Day 15 Morning Update

Scott had a GREAT night!

Isn't it weird that 15 days ago, we'd never have thought about being so happy to have Scott open his eyes and follow some commands?

Or be so excited to hear the doctor say his chest x-ray looks fantastic?

Or be so thrilled to have the doctor say he might not need the tracheostomy at all anymore?

Or be so glad that he did a breathing test on his own for 2 hours?

Now, obviously these are great things but as we've learned from all this...it is just one day at a time. But, we're happy about the beginning of this day! Scott will be on antibiotics for a couple more days and is still getting his new feeding tube placed today. Let's just cross our fingers that he continues to improve so he can come off the ventilator soon.

~Betsy

Day 6 Evening Update

It's time for an update, isn't it? The doctor did the Bronchoscope today and that went fine. Scott's numbers tolerated the procedure and it wasn't a very big deal. Things that are not big deals are great! After that, they did another CT scan but this time they did a CT angio. They wanted to look for an aneurysm again and they still didn't find one. Every day they do this ultrasound on his head that measures the flow of blood in his arteries and vessels. I left around 2:30, right after we got the results of his CT scan and they came back ok. I'll try to update a little more after Diane gets there and has a chance to catch up on things.

Once again, things are pretty much the same, probably a little better. :)

On a side note, I want to apologize to all the people that have left me either wonderful emails, texts, voicemails, etc...because I haven't replied back to all yet. I really appreciate them when I read them but most of the time something comes up and I tell myself that I'll reply later. Well, later means I sometimes forget. Please know that even if I don't respond, your comments and questions are ALWAYS welcome.

Day 6 Morning Update

Just a quick positive note...he just had a chest x-ray and that looks a lot clearer! A good sign that the one of many things the nurses have done is working. Suctioning, changing some medications here, tweaking some more meds there. The neurosurgeons will be making rounds in about 15 mins.

~Betsy

Day 5 Evening Update

My last post from this morning talked about how he's got some fluid in his lungs. That has started to be a little more of a concern. They may go in tomorrow and do what's called a bronchoscope. This is where they will heavily sedate him and go down with a scope and clear some of that fluid out. They'll determine that after his chest x-ray in the morning. As of right now, he does not have a CT scan scheduled for tomorrow since they don't think it will show any significant changes. I think now they'll start doing them every other day. His temperature is still there...at 102 right now. The nurse (Heather) just put his cooling blanket on him to try and get that back down. As we keep being told, it's really just one day at a time and it will be a long road.

Right now, it's about keeping him calm, stable and letting the brain heal. There will be times of the day when his oxygen level drops, where he will start having small tremors, where his ICP (inter-crainal pressure) will go up, where his BP goes up. Everything is changing all the time and it really is a true waiting game.

They are going to probably just bath his front tonight so they don't have to move him too much. I'm going to call it a night and be up and ready for the neuro-surgeon's rounds in the morning.

~Betsy

Day 5 - Morning Update

Hmmm...let's see....I spent the night with Booger last night and all was pretty calm. They came in and bathed him around 2 am. Being his sister, I stayed back in my little corner and definitely didn't watch. LOL.

He's been pretty heavily sedated since yesterday so he didn't wake up at all during that. They brought in a portable CT machine (it's crazy how much equipment is around this place) and did another CT scan this morning, which show things as stable. They are going to increase his sodium to try and bring his brain swelling down some more. He had a chest x-ray also this morning, which does show some fluid/gunk in his lungs. This is sort of to be expected. Anytime there is a respirator in and he's not moving around, this can happen. He's not able to cough up normal stuff like we are. It is an issue that needs to be taken care of, but obviously the brain comes first. They don't want to suction it out because of the fragile state of his brain. Yes, it's a concern but they can't do too much for him right now.

As for his looks, the swelling under is eye is a lot better. It's not black anymore so in a weird way, it's easier to look at him. Or it's just easier because we're used to it.

I'm hanging with him all day today and again tonight. I think we're going to play some poker for a while, and no Booger, I'm not going to let you win just because you're sick.

~Betsy