April 28, 2010

Thank you everyone for your kind comments. I know that our family has been strengthened by your faith and prayers.

Today dad is doing okay. When I went in to see him it was right at the time that they were giving him his vitamins and other supplements. They squirt them down the nasogastric tube which feeds into his stomach. He is also getting a meal supplement called "Crucial" that looks like watered down mustard. I am sure it doesn't taste like mustard though. I was also there when they had to brush his teeth. They use what looks like a sponge on a stick that is dipped in peroxide solution. Dad hates that. Maybe he feels like he is going to choke, I don't know. Then they have to use the sterile suction tube (it is a long tube-like vacuum enclosed in a clear plastic bag to keep it completely germ free). Yeah, that is sure fun for dad. He gets a little bit anxious when they do that. But it keeps him from choking on saliva, phlegm, etc.

His ICP (intracranial pressure) was a little high when I went in (around 18-21) but it came down when they finished caring for dad (about 10-12). Again, they like to keep that lower rather than higher. Another thing that has come down is his arterial blood pressure (it is measured by an IV line inserted near his heart). The last couple of days it has been around 170/90's and today it was 120/88. Dad continues to move his right side very well (in fact he has the strongest grip on that side--it has caused some discomfort for more than one of us). His left side he can move slightly but not near as well as his right. The way our brain works is that the left half of our brain controls the right side of our body and the right half of our brain controls the left side of our body. His injury was on the right side of his head so this movement pattern makes sense.

They have turned off the "cooling IV" on my dad. It was to help cool his temperature down (he had a little bit of a fever). The IV is still in place just in case it is needed for anything else. He has several other IV's in place as well (one gives him insulin to keep his blood sugars on a good level--he is not diabetic it is just when you are not moving around normally and burning up the sugars you need some additional help). He also has an IV in place to help keep the vein open just in case.

Something I forgot to mention yesterday is that a volunteer came in with her therapy dog. It was a collie (like Lassie) and very fluffy. It didn't go into dad's room because of circumstances but it could go in other patients rooms. After the owner and dog were finished visiting patients they came into the waiting room and asked if anyone wanted to see the dog. I went over to the dog and just hugged him and scratched his hind legs (he seemed to love that). It was a good stress reliever, I think, for anyone that visited with the dog. We then jokingly asked if we could bring in my dad's favorite pet. They asked what type of pet it was and we were forced to admit that it was Scout (Scout was the first horse my dad bought. It was not the horse that was involved in dad's accident). The mental picture of Scout walking down the hallway made us all laugh.

Some more news...today they told us that they would be removing his ET tube tomorrow (endotracheal tube---tube in his throat to help him breathe) and be replacing it with a trach tube (tracheotomy tube---instead of having the tube in his throat to help him breathe he would have an opening in his neck with a tube to help him breathe). Also tomorrow they will be removing his nasogastric tube (the tube that he gets his "food" through and replacing it with a PEG tube (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy tube). Basically it means that they will put a tube surgically into the stomach and bypass all the normal routes that food goes through to get to the stomach. By doing these 2 changes it will make it easier for dad to get out of the hospital and into a rehab facility. It won't make him completely better but it is a positive thing.

Thanks again for everything you guys have done for me and my family. The kind words, thoughts, food, and everything else have meant the world to us. Please know that we want to say thanks to everyone individually and perhaps in time we can do that but for now know that you are appreciated.

Julie