memorial hospital and was in the trauma room. They wouldn't let us see him - and it took a long time before we heard any real news about his conditions. They couldn't stabilize him for quite some time and that was very scary. They transferred him that night to the Shock Trauma ICU. This room is pretty full of machines. This hospital is probably the best place he could be for a trauma like this - with all kinds of great doctors and specialists.

When he fell, we think he must have landed on his side. He fractured the back of his skull and has a subarachnoid and subdural hematoma on the opposite front of his skull. What this means is that it is a traumatic brain injury. Surrounding the brain are different layers that are like protective coverings. The closest one is called the dura and and middle layer is called the arachnoid layer. These areas are not supposed to be collecting blood, but that is exactly what is happening. There is blood collecting there most likely because of a tear in a vein that occurred from t he accident. This is of great concern because it can increase the intracranial pressure - which can cause some compression on his brain. However, they inserted a tube to collect excess fluid to drain it out of these areas. The hematoma was larger on Sunday than Saturday, but subsequent CT scans have shown it to be stable and not growing in size. This is good! His intracranial pressure is pretty stable - which they said is very good. They are going to continue with further brain scans this week and watch this area for any changes.

X rays so far have not shown any neck or back damage - but there will definitely be more follow up on this later on. He isn't quite stable enough for them to look at some of this stuff quite yet.

They have him on a medicine right now in his IV to keep him sedated. They have him on insulin and a feeding tube to keep his blood sugar stable and to keep his nutrition up, and his bowels all functioning properly. His blood pressure was initially very low when he came in. They couldn't stabilize it and gave him medicine to do so. They took him off of this medicine on Sunday because he had stabilized that on his own. His blood pressure looks pretty good right now, except for when he wakes up when they mess with him - he gets pissy and it shoots up.

Lets see - other things. He broke his scapula on one side, which is your shoulder blade. He fractured all 12 ribs on his right side. This caused some issues with his lungs. Blood began to leak into them and they inserted a tube into his chest cavity to drain all the fluid from his lungs. This fluid has become minimal recently and they have discussed removing that tube sometime very soon. He is on a ventilator to keep his breathing steady and normal. He was at 100% oxygen and they have knocked that down to around 60-65%. He does not like this tube down his throat, as you can well imagine. Everytime he wakes up he seems mad that it is in there.

The fall also shattered his pelvis bone very badly and they say that this will require surgery within the next week or so. They said that the neurological issues are the most critical right now and they want all that stabilized and in good shape before worrying about all of that. Talking to the neurologist this morning, he said he was comfortable with him having that surgery whenever they were ready to do that. The orthopedic team spoke with us yesterday and were very positive about a full recovery. They explained the way that his pelvic bone was tilted. They have already begun realigning this bone into position with what they call "traction" They inserted a metal sort of rod into the bone of his right upper leg and have attached about thirty pounds of weight to it that hang from the bed to pull his hip down. They told us that during surgery they will place pins into his pelvis and secure it that way into place. He will be in a wheel chair for at least 8 weeks, at which point he will be able to progress to walking with a walker, cane, etc.

If I know my dad, he will probably be ready to walk as soon as they will let him. He is such a stubborn hard headed guy that has a wedding to look forward to that he needs to be walking down that aisle and dancing with Mom and I. The team explained that they would help us figure out everything for the house when it got time to getting him comfortable and mobile around the house.

Lets see, what else. He broke his finger on one side when he fell, this of course is pretty minor and will heal also on its own. His abdomen and all the organs there seem to be in good condition. He did have some damage to his urethra from the pelvic injury but they said that this too will heal easily with time. His bowels, stomach, liver, spleen, kidneys, pancreas, all seem to be functioning as it should.

We visit him as much as we can. So many people have called and been keeping in touch and visiting. You know, it seems like an out of body experience ---like this isn't really happening to me, to my dad. I know he is going to be all right. We have each other and faith that everything is under God's control right now and out of our hands. Our many many prayers are being answered daily as his condition gradually gives us hope and encourages us.

