Update and Q & A

TJ is about the same as yesterday, doing a little bit better, he is still not responding to doctor's commands ("squeeze my hand," "wiggle your toes") but will for the family occasionally.

He is coughing less, in a good way, he has managed to get some stuff out of his lungs. His vitals are all good, although he still running a fever of over 100 and has been put back on the cooling blanket for that.

He is on to one liter of O2, which is good, and the PT came in a for a little while today, and TJ was able to support himself for a short time. This was encouraging, the PT didn't think he'd be able to at all after being in bed for that long. The PT's expectations do help illustrate the point that this will be a long recovery however.

Finally, he does appear to be aware enough to watch and udnerstand the news. We had CNN on for awhile earlier today and he soberly nodded at the story of Benazir Bhutto's assassination.

So aside from the question below, that is all the news we have for today.

Jay Emails:

Hi Jon. Hope your finals are done and you can rest up after a grueling period with TJ’s hospitalization and your exam period coinciding. May God restore your energy. I was hoping you all could just give us a bit more info as to the clots: ballooning in the arm gone down? Any word on the effectiveness of the heparin? Any more info concerning additional clots or if any have already gone away? Thanks so much for the blog and the updates to this point. May God bless you.

We haven't heard much on the clot. Just doing the math of how big is has to be gives us an idea that it is quite large, even without the doctors saying as much.

Some of the factors that can cause a blood clots include staying a single positions for long period of timing (both traveling and staying in bed for over three weeks), sepsis, and catheters (or swan lines) into the veins, of which TJ had a couple of big ones. So the doctors were not surprised or seemingly worried about it at this point. After the the clot has had a chance to adhere to the vein wall it is unlikely that it will break apart. TJ will be on blood thinners for about six months.

That is all the info we have, the swelling has come down but is still noticeable. If we remember to ask, we'll probably get a clearer picture of it after it is all done and gone. If you have more questions, feel free to ask a follow up, or even something entirely unrelated.