Nice, Calm Days...we like 'em. :)

Thank you to everyone who had Scott in your thoughts last night. As of right now, today was a much calmer day. YAY!!! I think we got what we wanted and needed, which was to see some improvements and not see any more surprises or side-ways turns in his condition.

I got the run-down from Jen today (thank you Jen....you are all soooooo awesome!) and she said he is a lot calmer than he was when she had last seen him a couple days before. His ICP has stabilized and doesn't go up a whole lot when they move him. This is really good. His blood pressure is high, but this is what they want right now (remember vasospasms?). She said he didn't have any vasospasms today...yipee! Also, his heart rate had calmed down and he just looked more peaceful today. AND...they took his drain tube out of his head on Thursday, one less thing.

They did a surprise (well, surprise to us) bronchoscopy this morning but Diane said it was really fast and easy. It went real well and they didn't get a whole lot of stuff up from that. This is good as well. And, they were checking to see see if he had a clot in his lungs and he doesn't (really good). He's still on antibiotics and still has pneumonia, but doing better. They were able to back off his sedation a little more today and will continue to do so just as long as his vitals stay good with that.

Mom was in his room just a while ago and they were suctioning his throat out. When they do that, Scott starts to cough (as much as you can cough with a tube down your throat). Mom started to back out of the room (believe me, it's a little/LOT hard to watch) and was just standing at the entrance when the 'respiratory lady' (I really need to find the real job title for this person) said, 'Mom...come here. He's got his eyes open'. Mom got to see him like this for a tiny bit and tell him that everything was going to be ok. Diane has gotten to see him more like this but mom and I hadn't seen him really open his eyes since last weekend. Ahhh...feels better.

Also, nurse Jen was really funny today because she thought he actually rolled his eyes at her! Ha! She was moving him a bit and he was probably thinking, 'ok, lady. This sucks for me. I have no privacy. Just do what you need to do and let me go back to sleep'. At least Farmer and I like to think this is what was going on. :)

Oh, I just got off the phone with mom and she said that Erin (night nurse) came in and said to Scott, 'Scott, I'm going to check your pupils now'. He just opened his eyes, just like that, and let her do it (they've always had to lift his eyelid to do this). He also squeezed her hand and wiggled his right toes. His vitals didn't shoot up or anything. She turned to mom and put on this big grin and told her she really likes it when they start to turn around.

****Have I told you why they check his pupils? They are making sure that they react normally and that they are the same size. If they don't respond properly or are different sizes, this is the first indication that there is excessive pressure. This is one of the main reasons they knew they had to do surgery right away last week. His pupils were not the same size...not good. But, they're the same size now...nice. Also, this will tell them if something is wrong before the little ICP sensor in his head will tell them.

Speaking of the nurses, I haven't met all of them but of the ones I have met, I personally love them all. Paul, Heather, Erin, Kristia, and Jen...you are all so informative and most of all...you're calm. Your calm nature helps this family be able to relax (as much as we can) and truly take it one day at a time. Thank you for always answering our many, many questions without us feeling like a burden.

We are all learning from this experience. Learning not only medical terminology, brain issues, healing, recovery, but also that the cafeteria has the best $1.25 tacos I've ever had! I'm telling you, next time you're in Seattle and you need a bite to eat, swing by Swedish.

Just a little Humor

So, my Aunt Michelle and Uncle Glenn (my dad's brother who just had a successful kidney transplant last November) emailed me a fun little joke I thought I'd share, just to keep things on the lighter side...

As most of you know, Scott's always got a joke to tell you (just like our dad did, must be Cascade Auto Center's fault!) and I think he'd appreciate it! :)

Little Johnnie Joke

Little Johnnie's neighbor had a baby.
Unfortunately, the baby was born without ears.
When mother and new baby came home from the hospital,
Johnnie's family was invited to come over and see the baby.
Before they left the house, Little Johnnie's dad had a talk with them and explained that the baby had no ears.
His dad also told him that if he so much mentioned anything about the babie's missing ears or even mentioned the word ears, he would get the smacking of his life when they came back home. Little Johnnie told his dad he understood completely.

When Little Johnnie looked in the crib, he said, 'what a beautiful baby'.

The mother said, 'Why, thank you Johnnie'.

Johnnie said, 'He has beautiful little feet, and beautiful little hands, a cute little nose and beautiful eyes. Can he see alright?'

'Yes', the mother said, 'We are so thankful. The doctor said he will have 20/20 vision'.

'That's great', said little Johnnie, 'Cuz he'd be screwed if he needed glasses'.

~Betsy

McDreamy

No offense to any surgeon here at Swedish that may read this (I'm saying this because the nurses know about this site and some have read it and who knows how much they talk) but I'm still waiting to see Dr. McDreamy! LOL!!!