Not much else to say, the man must really be tired! Mostly sleepy at tonights visit. Sleep is probably best for both of us tonight. He is scheduled for a CT scan early tomorrow morning.
Sweet Dreams,
Felisha
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Good Afternoon,
Well, you know who is still sleeping. Mom and Amber and I tried to wake him up, but he just wasn't having it. Sleepyhead. But after Lupe and Quetta came in and we started joking around some, he woke up enough to see who was here, yawn a few times, and then back to sleep. He recognized Lupe, but I'm not real sure if he got awake enough to see Mom. Thanks to everyone for the visits. It really helps alot.
Other than the visitors, there isn't much to report. Temperature is at 99. Guy Clark is keeping him company. The nurse says he ocassionally opens his eyes and looks around and goes right back to sleep. TYPICAL RANDY! (ha-ha)
Hugs and kisses to Adrian, the almost one year old grandson. Granny-Jo sure does miss you! Hope to spend your birthday with you!
Will report again after tonights visit--If Google will let me!
Felisha
Well, you know who is still sleeping. Mom and Amber and I tried to wake him up, but he just wasn't having it. Sleepyhead. But after Lupe and Quetta came in and we started joking around some, he woke up enough to see who was here, yawn a few times, and then back to sleep. He recognized Lupe, but I'm not real sure if he got awake enough to see Mom. Thanks to everyone for the visits. It really helps alot.
Other than the visitors, there isn't much to report. Temperature is at 99. Guy Clark is keeping him company. The nurse says he ocassionally opens his eyes and looks around and goes right back to sleep. TYPICAL RANDY! (ha-ha)
Hugs and kisses to Adrian, the almost one year old grandson. Granny-Jo sure does miss you! Hope to spend your birthday with you!
Will report again after tonights visit--If Google will let me!
Felisha
Sorry for the delay in posting this morning. Evidently Google has had some technical difficulties, and would not let me post.
Not much news here! Randy is sleeping. We know he likes to sleep. Sleep is good for healing, and besides that, I am sure he is miserable when he is awake. He looked rather uncomfortable, and they still have one of his hands restrained. I changed his CD, and talked to him for a few minutes, but he just couldn't stay awake. He seemed to understand me, but was just real tired. Other than that things are just the same. No temperature.
I talked to Paul Goad last night. He is probably coming over tomorrow, Sunday. We will be reviewing some of the details on the Benefit Concerts. So far, it sounds like we will be having a terriffic turnout, so stay tuned to the blog for more details!
For those following Jessica's story: I saw her and her mom this morning at the elevators. She has a DayPass and they were headed for the mall! Continued prayers for her speedy recovery.
Not much news here! Randy is sleeping. We know he likes to sleep. Sleep is good for healing, and besides that, I am sure he is miserable when he is awake. He looked rather uncomfortable, and they still have one of his hands restrained. I changed his CD, and talked to him for a few minutes, but he just couldn't stay awake. He seemed to understand me, but was just real tired. Other than that things are just the same. No temperature.
I talked to Paul Goad last night. He is probably coming over tomorrow, Sunday. We will be reviewing some of the details on the Benefit Concerts. So far, it sounds like we will be having a terriffic turnout, so stay tuned to the blog for more details!
For those following Jessica's story: I saw her and her mom this morning at the elevators. She has a DayPass and they were headed for the mall! Continued prayers for her speedy recovery.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Afternoon all,
Just a quick note to let you know that Randy was doing VERY well at the last visit. He was even more coherent than at anytime before. Had a nice long visit with him. He understood almost everything I was telling him, from visiting hours to Guy Clark and from "the doctors say you're getting better" to "I love you". He was able to close his eyes when he understood, and frown with his eyes when he didn't. At one point he started crying. But we soothed him, and told him not to worry. That's MY job. His job is to get well. We had an AWESOME visit! Two of his doctors came in during the visit. The first doctor, Dr. Smith, said he just wasn't comfortable with this mornings surgery, and that he just decided to stop "feeling in the dark" and wait until Monday when he could use the computer to guide him. I trust this decision. He seemed somewhat impressed with his progression. The second doctor, his infectious disease doctor, was even more impressed and optimistic. He gave Randy two thumbs up! OVERALL: TODAY WAS A GREAT DAY...SO FAR!!! Can't wait for tonights visit.
Thanks to all for the support and prayers.
Love,
Felisha
Just a quick note to let you know that Randy was doing VERY well at the last visit. He was even more coherent than at anytime before. Had a nice long visit with him. He understood almost everything I was telling him, from visiting hours to Guy Clark and from "the doctors say you're getting better" to "I love you". He was able to close his eyes when he understood, and frown with his eyes when he didn't. At one point he started crying. But we soothed him, and told him not to worry. That's MY job. His job is to get well. We had an AWESOME visit! Two of his doctors came in during the visit. The first doctor, Dr. Smith, said he just wasn't comfortable with this mornings surgery, and that he just decided to stop "feeling in the dark" and wait until Monday when he could use the computer to guide him. I trust this decision. He seemed somewhat impressed with his progression. The second doctor, his infectious disease doctor, was even more impressed and optimistic. He gave Randy two thumbs up! OVERALL: TODAY WAS A GREAT DAY...SO FAR!!! Can't wait for tonights visit.
