Saturday, June 22nd, 9:30 pm Daniel is still at 60% today which he tolerated well all day long. They are now giving him Lasix to get some of the fluids down in his body. No temperature. They are starting to "do percussion" again. This is a periodic light tapping from the bed that works to get the congestion down. Tomorrow we hope to post some pictures of the great Albany ICU medical staff who have been such wonderful caretakers of Daniel and his family. Angels....all...
Sunday 8 pm Jim reports tonight that Daniel had another good day today. The oxygen absorption in his blood was 98 yesterday (which is excellent) and today it fluctuated between 94 and 97.
Monday, June 24th, 10:00 pm Daniel's stats were good all day today.
Two of the chest tubes were removed and they are working on getting the
fluids out of his body. At 2pm today, they stopped the chemical paralysis
and increased the sedation. He had some involuntary facial movements. It
will take about 24 hours for the chemical paralysis to wear off.
Daniel received his grades today and even though he received several
incompletes, he still completed 11 credit hours. At Bard, the "report card"
also reflects comments from the professors. Many professors wrote many
positive comments and he excelled in his songwriting class.
Monday, June 24th, 11:00 pm Added link to some photos. I will try and get some of the photos you have sent us up soon. Jeff
Tuesday, June 25th, 7:30 pm It was a wonderful day! Chemical paralysis is off and his oxygen absorption remained high today. They also reduced the pressure on the respirator. One of the nurses, Tim, called Toni early this morning to let her know that Daniel smiled this morning. Granted, it was a faint smile, but nevertheless, it was a smile. The nursing staff are elated with his day...filled with emotion. When Toni asked him to wriggle his fingers, he wiggled his toes. When she said "open wide for suctioning" through the trach, he pursed hs lips. Tonight one of the nurses asked Daniel to respond by pushing his hand back when he pushed toward him...it was faint, but unmistakenable. As Jim said...a wonderful day! The ICU staff was delighted to see their pictures on the web...and Toni told Jim she was trying to get additional pictures! We are all delighted to see their loving faces as well!
Wedensday, June 26th, 8:10 pm Another good day...The second to the last chest tube came out today (there is one left on the right side)...he is holding steady at 50% oxygen. The swelling is also considerably down. There are some facial movements although it is hard to tell if they are involuntary...but his eyebrows seem particularly expressive.
Thursday, June 27th, 7:30 pm Daniel had a good day today...the last chest tube was taken out and they tried to reduce the oxygen on the respirator below 50%...he could not tolerate it well so they moved it back up to 50%. They are taking him off of some of the drip medications and trying to move him toward medications "as needed". They will add blood pressure and pain medications to the IV as necessary. He should be off the sedative by tomorrow if he tolerates these reductions well. Everyone hopes that he will be more responsive tomorrow. Toni said that his eyes were opening more. She is helping to gently exercise his wrists, fingers and arms on an hourly basis.
Friday, June 28th 7:30 pm Another stable day today which is good after all of the changes yesterday. Oxygen is still at 50%; Daniel has a slight fewer tonight; pressure was reduced a bit on the respirator. Daniel seems to respond better when things are slow and easy so the doctors and nurses plan to do just that. Toni noticed facial and hand movements again...but they are very slow and gradual.
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
cell: (415) 420-6341
Mindy's email