Final Evening Post; Prayer Requests

At least I hope that it is. TJ's brother D (also going by initials for security reasons, and I don't know his middle name) is spending the night and keeping us updated.

As I left all the vitals were good, even the blood pressure had gone back up to an "ok for the ICU" level.

Prayer Requests
That we, the family, would be able to get some rest. We never seem to know when we are going to need extra.
That TJ's heart would miraculously heal.
Praying and declaring Psalm 16, Psalm 40, and Psalm 61:1-8
For Rose, and her family, we tread similar waters.

Good night to those who are off to bed and good morning to those who are waking. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragements,

-Jon for the rest of the family

Lisa, er, Rose

My uncle D writes to say that:

Jon, things are looking better for the gal in the next room. Her name is actually Rose - one of the other gals is Lisa, and when you asked what her name was they thought you were referring to Lisa. Anyway, Rose has been stabilized and has awakened. The family remains gathered and I just had a chance to speak with them to say we are praying for Rose and for them. They are greatly encouraged.

It's hard to watch something like that go down without praying for them, especially considering our own situation. Even if this isn't Reach Rose...

Swan Line In

The anesthesiologist was able to get the line in, apparently those guys have more experience in this area.

Before I go to bed I'll publish our most recent prayer requests.

Catheter Trouble

They are having difficulty getting the catheter (aka a swan line in) so you can pray that they are able to get it in.

Right as I was leaving the lady in the room next to TJ, Lisa, went into cardiac arrest. We got out of the way as quick as we could, but please also pray for her and her family.

BP Update

The cardiovascular surgeon and the cardiologist just looked at TJ regarding his low blood pressure. Neither of them of too worried about it. They are placing a catheter into the sub-clavian (basically the return pipe of blood to the heart) so they can directly measure the pressures and activities on the right aterium side of the heart. This is in realtime as opposed to a cuff that previously was set to inflate every 15 minutes or so.

We also just learned that an echo earliar in the day showed the ''mitral valve has integrity but is still leaking,'' (yesterday it was leaking 'torrentially' in the words of the cardiologist) and the aortic valve is functioning well.

Sweet.

Preliminary Results of CT

The radiologist hasn't dictated the results yet so we don't know everything from the CT scan. The nurse I spoke did say that almost no fluid drained when they put in the new chest tub (the drainage containd showed 45 cc's last I saw -- not much) and the CT scan showed some pockets of fluid. I forget the medical term for it, but that is the English translation. This was expected.

We just went out for dinner, as we left TJ's blood pressure was pretty low but they thought it was unrelated to the valve or any other potential heart problem. The rest of his vitals were pretty good.

I'll update again when we return if there is anything new. For now, thank you all for your continued prayers.

~The Addingtons

CT Done, Chest Tube Reposistioned

The CT was just completed, not a lot of details back yet (specifically, how much fluid is in the plural cavity), but they are repositioning the chest tube, straightening it out and pushing it further back towards the fluid.

Technically they are replacing the tube, but my understanding (i.e., this is what the radiologist nurse just said) is that this is simply for sterile reasons.

I'll update when the doctor hunts me down (Mary Ann is getting some rest, so it's up to me to track these things for the moment.)

CT Scan, Stomach X-Ray

TJ just had a stomach x-ray to make sure the feeding tube they put down (sorry, I forgot to post that part) went in right so they can begin feeding him through (instead of the IV).

He is going in for another CT shortly for the reason mentioned before: see where the plural effusion is and try to drain it.

Extubatian Delayed; Current Overview

The extubatian has been delayed until the cardiovascular (CV) surgeon takes a look at TJ's heart and forms an opinion on how immediate heart surgery would have to be done. As previously noted, TJ's current condition (being infected with MRSA) makes him a very poor candidate for surgery. As also noted, we are also praying for a miraculous healing of his heart.

An angiogram will probably also be performed to assess whether there are any other heart conditions that can either be fixed at the same surgery, or can be corrected without surgery giving us more time before surgery would have to be performed.

The doctor who briefed us this morning ("us" now meaning Chip, Jon, Mary Ann, TJ's Parents, two of TJ's brothers, and some very close family friends) said that TJ's lungs have improved substantially since Friday/Saturday. He also said that today's blood culture was negative.

TJ has also been scheduled for another CT scan this afternoon to get another look at the plural effusion, and then to drain it some more. There is still a large amount of fluid in the plural cavity, I believe that the CT scan is just to help quantify how much. But don't quote me on that.

Beyond that the working plan is to keep TJ on antibiotics for the next seven to ten days before performing any heart surgery (that we don't want to happen) and four to five days of negative blood cultures.

The doctor ended with, "keep up your prayers." The two most recent and specific posts regarding prayers over TJ are here and here.

Extubatian

The doctors are planning on extubating TJ this morning, that is, waking him him from the induced coma and taking him off the vent. They start by slowly unsedating him and watching his vitals, which they have already began to do. He could be extubated as soon as 10:30.

Apparently he had a really good, calm night as well. Details will be posted as soon as they come through.