Thanks to all for the support and prayers.
Love,
Felisha
Randy is back from his shunt surgery. It was not successful. I didn't get to speak with the doctor afterwards, but the nurse said that Randy's ventricle was too small to insert the tube without the aid of a computer. They have re-scheduled a second attempt on Monday when they will use a computer to help guide the tube. When I left his room, he was doing all right, opening his eyes a little, but mostly still sleeping, calmly. Better luck Monday we hope. Not much else to report at this time.
Love to all,
Felisha
Love to all,
Felisha
Morning,
For those of you that are awake this early, just wanted to drop you another line to ask for your continued prayers. They are doing the shunt procedure this morning around 10:00 or 10:30, TX time. This should take approximately 30-45 minutes. Dr. Smith seemed to think all will go well.
I asked Dr. Smith this morning some questions regarding his long-term rehab that he had mentioned to me one day last week. He says that unfortunately, we are without resources, so the rehab he wanted to send us to would not be made available to us. He said he would check into some nursing facilities in the surrounding area, and see if there is something available, perhaps something close to home, if possible.
I asked him about when he thought we might move his feeding tube from his nose to his stomach, and he said that would be done in a week or so, depending on how quickly he heals from the shunt surgery. I also asked about when we thought we would be replacing his bone flaps. He again said we would have to see how well his shunt works, and make sure all of the spinal fluids are draining properly.
For some more optimistic news: When I went in to see Randy this morning, he was glad to see me, and was moving BOTH arms, and not just a little bit. He was looking at me as though he was pleading for answers, or that he was confused and afraid, and very agitated about something. I tried to calm him to no avail, and had to physically hold his arms and shoulders to allow the nurse to give him a shot of morphine. He has shown a tremendous change in the amount of movement since last night. No doubt they will be restraining his arms when he recovers from the shunt surgery, because he was all over the bed, lifting not only his hands and arms, but also his shoulders. We all know Randy is a strong person, I only wish I could ease his fears. One one hand, the Dr. seemed very pleased with this obvious change, but on the other hand he tried not to let me get my hopes too high, telling me that this could go on for a very long time. It is sometimes hard to interpret his forcast for the future. I suppose this is because each case is so different. Some people bounce right back, others take much longer, if at all.
Again, if I could ask of you to please continue with your prayers, I would be greatful. I will post more as soon as I know more.
Love,
Felisha
For those of you that are awake this early, just wanted to drop you another line to ask for your continued prayers. They are doing the shunt procedure this morning around 10:00 or 10:30, TX time. This should take approximately 30-45 minutes. Dr. Smith seemed to think all will go well.
I asked Dr. Smith this morning some questions regarding his long-term rehab that he had mentioned to me one day last week. He says that unfortunately, we are without resources, so the rehab he wanted to send us to would not be made available to us. He said he would check into some nursing facilities in the surrounding area, and see if there is something available, perhaps something close to home, if possible.
I asked him about when he thought we might move his feeding tube from his nose to his stomach, and he said that would be done in a week or so, depending on how quickly he heals from the shunt surgery. I also asked about when we thought we would be replacing his bone flaps. He again said we would have to see how well his shunt works, and make sure all of the spinal fluids are draining properly.
For some more optimistic news: When I went in to see Randy this morning, he was glad to see me, and was moving BOTH arms, and not just a little bit. He was looking at me as though he was pleading for answers, or that he was confused and afraid, and very agitated about something. I tried to calm him to no avail, and had to physically hold his arms and shoulders to allow the nurse to give him a shot of morphine. He has shown a tremendous change in the amount of movement since last night. No doubt they will be restraining his arms when he recovers from the shunt surgery, because he was all over the bed, lifting not only his hands and arms, but also his shoulders. We all know Randy is a strong person, I only wish I could ease his fears. One one hand, the Dr. seemed very pleased with this obvious change, but on the other hand he tried not to let me get my hopes too high, telling me that this could go on for a very long time. It is sometimes hard to interpret his forcast for the future. I suppose this is because each case is so different. Some people bounce right back, others take much longer, if at all.
Again, if I could ask of you to please continue with your prayers, I would be greatful. I will post more as soon as I know more.
Love,
Felisha
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Evening all,
Sorry we are late with this post. We have been experiencing technical difficulties trying to get my sound card operating, so we can burn some CD's for Randy to listen to. I think we have it going for now. I can tell by the number of phone calls, that one blog a day is just not enough for you guys! OK, so here's the latest:
We had a really great day. He was sleepy and distant this morning, but by this afternoon, he was much more awake, and somewhat alert. By evening, he was less awake, but when he was awake, he was even more alert! He is moving both hands today, as well as both feet. Not a large range of movement, but more than just squeezing. He sometimes seems frustrated, and other times seems calm and coherent. They seem to think this is mostly due to the meds, and the location of the brain fluids. (When the brain fluids are more on the left side, he seems to move and think better.) His fever is down to 97, and has remained low for a couple of days now.
