By a random fluke (or God's hand!), I happened to call the ICU today while Dad's doctor was there, so I have a quick update from my phone conversation with him.
Two small pieces of (relatively) good news: Dad has been off of any kind of blood pressure meds since 2:30pm yesterday! That's definitely a first, so that's one, tiny, positive step. Secondly, the brain drain is still being left open, but the doctor said he closed it for 5 minutes or so, and the pressure stayed pretty low, at an ICP of 12. That's definitely new, too -- the last time they closed the drain his ICP shot up to 25, way above the max they've set for him of 18. So, yay! Hopefully hopefully hopefully *crosses fingers* that means the swelling in the brain is going down. And, even more importantly, hopefully his brain stem and the right hemisphere of his brain will recover from the pressure they've been under. (Oh, the pressure! ;))
Dad is still strongly pronating in response to stimuli. Again, we'd really like for him to move to more purposeful movements. Or moan. Or open his eyes. Or dilate his pupils. *sigh* Prayers are, as usual, appreciated. And maybe some prayers that both we and his doctors and nurses are appropriately patient as we wait to see how Dad will recover from his stroke. Yesterday we started telling Dad that a week of sleep was really quite enough, so we'd like for him to start coming back to us now. :)
On a related note, towards the end of the week we will have to start making some decisions about whether or not to do a tracheotomy for the ventilator, and whether or not to put a feeding tube directly into his stomach. I suspect that these might be difficult decisions for us to come to as a family, so prayers would also be appreciated for that.
That's it for now, hopefully I'll have some more information after the rest of the family sees him.
--Kristy
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5 comments:
We continue to pray for Ed and all of you. Sunday your family was added to the St. James Pres. Prayer chain. Thank you for keeping us updated.
Rick and Sandy LaBonville
We're glad to hear his brain swelling is going down. That's how his recovery starts!!!
Hi,
My mom survived a burst carotid aneurysm more than thirty years ago. The surgeon placed a clip that was not made of titanium.
About a month ago, she suffered a stroke. Because of the magnetic clip in her head, the hospital was unable to use MRI for diagnosis, and had to settle for a couple of CT scans.
A symptom of the stroke was that she had no appetite for weeks. During this time, the NG feeding tube got her medications and "eggnog" (beige eggnog?) into her tummy. On Christmas Eve, when I was out there (in California) over the holidays, she was transferred to a nearby nursing center. Two days later, she pulled out the NG tube while my dad and I were away for an hour eating lunch. Fortunately, she also started eating and taking her medications by mouth.
My wife's daughter is an MD, and almost finished serving out her three-year residency in Pueblo, CO. About 80% of her patients are elderly, and she has had a lot of success prescribing Remeron. It is an anti-depressant which also apparently stimulates the appetite. So my dad and I are asking the doctors to prescribe it or a similar anti-depressant.
Not to be long-winded or anything, but rest assured that your presence and interaction are better than medicine for Ed, just as my dad's and my family's are for my mom. He might be unable right now to show you as much reassuring awareness as you want, but of course that does not at all necessarily mean that he is unaware of you. We are praying that he will be further strengthened by your being there.
Bob and Laurie Sampson
Hi all! Isn't the body an amazing thing? The healing that must be going on in your dad's body right now---stuff we can't even see...it's astounding!
God's awesome. Thanks for the update! Hope you're feeling better, Kristy! Say hi to all for us!
Sam, Angus, Sydney, and baby
To all of you...
We're glad to hear that Ed is hanging in there...! I don't think this is the bullet with his name on it, so he'll be around for a while.
Our prayers and meditations remain with him and all of you...
Leoanrd & Sheila Jones
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