We go into the room and talk to him as much as we can, hold his hand, and remind him that we are there, not leaving or going anywhere. My mother and I have gotten to really see some interaction out of him late Sunday and yesterday and today. He is heavily sedated right now to keep his blood pressure and intracranial pressure down, but they wean it down every now and then to let him kind of wake up a little and talk to him and check on him. He is responding to light, his pupils dilate and contract as they should. He can hear us talk to him when he wakes up. Yesterday they were putting all sorts of feeding tubes and suction tubes down his throat to his stomach and he wakes up when they do this. He grunts and moves his head around because he hates it. I just tried to comfort him the best I could and let him know I was there while they were prodding him so much.

They took him off the sedation for a while Monday to let me and Mom talk to him. He woke up, of course still heavily medicated with pain and other medicines and was confused. He can't really focus his eyes on us just yet but he hears us and looks at us. He keeps trying to spit that tube out of his mouth - he hates that alot. His hands weren't restrained initially but he tried to tear those out - hard headed guy - just like he tried to pull out his IVs in the ambulance - and you can tell he wants to talk to us. He really responded well to us . We asked him to wiggle his toes yesterday and he wiggled them on the right leg, and then we said what about those other toes, and then he moved those too. He can stick his tongue out when you ask him to. The nurses and neurologists keep doing this and say that this is all a very good sign that he can follow simple commands right now.

Mom and I have been telling Dad how much everyone loves him. Telling him who calls and wishes him well. Reminding him who is there to visit and everything. You know, you just don't know how much he can hear us, and maybe its minimal, but even if it just soundslike a faint voice in the background, he seems to be comforted by it. I know we are. We remind him what an amazing guy he is, and that the Lord spared his life for a reason. His fall was cushioned and he was protected by some amazing grace.

It's hard to say thank you for everyone being so supportive. We really love all of you and it means so much to us that everyone is surrounding us. It is so hard to call everyone and tell everyone everything, so this is definitely going to be the easiest way. Someone will try to get on here as often as we can to post updates. Please keep your prayers coming our way. The power of prayer has been so amazing this far, and we know it will continue to be. The Lord has some exciting plans for Mark Bradley that he knows not yet of.

I know this has gotten long, and hopefully I haven't gone on too much - but I wanted to start somewhere and the beginning is the very best place to start as they say in the Sound of Music.
We love you all. Thanks for all the well wishes and concerns, prayers, food, thoughts, dog watchings, and Matthew helpings out...

Right now we are taken very good care of. I promise you I will let you all know if we need something, because I know it's hard to feel like you can't do anything. I just hope that when you read this, that you will not only think of Daddy, but think of Momma too. I told Dad yesterday that Mom promised him through sickness and health, through better and worse, through thick and thin, good times and bad... and that she was doing good holding up her end of the deal. She's not going anywhere and she really appreciates everything. Taking care of things at the house - the many animals there being tended to, the yard, you guys are amazing. It's the little things that really make the biggest difference and I just want to say thanks for remembering her too. This is going to be a long journey. I am worried about going back to school and the girls going back to school --- but you know what - the Lord will provide. She will have the strength and endurance, and I know that those who love us will continue to be here through it all. Thank you so much. I cannot say it with enough meaning as it is really intended. You are all blessing us so much. THANK YOU! WE LOVE YOU!

Don't feel like you are bugging us calling and talking. We have free minutes at 9 and mom likes to hear from everyone. Us talking about us is the best healing for us right now. Hearing people like you encourage and uplift our spirits ... thank you

All my love

Megan Bradley

First Post about Mark

OK ..... we're starting this blog so that we can update you about Mark's current health condition. Check back here for updates. Later, maybe we'll keep up the blog to post information about happier topics; but for now, this is the best way to deal with the crisis.

Thank you all for your concern. It really means a lot to us.

Feel free to post comments on the weblog, but be aware that everyone will be able to read what you write.