Where we've been

Hello from the rainy south,

The past few days have been about the same. Daddy is still in critical condition. The change to Versed for sedation is working well. His blood pressure and heart rate still have a mind of their own. He continues to have fever and we don't know why. The blood cultures from Sunday night still have not grown anything and new blood was drawn today for more cultures to see if there is anything there now. Another antibiotic, Bactrim, has been added as there is a new organism growing on the sputum culture. The infection at the incision site is looking better I am told. Gonna get a look for myself when Alex changes the dressing and packing later today.

We had a long talk with Dr C (critical care) last night. He says daddy has only improved about 10%. Before he can remove the respirator, he has to be fever free, the pneumonia has to be gone, stable heart rate and BP, and able to respond to verbal commands. He is not considering a tracheotomy at this time because daddy is too sick. Dr C is still thinking about a bronchoscopy to clean the lungs out but no definite decision yet. His chest x-ray today shows one lung is completely clear with some clearing at the very bottom on the other. 

As for the colon cancer, Dr Patel, oncologist, says daddy will need to have more chemotherapy but will have to wait until we get through all the current problems before he can determine if he is strong enough to go through it again.

I am a firm believer in trends (thanks Dr Silverboard). Daddy is 10% better, 1 lung is clear and there is some clearing in the other, his blood sugar is normal more often that not, and there is not constant adjusting of meds for heart rate and BP. 

We are blessed to have Alex as our nurse again today. He spent the first few hours this morning tweaking things. Daddy seems to be resting more comfortably and his breathing not as hard. 

And as before, please continue to pray for: the fever to go away completely, lungs to heal, heart rate and BP to remain stable, and infections to be cleared. Thank you all very much for your continued prays during this difficult time. God bless you.

Praying with you.