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