The Latest Update...

Dad has the most amazing 7p-7a nurse tonight.  Period.  Hands down.  She is precious, wonderful and a wealth of information-which as promised I will deliver to you here. ;)

He is still in ICU.  Did I mention he has a precious, wonderful, fabulous nurse this evening?  I nominate her for "Nurse of the Year."

Good news: His platelet count, which was very low previously, has stabilized.  His spleen has stabilized and he doesn't have any surgeries in the immediate future.  This means: Hooray! Bring on the Lovenox!  While the addition of Lovenox may not sound like great news, it is essential to prevent the formation of a clot-which could completely derail this recovery process.  The fact that his blood counts and internal injuries have stabilized enough that they are able to start the Lovenox is great news.

I mentioned to you earlier that his lungs are "badly bruised."  For those of you interested in playing medical term jeopardy some day, the technical term is "pulmonary contusion."  Imagine a balloon that you've wrapped tightly in string.  When you attempt to inflate the balloon, it just doesn't inflate because it's covered in string.  Pulmonary contusions act as this "string" on the balloon, except in the lung.  The lung is unable to expand properly, which if left untreated, results in a build up of fibrotic tissues in the alveoli.  Translation: pneumonia and intubation.  His lungs were already beginning to sound "junky" yesterday.  He is receiving breathing treatments with an EzPap machine, which will force his lungs to expand and recover.  His lungs have already improved from yesterday and are beginning to sound more clear.  They have been able to reduce his oxygen levels from 5L to 3L.  He does still have some low oxygen levels at times, but this is most likely due to his jaw being wired shut in the back.

They have changed the dressings from his pelvic surgery.  His incisions as well as the insertion sites (where the "Ex/Fix" is inserted) have very little drainage, no significant redness or swelling.  (Ex/Fix=External Fixation Device)

The Ex/Fix is causing him quite a bit of pain.  Many of the positions he must lay in cause the Ex/Fix to lay against some nerves, which as you can imagine, is very uncomfortable.  He has started on Neurontin to combat this nerve pain.

Physical Therapy came by today to assess him and begin working with him.  They were able to get him 'up' on the side of the bed for 17 minutes.  The Ex/Fix makes it extremely difficult to sit because of where it is positioned and again, it touches against the nerves.

Because he is unable to move his pelvis, and there are very few positions he is able to lay in, he is at a very high risk of developing a decubitus ulcer.  Translation: Bed Sore.  Translation: BAD.  They are "turning" him every 2 hours as much as they can to prevent this.

His evening nurse changed his pain medication.  Apparently, he was not wanting to take his pain medicine because A)it was a liquid form and tasted bad and B) he was trying to stay awake.  His new medication is in a more desirable tablet form and is better for bone and muscle pain.  His evening nurse has him resting very comfortably now and out of pain.  Did I mention I think she should be "Nurse of the Year?"  Mom agrees.

There is still a very long and difficult road of recovery ahead.   We are so grateful for each and every small step of progress.  Thank you to all of you who have come by the hospital, called, emailed, texted and most of all, prayed for his recovery.  We love you all!

More to come later,
Dan's Dozen