7/14/09 – 10:30 a.m. – Update from Sue

The results of the CT scan yesterday showed some subtle spreading of the virus in Dad’s brain into the left temporal and frontal lobes, which may explain his slow progress the past few days. His white blood cell count is also up. We are expecting the results of the lumbar tap later today.

The tracheostomy last night was successful and it’s good to see that breathing tube out of Dad’s mouth and throat. He is still on the ventilator (through the trach tube), but is again breathing mostly on his own. As soon as Dad’s strength improves, they will remove the ventilator. (One of the advantages of the tracheostomy is that if he has difficulty breathing on his own again, it’s a simple matter of hooking the ventilator back up to the trach tube, rather than intubating him again.)

Dad is relatively stable and since he’s also breathing pretty-well on his own again, they are planning to move him out of intensive care into intermediate care as soon as a bed opens up on that floor. The primary goal now is to work on his strength and also pray that the virus stops spreading. (They are still treating him with the meds to slow down that virus, but it doesn’t seem to be working as well as we would like, so prayer may be a better antidote.)

Dad’s a fighter and he hates being sick (well, most of the time), so we know he is trying his hardest to get better. The reason I say “most of the time” is because when Dad was about 11 years old he was practicing and preparing for the Spring Dance program at Quincy Elementary School and not liking it very much. About a week before the program he got the chicken pox, but readily admits he wasn’t very sick. He said, “I remember sitting on my front porch and watching my friends put on that dance program. I was glad to have the chicken pox.”

I’m sure he’d rather be dancing right now.