Day 13 Evening Update

Not much has happened since I last posted. He did have his MRI this afternoon. The internal doctor told Diane a little bit about it but I feel more comforatable posting more after the neurosurgeons do their rounds in the morning. No worries, just don't want to post something I'll have to correct later. :)



His temp was down to 99.4 this evening and he is having a little more vasospasms today. So, they increased his BP again to help pump those blood vessels up (remember water hose?).



My aunt asked how increasing his BP affects his kidneys and I will make sure I find out more details on that. I do know that his creatinine level was at a 0.9 today, but was up to a 1.9 the day of surgery. Just so you know, our Uncle's creatinine level was at a 7.5 the day he had is kidney transplant last November. Knowing that, I'd say Scott is doing pretty good. The doctors are obviously focusing on healing the brain right now (and I get it) but for the rest of us Cruickshanks, in the back of our mind, we worry about the kidneys too. Even when Scott is fully recovered (and he WILL be fully recovered...you got that Booger?), he's still going to have PKD.



Tomorrow brings a new day and we are so thankful that Scott's with us and that things are improving. I will post more on the MRI results and anything else as soon as I know. Night night.

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.

Day 9 Evening Update

Whew...sorry this is so late but we just got home from seeing Booger. I've got quite a list for you tonight. Here we go.

Good News

• His ICP has been low pretty much all day. Fluctuating between 5 and 8 mostly.
• His LP (lumbar puncture) results show NO MRSA or Staph!!! This is very good news for him. (Disclaimer: They have him on antibiotics and wanted to let us know that there is still a possibility and they will know for sure in a week or so....but, I kind of think they just want to tell us that just in case there's the very small chance he does have it. It's pretty important to not let us get our hopes up over anything....more of a hospital liability thing going on here.)
• He didn't have as many vasospasms today. They've been keeping his BP higher on purpose to help with the vasospasms and it's working. Basically, think of his blood vessels as a garden hose. Think about what happens when that garden hose has a kink in it or has something sitting on it, the water doesn't flow as easily. So, if they increase his blood pressure, it increase the blood flow to his brain and helps the vasospasms from happening.
• The doctors started alternating his Tylenol with Motrin. This was something they hesitated about because ibuprofen is not healthy for his kidneys...but his temperature really needed to go down. They took off his cooling devices since they were giving him the chills. When we left his temperature was at a normal level (maybe slightly high...but good). If his temperature stays down, he will heal much faster.
• His chest x-ray looked better. Still has pneumonia and they are treating that...but it is improving.

News we'd like to not hear as much

• He is still very sick. :(
• They most likely will not be able put his bone flap back on. Yes, you read that correctly. That means we're probably looking at a metal plate and he's going to beep like crazy at the airport now. Since they did find something on his flap (Ahem....MRSA), they can't put that back on. Can't risk that. We're obviously just finding this info out...so there will be more details later.
• The ventilator is becoming more of an issue now. They are not designed to be in this long and so we may be looking at a tracheotomy being placed next week. Again, I am just trying to give you as much info as I can and don't have all the details yet.

Overall, today was a better day. We're more positive after seeing him and talking to his nurses today. The goal for the weekend is pretty much the same... keep him calm so he can heal. I asked the nurse if any tests were planned for tomorrow and she didn't think any except the ultrasound to detect any vasospasms.

~Betsy

Day 9 Morning Update

CT and Lung scans are done. He had them done about 1 am, since he was doing good and there wasn't much else going on at the hospital that late at night. Sounds like those came back about the same as last time...not worse. I was hoping to hear that they were a ton better.

They took the cooling system off of him because his body was getting chills and that's not good for him. The doctor was going to look into alternating between Tylenol and Motrin for his fever. The only thing is that ibuprofen is not good for his kidneys, so that's another thing they have to take into consideration.

They are doing the ultrasound scan right now to detect how his vasospasms are doing. I will update on the results of that later.

The staph/MRSA is another thing we're trying to get answers about. Hopefully he doesn't have it and it's just the bone flap that does....then there's the question of how to treat the bone flap before putting it back on.

I feel like I'm starting to sound like a broken record lately. Mom's on her way over right now with Coby and Cora. They'll be hanging at my house today with either my Aunt Pat or me...we may have to make some cookies. Yum!

~Betsy

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