A Fever, a Filter, and a Brace

October 31, 2008

Jon's been  busy the last few days. He's been fighting a respiratory infection with his temperature ranging from 101 to 104. It finally stayed at normal for the whole day today. Cooling blankets and tylenol were added to antibiotics to do the trick.

Another concern for patients like Jon is the formation of blood clots. He had a filter inserted into the inferior vena cava which is a large vein about the same size as a quarter. To get a look at the filter check out the Wikipedia article at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IVC_filters. This is a precautionary measure as I don't believe there have been any clots so far.

He also had another deep cleaning of the lungs (a bronchoscopy) which has done a super job. His breathing was much smoother and at a slower rate when I left him earlier this evening. This is good news...especially combined with the fever coming  down.

The long awaited brace came and needed several adjustments. They lined it with something akin to lamb's wool and then made some kind of covering for his body of T-shirt type material. This was the second brace and the second company they used but everyone finally seems happy. A high backed chair was beside his bed this evening so I think I can safely assume that he was out of bed at least once today...in addition to his travels for the filter and cleaning of the lungs.

I think the next step is another attempt to ween him off the respirator.

Thank you for your prayers, cards and visits. They are all very much appreciated. 

Another Update

Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Jon has had a busy day so far. His lungs were aspirated to get fluid and phlegm out and a sample was sent to the lab for any infection since yesterday his temperature was 100.5; however, it is back to normal today. His feeding tube was moved so that it goes directly into the stomach instead of a tube down through the nasal passages. He is also getting a 20 minute percussion treatment every few hours (2 or 4) which help get the phlegm moving upward. His whole bed shakes reminding me of the paint shakers at the store--slower though. He is also getting a treatment to help develop muscle tone so he can hold his breath longer instead of taking such quick jagged breaths.

This afternoon they will try to put the back brace on again. The first brace could not be fastened to the halo for his neck so they had to go with a different company. They came and measured him this morning and hope to have it for this afternoon. If it works they will try to put him in a sitting position and see how long he can sit. That will also help with his breathing. He will be one whipped puppy tonight!

Thanks for all your prayers and concerns.

Update

As of yesterday, Jon was told that even though he could not talk--due to the tracheotomy--he could communicate by mouthing words. His first words: "Take this off" referring to all the stuff he has to wear and put up with. The nurse sympathetically replied that she couldn't do that and was there anything else she could do. He immediately replied, "Take this off!" probably with as much feeling as you can get without benefit of sound. Her reply was the same as before. I think there was one more round before the nurse gave up questioning him

He is having some problems with the respirator. They tried to take him off the oxygen to see if he could breathe completely on his own and gave up. In fact, they went from administering one breath a minute to 6 breaths a minute. The turtle shell brace came without the proper rigging to be attached to head gear so that will be reserved for another day.

There is still no sign of swelling of the brain and the nurse reports that they give him a neurological assessment every 2 hours.

With the accident being so close to the week-end he has had a lot of visitors. If you are visiting Jon please be sure to sign the guest book we have for him and leave a message. One of us will read these messages and any cards he gets to him every day.

Many thanks for all your calls and volunteering to help when needed.

Everything Changes

On October 23, 2008 Jon was involved in a motorcycle accident that left him seriously injured and with major mountains to overcome. He has suffered two fractured cervical vertebrae (C1, C6), four thoracic vertebrae suffered burst fractures, two right and one left rib fractures. He suffered very little external damage, save for a few scrapes and bruises to the head. He is currently experiencing paralysis and is on a ventilator which supplies six breaths per minute. He is wearing a halo and had to have a tracheotomy. There is not much to do but hurry up and wait, praying for the best. As Jon, our family, and friends continue down this long path, the continued prayer, love, and support given by all is deeply appreciated.

First 2 E-Mails Sent

Thursday October 23, 2008

Jon had an accident with his motorcycle earlier this afternoon. He ran into an utility pole. He was life-flighted to Fort Wayne Parkview Hospital. He has bruises and scrapes on his forehead--that's all we can see of his face at the moment--but has no swelling of the brain, so far. That could still develop sometime in the next 48 hours. (He is on a ventilator which explains why we can't see the rest of his face.) He has two fractured vertebrae in the neck area, C1 and C6 which will necessitate a halo which they will probably put on sometime tomorrow. The top two ribs on the right side are fractured and the first one on the left side is fractured but there was no puncturing of the lung. The really serious problem was the fracturing of L 4,5,6,8 vertebrae and probably L7. These affect his walking and they do not give much hope of his being able to walk again. At the moment he is heavily sedated, his blood pressure was down so he is on medication to raise it and his temperature is below normal so they have a special warming blanket on him. He is in and out of consciousness so it is difficult to talk with him. They will do more checking on the lumbar vertebrae when his blood pressure is more stabilized. He will no doubt be wearing some kind of brace for his back. He will probably be in the hospital a good 3 weeks but we're not sure. He is in an ICU unit and probably will be for several days, maybe a week.???

Parkview Hospital
220 Randallia Dr.
Fort Wayne, IN 46805
ICU 1124

Wish us well--

Friday, October 24, 2008

Correction: The vertebrae that are fractured are the Cervical 1, Cervical 6 and the Thoracic 4,5,6,8 (T).

Jon continues to make progress. When we first saw him on Thursday, he had a mask over his mouth and nose with what looked like 3 tubes going down his throat. The next morning, the mask was gone but the 3 tubes were there. Yesterday afternoon he had a trach inserted so he would be more comfortable. With the trach his mouth is free of all tubes. When we left tonight the nurse told us that he was breathing almost entirely on his own. Once a minute he would get air from the ventilator. Tomorrow they are going to remove the tube from the trach and replace it with a mask of sorts and blow oxygen over it for him to breathe. The ultimate goal is to have him breathing entirely on his own. Tomorrow the brace should be ready to be put on him. Once the brace is on, they will sit him up in a chair!!!

When asked if he was heavily sedated, the nurse replied that he was being kept comfortable but was not heavily sedated. He gets morphine every two hours. He was pretty heavily sedated for the halo and trach and some of it may still be in his system. He apparently is just resting. The monitors went off 2 times while we were there today and both times his eyes flew open and his eyes darted from side to side to figure out what was going on. Other than that his eyes are usually closed. He will occasionally open them to acknowledge when someone first starts talking to him.

We picked up the motorcycle from impound and there was not as much damage as we anticipated. The helmet was with the bike and from the scrape marks on it, it appears that Jon was wearing it after all!! The bike has grass in the windshield as well as in the tail pipes and so it looks like the bike flipped. We are not sure if Jon was thrown from it before it flipped or not.