Saturday June 1st, 4:30 pm Another nice quiet day. Daniel's vital sign are pretty normal. The doctors tried backing off his medication to see if he was able to breathe on his own, but he is not ready yet. They thought he probably wouldn't be ready, but tried to see how he would respond. Jim is keeping busy painting his patio and looks forward to his Albany visit next Wednesday.
Sunday, June 2nd, 8:00 pm Today, Sunday, the doctors decided to increase Daniel's sedation. They had previously decreased it but because he was increasingly agitated, they felt it was counterproductive. So he won't be waking as often. He is trying to breathe over the respirator. Oxygen is still 70% which is high. They also have reduced the amount they tilt the bed since he seemed his oxygen was dropping. All in all, because of the sedation, it was a peaceful day. No plans for any surgery at this time.
Monday, June 3rd, 7:30 pm I spoke to Toni tonight and she said that Daniel had a
rough night and morning so they decided to place Daniel back into the
state of chemical paralysis. The pressure is now set at 18 and he is on 80%
oxygen. Apparantly Daniel was struggling to breathe over the respirator and
these "short guppy breaths" interfered with the absorption of the oxygen. He
is fighting against the respirator so the chemical paralysis state will help
the situation with his lungs until he is stronger.
The good news of the day is that there was no fever. The doctor feels
that the fever is inflammation-related, due to the trauma to his body. The
bronoscopy results showed a yeast infection which is very treatable. Daniel
appears to be very sensitive to changes (medication, movement, etc) so they
treat him often with a trial and error approach (reducing medicines, trying new
treatments, etc.) Because he must have at least one strong, healthy lung to
handle the heart surgery, no surgery has yet been scheduled. The nursing staff
told her that within the last few years, they had seen two patients' aortas
heal on their own. This would be a great thing for Daniel as well...
It was good to hear Toni's voice today...she is such a strong advocate for
Daniel. And she is so appreciative of all of your warm support.
Tuesday, June 4th, 9:00 pm Tonight, Jim talked to the ICU nurses and they reported that today was another one of those "setback days." All his stats dropped so they had to increase the pressure on the ventilator to 30 and they also had to increase the oxygen. The chest x-ray showed no major change from yesterday...but basically his lungs are not functioning well. Toni is spending the night at the hospital.
Wednesday, June 5th, 8:00 pm Toni's sister Teri had a nice long
talk with Toni and was happy to report that Daniel is doing much better
today. His oxygen is back up to the 90's (whatever that means, but is
supposed to be good) and they were able to rotate him. Toni sounded is much
better spirits and is very pleased with the nursing care Daniel is
getting.
Jim is on his way back to NY, but his plane is grounded in Pittsburg
Thursday, June 6th, 9:00 pm Yesterday, Daniel had 3 liters of fluid drained from his abdomen so that the lungs will have room to expand. He is now on 100% oxygen. The reason the oxygen is so high is because his respiration got too low. Other that that it was a stable day. He is not always able to be rotated in the bed (to stop bed sores) but today he was able to tolerate it.
Friday, June 7th, 8:40 pm Today was the worst day of a bad week. Jim said that Daniel was having more trouble with his lungs. The doctors worked with him for hours trying to get him stabilized. It is hard to turn him over because of his injuries, but now have him lying on his stomach, which apparently helped. He is on 100% oxygen and is currently stable. Toni is spending the night in the hospital.
Daniel's friend Emilie (from Bard College) has also set up a link to pictures from this year.
Emilie's site
Jeff and Mary Ann Laun
618 Santa Rosa Rd
Arcadia 91007
(626) 447-8492 (h)
(626) 827-8492 (cell)
(626) 585-7833 (work)
Mary Ann's email
Mindy Sherman
home after 5/22/2002 (626) 447-8492
Mindy's email