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