Day 8 Mid-day update

Just got back from the hospital. Here's a brief re-cap.

Good News:

• The LP went great! He tolerated sitting up (with the help of lots of nurses since he's obviously still sedated) long enough for this to happen. His ICP dropped dramatically as soon as they took some fluid out. Went from being in the high teens to being at a 5 when I left about an hour ago! That's great!! We won't know the results of the LP until tomorrow.
• He's been having vasospasms the past couple days and this was one of the reasons they really wanted the SPECT. But, today showed that the spasms had decreased, so they don't feel it's as urgent to get the SPECT. Since they can really only do one test per day (because that's all he's been able to handle), they will try and get another CT instead.

Not the Best News:

• His lab tests came back on the bone flap they took out. They found Staph on it, which is confusing because how did it get there? Did he have it prior to surgery or did it happen in surgery? Lots of answers still to come since they had just found this bit of info out right before I left. So, this means lot and lots of hand washing and 'gelling' (anti-bacterial gel they've got ALLLLL over the place). No eating in his room and no kids, since it is contagious.
• Also, we've got the issue of bed sores already. He doesn't have any yet...but the specialist noticed areas that look like they will become something. So, they want to switch his bed today to a bed that I believe moves air around to different areas to stimulate different areas of the body. This was just done around 2ish...went smoothly! YAY!
• His temperature is still an issue and that is being constantly monitored with a new cooling device.

My mind is becoming over whelmed with all the information and I find myself forgetting to ask questions that need to be asked. I keep telling people that when we have one step forward, it seems there's always another step in the direction that's not quite as forward...let's say off to the side. Sounds better than saying 'backwards'. :)

~Betsy

Day 7 Evening Update

Here's a quick summary of today. They are still battling his temperature. The nurses have been putting cooling blankets under him because that seems to cool him off the best. These blankets consist of a grid of tubes that water just above freezing runs through. There is a big machine that looks like a portable A/C unit that runs the ice water through the tubes. The cooling blankets are not designed to be layed on, so his weight will stop the flow of water, then they aren't as cold after about 20 mins. But...they cool him off better if they get it really cold, then put them under him. They also will put one on top too. They don't think he has an infection anymore, they think that his 'thermometer' is just off because of the brain injury.

They know what is in his lungs now and they are treating him for it, so that's good.

His ICP has pretty much stayed in the high teens today. They did not do the SPECT today because once again, they didn't want to have him lay flat for that length of time. When he lays flat, his ICP goes up. I'm starting to sound like a broken record, huh?


~Betsy

Day 7 Morning Update

I just got off the phone with Diane and it sounds like Scott's temp was in the 99's pretty much all night, only spiking to 102 once. His ICP has stayed in the higher teens through most of the night. They still want to do the SPECT today but want to wait until his ICP is lower. She wasn't sure if he had a chest x-ray scheduled for today, I would assume he would have one to see how his Bronch went yesterday. Diane said she would try and do a post today, so stay tuned....

~Betsy

SPECT Scan Tomorrow

Just a quick update on what Scott's having done tomorrow. Click HERE to read more about the test. Pretty interesting, I think.

~Betsy