Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
New Skill 6/25/10
On Friday, Wendy and I went to the hospital. Wendy had received a call that Greg had blood filling his stomach and they may need to operate. We went down together to check it out and sign any consent forms if necessary.
We met with the Gastro Surgeon and she said she would like to suction the blood and then use a scope to take a look at what was going on first, then the decision would be made on surgery. After a little while she returned to us and said that all was well. They had put in his feeding tube that linked directly to his stomach when they performed the trach surgery and the tube had wiggled loose a little. She was able to pull it into place again and the bleeding stopped. They are keeping an eye on his hemaglobins to make sure he isn't still bleeding, but it is still possible for it to get loose again.
Wendy and I went and got some lunch while they cleaned Greg up and did their assessments. When we returned we asked how everything went with his assessment. The nurse told us all was well and that he was awake. She had gone through the normal commands of having him wiggle his fingers and he did on both hands. She asked him to wiggle his toes and he did. Wendy and I looked at eachother and wondered if she misspoke or we misunderstood. She said it was more like a flex, but he did move his toes. We have been at the hospital umpteen times in the last 3 weeks and he has never once moved his toes- not a flex, twitch, nothing. There was a bit of a language barrier so we shrugged it off and went in to see him.
Sure enough as Wendy was talking to him his toes were twitching each time he would open his eyes. Wendy went back later and on command he can move his toes on both feet. That night Jenn and Brad witnessed it as well and the following day Wendy took Judy to see Greg and when they arrived, he was showing off his new skill for the nurses. Everyone is so surprised and so baffled. We don't know what it means if anything for long term recovery, but it gives us hope.
He will have a full assessment from the neurologist tomorrow and we will hopefully know more. Thank you for the continued prayers!
We met with the Gastro Surgeon and she said she would like to suction the blood and then use a scope to take a look at what was going on first, then the decision would be made on surgery. After a little while she returned to us and said that all was well. They had put in his feeding tube that linked directly to his stomach when they performed the trach surgery and the tube had wiggled loose a little. She was able to pull it into place again and the bleeding stopped. They are keeping an eye on his hemaglobins to make sure he isn't still bleeding, but it is still possible for it to get loose again.
Wendy and I went and got some lunch while they cleaned Greg up and did their assessments. When we returned we asked how everything went with his assessment. The nurse told us all was well and that he was awake. She had gone through the normal commands of having him wiggle his fingers and he did on both hands. She asked him to wiggle his toes and he did. Wendy and I looked at eachother and wondered if she misspoke or we misunderstood. She said it was more like a flex, but he did move his toes. We have been at the hospital umpteen times in the last 3 weeks and he has never once moved his toes- not a flex, twitch, nothing. There was a bit of a language barrier so we shrugged it off and went in to see him.
Sure enough as Wendy was talking to him his toes were twitching each time he would open his eyes. Wendy went back later and on command he can move his toes on both feet. That night Jenn and Brad witnessed it as well and the following day Wendy took Judy to see Greg and when they arrived, he was showing off his new skill for the nurses. Everyone is so surprised and so baffled. We don't know what it means if anything for long term recovery, but it gives us hope.
He will have a full assessment from the neurologist tomorrow and we will hopefully know more. Thank you for the continued prayers!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Surgery Success!
Surgery went well and Greg is resting. The trach is in and he has been fitted with his new back brace. They moved him across the hall out of Trauma ICU and into Rehab ICU. We are moving up in the world! Wendy went and visited him after the procedure and said he looked better then she expected. We can now see his sweet face, one more hurdle conquered!
Thank you everyone for your kind words, prayers, and thoughts. We love and appreciate you all!
Thank you everyone for your kind words, prayers, and thoughts. We love and appreciate you all!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Surgery Tomorrow
Tomorrow Greg is Scheduled for Tracheotomy surgery. We have not come to this decision lightly and we delayed it for a week in hopes that Greg would wean off of his ventilator on his own. We all feel really good about this choice, it will give Greg the opportunity to start physical therapy sooner and it will give him a better chance of avoiding such complications as pneumonia. We have been praying and consulting doctors, nurses, and friends and this truly is the best option for Greg at this time.
Tonight Matt gave Greg a very comforting and strengthening blessing which helped even further in putting us at ease. The procedure will only take an hour and afterwards it should only be about a week before he can talk to us, perhaps sooner.
I was talking to Judy today and she was saying that every set back has been for a reason. We have truly seen the hand of the Lord in Greg's recovery and pray his doctors and nurses will be guided with the Spirit as they tend to him. We are all in good spirits and just feel an amazing amount of peace at this time.
Please keep Greg in your Prayers tomorrow. We don't have a specific time right now, but any prayers as you remember Greg through the day would be greatly appreciated and well received!
Tonight Matt gave Greg a very comforting and strengthening blessing which helped even further in putting us at ease. The procedure will only take an hour and afterwards it should only be about a week before he can talk to us, perhaps sooner.
I was talking to Judy today and she was saying that every set back has been for a reason. We have truly seen the hand of the Lord in Greg's recovery and pray his doctors and nurses will be guided with the Spirit as they tend to him. We are all in good spirits and just feel an amazing amount of peace at this time.
Please keep Greg in your Prayers tomorrow. We don't have a specific time right now, but any prayers as you remember Greg through the day would be greatly appreciated and well received!
Happy Father's Day 6/20/2010
Greg,
Today your wife and your children went and visited you at the hospital to wish you a Happy Father's day. We love you and pray for you daily, even hourly. You are constantly in our minds and our hearts.
Thank you for being you, for teaching us so much, for loving us when we were hard to love. Thank you for your strength, for continuing to fight even when it's difficult. Thank you for your constant support. For your smile, your laughter, your love of music that has become infectious in us all, your example. You have been and will continue to be an amazing father and a leader for us all.