Tomorrow they will be putting in a permanent shunt. For those that may not know about this procedure, here is my interpretation: The brain normally makes about 2 coke cans of brain fluid each day. This liquid is expelled through veins/arteries to the spinal column, and from there it travels to the body's organs and is released from the body as urine. For Randy, there is a "filter" at the spinal chord that is "clogged up" and so that normal route is blocked and wont let the fluid escape through its normal route. Right now, he has a tube coming out of the top of his head, that is draining out into a bag that catches this fluid. Since we have been here, this liquid has been red, indicating lots of blood in this fluid. In the past few days, however, it has cleared up, which indicates that it is no longer washing out blood from the aneurysm bleed. In tomorrows procedure, (as I understand it) they will run this tube on the inside of his body. It will run from his brain, and outside the skull area, but under the skin, behind his ear, down through an artery in his neck, down to his stomach, where it can then be released as urine. They have told me that this is a very common procedure, that many basketball players have this done. It is also common in children. While it is risky to some degree, it is also a common procedure, and we shouldn't worry TOO much!
I am hoping to catch Dr. Smith tomorrow and get some answers to some questions regarding rehab, and at some point they will move his feeding tube from his nose to a peg in his stomach. Not sure much about this procedure, or when they will be doing it. Also have questions regarding his bone flaps, (skull) when they might be replaced. I have been told that they probably wont replace his bone flaps until after he gets out of SICU.
I am not sure what time he is scheduled for the shunt operation, they just told me it would be tomorrow morning sometime. As soon as I know something, I will keep you posted.
Much love to all,
Felisha
P.S. For those of you that are following Jessica's story: (The Portales girl that was in an awful wreck a week before Randy got here) We saw her and her father in the lobby tonight. She is progressing quite well. She remembers Matt from the Rec Center, was talking some, and seemed quite alert. She appears to be well on her way to recovery! We have all been including her in our prayers. She has been through some really tough times this past month or so.
Sorry we are late with this post. We have been experiencing technical difficulties trying to get my sound card operating, so we can burn some CD's for Randy to listen to. I think we have it going for now. I can tell by the number of phone calls, that one blog a day is just not enough for you guys! OK, so here's the latest:
We had a really great day. He was sleepy and distant this morning, but by this afternoon, he was much more awake, and somewhat alert. By evening, he was less awake, but when he was awake, he was even more alert! He is moving both hands today, as well as both feet. Not a large range of movement, but more than just squeezing. He sometimes seems frustrated, and other times seems calm and coherent. They seem to think this is mostly due to the meds, and the location of the brain fluids. (When the brain fluids are more on the left side, he seems to move and think better.) His fever is down to 97, and has remained low for a couple of days now.
Tomorrow they will be putting in a permanent shunt. For those that may not know about this procedure, here is my interpretation: The brain normally makes about 2 coke cans of brain fluid each day. This liquid is expelled through veins/arteries to the spinal column, and from there it travels to the body's organs and is released from the body as urine. For Randy, there is a "filter" at the spinal chord that is "clogged up" and so that normal route is blocked and wont let the fluid escape through its normal route. Right now, he has a tube coming out of the top of his head, that is draining out into a bag that catches this fluid. Since we have been here, this liquid has been red, indicating lots of blood in this fluid. In the past few days, however, it has cleared up, which indicates that it is no longer washing out blood from the aneurysm bleed. In tomorrows procedure, (as I understand it) they will run this tube on the inside of his body. It will run from his brain, and outside the skull area, but under the skin, behind his ear, down through an artery in his neck, down to his stomach, where it can then be released as urine. They have told me that this is a very common procedure, that many basketball players have this done. It is also common in children. While it is risky to some degree, it is also a common procedure, and we shouldn't worry TOO much!
I am hoping to catch Dr. Smith tomorrow and get some answers to some questions regarding rehab, and at some point they will move his feeding tube from his nose to a peg in his stomach. Not sure much about this procedure, or when they will be doing it. Also have questions regarding his bone flaps, (skull) when they might be replaced. I have been told that they probably wont replace his bone flaps until after he gets out of SICU.
I am not sure what time he is scheduled for the shunt operation, they just told me it would be tomorrow morning sometime. As soon as I know something, I will keep you posted.
Much love to all,
Felisha
P.S. For those of you that are following Jessica's story: (The Portales girl that was in an awful wreck a week before Randy got here) We saw her and her father in the lobby tonight. She is progressing quite well. She remembers Matt from the Rec Center, was talking some, and seemed quite alert. She appears to be well on her way to recovery! We have all been including her in our prayers. She has been through some really tough times this past month or so.
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