Day Eight Part Two

5:18

We just finished our second visit for the day. It wasn't as good as we had hoped for. They did an ultra sound on this legs this morning and he does have quite a few blood clots in his legs. They did a CT scan and praise the Lord still no brain injury. They are concerned about his conversation. He is still very, very confused. They say that it could be blood clots in his lungs that is causing the confusion. Also he is having some trouble with his kidneys. He is not in renal failure but he does need more fluids than he is getting. This too could be because of blood clots. The are taking him down to have the filter put in his heart sometime this evening. He is running a fever of 103.6 (at the highest). It varies by .1. We've come a long way. We still have a long way to go! Please just keep praying!

Day Eight

12:00 Noon

Wow! What a morning! I think I am more wore out today than the 11 hours of waiting for surgery yesterday. I arrived at the hospital at 9:00 this morning to see Don awake and with no tubes. The nurses informed me that he had pulled all of his tubes out and that he had to be restrained. He is very, very, very confused. He thinks he was moved to Atlanta for surgery and then to Burlington, NC to a motel. I could go on and on but the jest is he just can't conceive what happened to him yesterday and what is going on today. He begged me & his mother not to leave him because the doctors and nurses were trying to kill him. He whispered things to us as if he was afraid someone would overhear him. He was asking me "secret code" type questions as if he had to prove that it was really me. They tried to put the stomach tube back through his nose but he refused to breath so they would have to stop. They are somewhat concerned about his confusion and want him to have a CT scan. I really hope that is just the anesthesia since he was under so long yesterday. They will have to put the stomach tube back down sometime to see if he has sometime of blockage or not. Please just keep praying!!! I won't be able to see him again until 3:00 this afternoon Please just pray that he rests and that God clears his mind.

PS one of the first things Don said to me this morning was "OK I'm not hurting so I want to go home." Good to know that he doesn't have pain to go along with all of this.

Day Seven Part Five

12:58 AM

I wanted to update you all on Don's condition after the surgery was complete. He was placed in STICU (surgery trauma intensive care unit). I could not stay with him long but was able to go in and hold his hand and sit with him a while. His blood pressure was great. His heart rate a little high but not too high. He was breathing on his own and the ventilator was helping to expand his lungs. However, he did look very pitiful with all those tubes and wires attached to him. He still has the tube in to his stomach too. The nurse and trauma doctor both said he was doing fine and that he should be able to come off the ventilator tomorrow and that hopefully he would be in a regular room by tomorrow night. Please pray regarding the pnemonia. It would be another cog in the wheel for him if he does have it. When I left him at 10:00PM, he was resting well and the nurse assured us that as of then he should be able to go back to a regular room sometime tomorrow. Just keep praying! The real work begins now and you know if it can be done Don will accomplish it someway. Just pray that he doesn't get discouraged and/or depressed. He requires a lot of himself so he won't give up! But he does need to have a positive outlook no matter what limitations he may have. Just keep praying!