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.