End of Year 2009

Brian opened his eyes once this morning while I was there.

I talked with his nurse who was a very sympathetic fellow who expressed the opinion that Brian is less responsive to the staff as time goes by. He was very verbal about the importance at this time in Brian's development that he have visitors that he knows. This will generate regeneration and motivation on Brian's part. As the photo indicates, you need to pretty well get covered to have access. His photo is not flattering but should stimulate us to prayer and hopefully we will see him sitting up and mending soon.

Transfusion

Jennifer got a call this morning to get her consent to give Brian blood. Evidently his blood count was low. Then she got a call from Alaska Regional where they had transported Brian and wanted permission to do a CT scan. He was showing signs of seizure and they didn't know why. He is back at St Elias now and evidently doing better but the results of the CT are not known.

ICU

Brian remains in ICU even though his infections are gone and he doesn't need oxygen. Staff says they are just waiting for an ordinary room to open up so they can move him. Jennifer says that Brian knows when they are there. His heart rate drops immediately and he will stroke their hands with his right hand. She says that when they leave his heart rate goes right back up.

A Better Day Coming

My visit this morning coincided with the nurse giving him his daily shots. She said that Brian is totally off antibiotics now. His respiratory therapist showed up also and says Brian is completely off oxygen with only room air with a little humidity going through the tube. He has a good cough and is able to clear his airways well so may get that blue tube and opening in his throat closed up before long. He opens his eyes when others are in the room but is otherwise unresponsive. I did take it on myself to turn off the hard rock that was playing on his radio and get a hymns CD playing before I left. The lovely sunrise the other morning was a reminder to us all that whether in this life or in the next- the best is yet to come.

Another ER Visit

At yesterday's visit the nurse informed me that Brian had been at the ER at Alaska Regional for a while on Monday to control bleeding around his foley.