The "Real" Evening Update

This has been a rather mixed day. TJ slept well much of the night except when his sats and blood pressure dropped. The staff suctioned him, got a lot of thick junk out, put him back on oxygen and he rebounded. He has needed to remain on oxygen all day rather than room air which he has been on the last three days. His white count is up to 13,300 from 8,500 (which possibly indicates a new infection, 8,500 is a good number, 13,300 is not bad, but going up is not necessarily good). Chest X-Ray is essentially unchanged.

I got to the hospital around 11 am and he looked like he was breathing harder but was awake and alert until I left around 5 pm. He is moving everything more, and tried to whisper a couple answers to questions.

Around 2 pm he rather suddenly started to breath at about twice the rate he had been and indicated that he had some right sided chest pain. His pulse has been over 100 all day up from the 70's and 80's yesterday. The pulmonologist was still on the unit and came in and checked him right away. By then the pain had faded. To be thorough he ordered a 12 lead EKG which showed "subtle, but not necessarily bad" changes from the previous 12 lead. (He is continually monitored with a 3 lead EKG).

They also drew cardiac enzymes which were normal (elevated would indicate heart muscle damage) and will do another EKG tonight and in the morning. There are many possible explanations to the pulse, respirations, and sat changes today from rather benign to having to compensate for a serious medical issue like a secondary infection or returning congestive heart failure. No one is jumping to any conclusions and they will keep in the the ICU for the time being to keep a close eye on things.

The pulmonologist would like to get more aggressive about getting him up in a chair (probably using a lift) to help clear secretions, but they won't do this until his breathing slows down.

Prayer requests would be:

• That everything gets "back on track" quickly. The internist told him that he is not following the script for the New Year.
• For complete healing of the mitral valve.
• For the health of Chip, Jon, and me. Chip has a cold and bad sore throat, Jon is super tired, and I feel like I am getting what Chip has.

Thank you so much for continuing to do battle on TJ's behalf!

Happy New Year and much gratitude,

Mary Ann

Explaining "Contradicting" TEEs

For those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile now (we are on day 28 of being in the ICU, day 27 of the blog), you know there have been multiple TEEs done, three so far. The first showed TJ's mitral valve as regurgitating (leaking) "dramatically," and "torrentially," doctors words. The second showed only a moderate leak, the third was initially inconclusive. During this whole time we have been asking people to pray for a miraculous healing of TJ's heart.

However, needless to say, with each TEE showing something different and each cardiologist having their own opinion things were starting to get confusing. A friend who happens to be a cardiologist offered his services to our family however we needed them, and helped explain:

Depending where in the time course of the infection you are, and how the healing or damage is being repaired, all of the things you were told could be going on. It is kind of like watching a house being constructed with one picture describing the concrete foundation, another the wood framing, another the roof and another the walls and interior structures, depending upon when the pictures were taken.

He also noted, "Many people walk around play tennis and have a normal life with mild to moderate leaking of their mitral valve..." Finally, the second TEE was done more quickly due to TJ's condition.

The current consensus of the cardiologists is that TJ does need his mitral valve replaced, possible before coming home. We aren't changing our prayer request, but thought that it would be good to share the current medical opinion with you all, and the explanation for the different TEE results.

Evening Update

This isn't it. It will be whenever Mary Ann returns from the hospital and eats, etc.

December 13th, Visits, and Septic Shock

On the post, Genesis of a Blog, I noted that December 13th had a huge leap in the number of visitors and visits.* After a couple of theories I got an email from Mrs. V in which she said:

Been reading all the stuff you wrote today. December 13th must have been a critical day in your dad's physical and spiritual warfare. I know that afternoon was when you almost lost him. I believe God was prompting/compelling people by His Holy Spirit on Tim's behalf especially that day. Personally, that morning I saw the words "septic shock" and went to my knees in tears for God to spare Tim's life (if you don't remember, I have some medical background, being a dietitian)... (emphasis added)

I looked back to that date and sure enough, TJ did go into septic shock. With all the things that have happened I forgot that was one of them. Moreover, he was having blood pressure problems and pulmonary edema. The mortality rate for septic shock is about 50%. So lacking a better theory, that was probably it. I'm not sure that we realized how close he was to the other side that day -- so much had already happened. Thanks Mrs. V!

P.S. An actual update is below this post.

*A visitor is not the same thing as a visit (aka a hit). One person may visit multiple times, both had a huge jump that day.

Afternoon Update

Sorry this is kind of late coming. With what Mary Ann called a "blip" during the night TJ's blood pressure and sats went down. They corrected that, including putting him back on oxygen and suctioning crud out of his mouth, but it does mean another day in the ICU, which brings up another point. His white count is up a little bit too.

Nothing in the medical field is ever certain until it happens. So the doctors may very well plan to take TJ out of the ICU at such and such a time, but there is never a guarantee of results until it has happened.

Finally, TJ is continuing to become more alert and tracking with conversations. I'm hoping we have hit, or have almost hit, the real turning point on that end of things, where conditions improve quickly, but we'll see.