Wednesday, February 18, 2015 

Update # 163

8 Years

Things are basically the same for Jeff. Critical but stable, drug-induced coma, small improvement.

Last evening, Jeff sometimes had what is called a- flutter. Similar to a-fib. So his heart monitor then sounded a bit more. And this morning, his heart was really active at times.

Jeff had another episode with a “mucus plug” this morning. This ventilator and bagging did not help the heart or other readings either. A x-ray was taken to be sure no other problem was popping up.

This is interesting to have 3 different teams of doc – BMT, pulmonary, cardiology. The x-ray after the mucus plug episode was seen differently. The pulmonary team says “Jeff’s worse”. BMT says “the same”. Cardiology says “why is he still on the ventilator?”. No doubt you know we listen to DiPersio and his BMT unit he’s trained!

The nurse gave several doses of med for pain. We determined that his back just bothers from lying in bed.

This afternoon was, thankfully, quiet. They gave more pain med and more sedation so Jeff has rested very well. Still communicates once in a while with thumbs up or some other hand signal.

Breathing treatment #7 is just completing. We’re not seeing a big improvement yet but once treatment #15 stops on Saturday, the med will continue to work inside his body. And remember this RSV is bad and has really taken quite a hold on Jeff.

We talked with one of Dr. DiPersio guys, plus Dr. DiPersio himself, today and we can be looking at a much longer time frame than originally thought. Jeff might be off the vent by the end of this week or could possibly be off the end of next week. And time in Barnes could be up to a month or possibly even longer. It’s not unusual to take this long in this situation.

One good sign today is the pulmonary team did lower the oxygen on Jeff. They want to try and see what happens at this lower rate. So far this afternoon, all levels remained safe. A tiny step forward.

Since we are looking at a more long term stay, we’ll probably stay at the hotel connected to Barnes through the weekend. (we’re optimistic that Jeff will be off the vent by then) Then once again stay at Hope Lodge as we did during Jeff’s transplant. Ken worked one day at the Synod office this week. He came back to StL this afternoon and will probably head home Sunday. He has cancelled next week’s meeting in Jacksonville, FL. Too much distance from Jeff!

We know right now Jeff’s goal is to be back at work before any family time leave would run out and he’d lose his job. Well, what would bother him would be losing his shift. He worked too many years to get exactly what he wanted and he’s not about to lose his Monday-Friday 2:00-11:00 PM of directing the 6 and 10 newscasts.

Please continue your prayers and love. They are working since we know Jeff is not losing ground. Thanks so much for the support.

love,

Marcia