(Hopefully) Last Evening Update

I just spoke to Aunt D for an update on TJ. The news is better than earliar today.

TJ's fever is down to 101. His heart rate has also fallen to a more healthy level (healthy for the ICU, not too bad for not-ICU). The heart rate should fall as the fever does. His swelling appears to be going done a bit, which is a good sign. His sats are up, which is good.

Aunt D also said he looks restful, which is a good sign, although it may not be a good physiological sign. But, heh, we'll take it!

As always, more updates as events warrant.

Thank you for all your prayers, they are wonderful.

Another evening update

TJ is resting comfortably and his vitals are better than they were earlier (not fantastic but better) and he appears stable. it is important to continue to pray for the healing of the pneumonia.

Early Evening Update

TJ currently is resting comfortably. They have put him on another antibiotic as the pneumonia has not been responding well to the one that he is on.

His vitals are all pretty good, heart rate ok, blood pressure ok, sats (O2) lower than we would like.

It is difficult to really say how sick TJ is in a quantifiable way. We're not facing any crisis's right now, which is good. But he is still really quite sick, staying the ICU type sick, a place they don't put you for colds. We are still praying for a miracle and only breaking fast now.

Your prayers mean more than we could ever tell, and probably have done more good than we'll ever know on this side of heaven. Please continue to pray for a miraculous recovery.

Things Got Back To Where They Were An Hour Ago

Which isn't good but better than just now. So, yeah, still pretty bad.

Things Are Going Very Badly Right Now

Echo and Pulmanologist

Humor seems odd here, but seriously, am I the only person that "lung doc" or "lungiologist" makes more sense than pulmanologist.

Currently the pneumonia is the increasingly problem, it is spreading and not reacting to the current antibiotic so they are putting him on a new one.

The cardiologist thinks that the mitral valve will hold its own for the time being (anyone remember where it was on Monday? Change? Maybe? Think prayer could have something to do with it?).

So pray that the pneumonia starts reacting and retreating.

Correction On Vitals

Dr. Shari writes:

Just a couple medical comments to help clarify:

MAP is mean arterial pressure, not mean atrial pressure

Breaths per minute probably aren't being mentioned because he is on the ventilator which is controlling the rate of breathing as well as the depth (liters per minute) and percent of oxygen he is getting

Another Echo

They just did another echo on TJ. Waiting for results. Cardiologist is hanging out so hopefully we'll get them soon.

Pneumonia vs. Pulmonary Edema

By definition, pneumonia is an infection in a specified section of the lungs. Pulmonary edema is when the cells of the lungs start leaking out fluid because the lungs have way too much fluid in them.

And the plural effusion is fluid around the lungs.

Gonna be posting pretty fast here I suspect. Most of them short and sweet. If you want to know what's going on you'll probably have to go back a few posts.

Changing Beds, Vitals

They are changing TJ's bed in order to turn him better. It's now like an automatic Lay-Z-Boy. He has not tolerated being turned manually -- that is, his vitals drop for about 30 minutes afterwards -- the new bed makes it easier to turn him.

Currently his blood pressure ok, but his sats down to 85 (bad). The accumulative amount of fluid that drained since Tuesday's CT scan is somewhere around 130, far, far less than we need. If no fluid has been added, and the doctor's original estimate of fluid in the plural cavity was correct, when need about a liter more of fluid drained.

More updates as soon as I talk to MA to make sure I get the right information and can translate it into English Medicaliese.

Defining the Docs' Worst Fears

Tj is in septic shock and a primary concern here is the loss of blood pressure. During the night his blood pressure dropped below 80 several times. The doctors are very concerned with the pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs) because it can lead to respiratory failure. The situation is very critical because his system is unable to respond to what is happening to it.

Important Morning Update

The respiratory and sepsis situations are critical and call for concerted prayer today. They have also found pulmonary edema. Once again he is on 100% oxygen and his breathing has become more difficult than yesterday. He is very sick. Please fast and pray. Many of the docs worst fears are developing.
MA