Get well soon, we love you! Keep working hard on that breathing so you can talk to us soon! We are so proud of you! Happy Father's Day!
Today your wife and your children went and visited you at the hospital to wish you a Happy Father's day. We love you and pray for you daily, even hourly. You are constantly in our minds and our hearts.
Thank you for being you, for teaching us so much, for loving us when we were hard to love. Thank you for your strength, for continuing to fight even when it's difficult. Thank you for your constant support. For your smile, your laughter, your love of music that has become infectious in us all, your example. You have been and will continue to be an amazing father and a leader for us all.
Get well soon, we love you! Keep working hard on that breathing so you can talk to us soon! We are so proud of you! Happy Father's Day!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Breathing Improvements
Thursday night I visited Greg! When I arrived, Jenn was already there and he was just starting to wake up after a breathing treatment. He was exhausted, so he didn't respond very much to our conversation even though you could tell he wanted to. He gave me some good hand squeezes and struggled to stay awake while we were there. Jenn took off to go help Judy with a shower and I stayed with Greg a while longer. His blood pressure was steadily higher then we have been seeing it (about 145/70). He is completely off blood pressure medication again. I stayed with Greg for a while until he was ready for me to go :)
I spoke with his nurse who told me that he was on the C-pap (breathing on his own) for 4 hours that morning! That is fantastic and no wonder he is so tired! It is a great improvement and we look forward to him continuing to improve so they can take the tube out.
Friday Judy went to the hospital and had her stitches out. She can now keep the bandage off of her leg (which was irritating her) and she can shower without wrapping her leg in a bag! Woohoo! She is healing nicely, but it hurt to take out all of those stitches. Wendy said there were about 30! She did great though and afterwards Wendy and Judy had a visit with Greg. Greg didn't have c-pap time today, he was too tired from the day before- so they will try again Saturday. His numbers all still look good. He is a fighter. Keep praying for Greg, especially his lungs so that we can get that tube out and help ease some of his frustration!
I spoke with his nurse who told me that he was on the C-pap (breathing on his own) for 4 hours that morning! That is fantastic and no wonder he is so tired! It is a great improvement and we look forward to him continuing to improve so they can take the tube out.
Friday Judy went to the hospital and had her stitches out. She can now keep the bandage off of her leg (which was irritating her) and she can shower without wrapping her leg in a bag! Woohoo! She is healing nicely, but it hurt to take out all of those stitches. Wendy said there were about 30! She did great though and afterwards Wendy and Judy had a visit with Greg. Greg didn't have c-pap time today, he was too tired from the day before- so they will try again Saturday. His numbers all still look good. He is a fighter. Keep praying for Greg, especially his lungs so that we can get that tube out and help ease some of his frustration!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Chest Tubes are out!
Today I got an update from Wendy, who spent most of the day at the hospital waiting for Greg's doctor so they could have a meeting. The meeting was set for 4:30, but after being told "just 20 more minutes" several times- it finally happened at 7:45. Which was good, because by that point Greg had kicked Wendy out of his room, motioning for her to go home and tickle the kids for him.
They removed Greg's chest tubes after they determind that no more fluid was accumulating. They will still continue with their daily chest Xrays to moniter any fluid build up, but they were fairly confident we are past that.
Yesterday they also put Greg on just the bipap (off of the ventilator) for the first time. He lasted a full 2 hours, which is FANTASTIC for his first time.
The doctor's meeting with Wendy was all about performing a tracheotomy on Greg so that if he needed to remain long term on the ventilator, he would be able to have a little more mobility for starting physical therapy. It is easier to wean off of, but it is another proceedure which carries its own risks. They would also be changing trach tubes for smaller ones as they weaned him off so it would be multiple proceedures.
Wendy spoke with Judy and also Jenn about their feelings and we have decided as a family to hold off for now. We are going to give Greg another week and see how he is doing. The doctor really had no reason why it was medically necessary for Greg at this time- it is more so common protocol for them. Greg is doing so well, we didn't want to set him back and add risk when it really isn't necessary at this point.
So we are moving in a posative direction! Thank you everyone for all of your love and support! We aren't sure who all has received the link to this blog, but please feel free to pass it on to anyone you think would be interested in following Greg and Judy's recovery! Also, please feel free to post any comments, questions, and such that you wish. We all wish to do our best in keeping everyone up to date as much as possible! We love you all!
They removed Greg's chest tubes after they determind that no more fluid was accumulating. They will still continue with their daily chest Xrays to moniter any fluid build up, but they were fairly confident we are past that.
Yesterday they also put Greg on just the bipap (off of the ventilator) for the first time. He lasted a full 2 hours, which is FANTASTIC for his first time.
The doctor's meeting with Wendy was all about performing a tracheotomy on Greg so that if he needed to remain long term on the ventilator, he would be able to have a little more mobility for starting physical therapy. It is easier to wean off of, but it is another proceedure which carries its own risks. They would also be changing trach tubes for smaller ones as they weaned him off so it would be multiple proceedures.
Wendy spoke with Judy and also Jenn about their feelings and we have decided as a family to hold off for now. We are going to give Greg another week and see how he is doing. The doctor really had no reason why it was medically necessary for Greg at this time- it is more so common protocol for them. Greg is doing so well, we didn't want to set him back and add risk when it really isn't necessary at this point.
So we are moving in a posative direction! Thank you everyone for all of your love and support! We aren't sure who all has received the link to this blog, but please feel free to pass it on to anyone you think would be interested in following Greg and Judy's recovery! Also, please feel free to post any comments, questions, and such that you wish. We all wish to do our best in keeping everyone up to date as much as possible! We love you all!
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