mike's pneumonia chronicles #10

Aunt Marilyn flew down for a third time from northern CA. She stayed last night and is staying tonight again. She has to leave tomorrow. I am so touched that she has done these trips for me.

Yesterday and today were more of the same... you are steadily holding with your O2 levels in the 90's. The vent settings have been back and forth from 90% oxygen to 100% - they turn it back up during dialysis or when you are being moved around / bathed etc.

I talked to Dr. Kumar (one of your pulmonoligists) today and I asked a few questions... first how he felt about your progress. He said you are definitely better than last week at this time. (duh!) He also said that it is very hard from day to day to make statements, but in a week's time he can more easily talk about the progress. He is hopeful that you will continue your baby steps in the right direction.

Dr. Kumar said today, although he was very reticent to make any prognostication, that he feels at the very soonest you could be off the ventilator (with continued improvement) in a week to 10 days. That was his "earliest" estimate if all goes very well. It is much more likely to be longer than that, but I was pressing him for a ballpark estimate. It turns out that it is possible for you to be off of the vent even with the hole still in your lung, the more important thing is that you would need to be on much lower vent settings. Room air is approx. 22% oxygen, so you have a way to go. Also, they have the "at rest" (after you exhale) pressure (PEEP) set at 5 which is still a little high. (You used to be at 10)

At the hospital today I was with you alone for about 2 hours. It was different to be alone there. I am with you alone for periods of 10 or 15 minutes, but usually someone is there with me such as my mom or aunt or a friend. Then I am only alone with you when they step out for a restroom break or to make a call. It was scarier to visit alone because there was no social distraction. Nobody was focused on me or how I am coping, it was just me focusing on you and how you are doing. I didn't have to explain all of the machines to anyone, just be with you and focus all of my healing energy on you. I held your hand, I lightly stroked your feet and legs, I held your knees, I inspected your fingernails. They are almost long enough that they will need to be trimmed. Not quite, but soon. After a couple of hours, my aunt Jackie arrived, then aunt Marilyn. Your friend Josh from Math came again. He was there yesterday too. When he came into the room for the first time he cried when he saw you. He spoke very highly of you, and best of all he spoke directly to you while holding your hand. He is very sweet to visit you, and he believes that all of the positive energy of visitors and prayers will help you to heal.

Tonight aunt Marilyn made pasta for Jackie, Fred, Joey, Julia and me and then Jackie and I took the kids to the park to play (and hopefully get very tired.) Julia has been waking up at all hours of the night screaming, and I haven't slept well in a few nights. Thank goodness that I had help getting them off to preschool and I could get back to sleep for a couple of hours after they left today.

I just called the ICU and talked to Michelle, the very young-looking nurse who is with you right now. She told me that you had a very slight fever tonight, 99.5, but it came down with a cold cloth on your forehead. Also you have been off of the paralytic medication since yesterday at 9:30 a.m. and the twitch they test for to see if you are "back" still hasn't returned. There is a little electronic shocker-thing they attach to your face on your cheek and forehead, then they shock you 4 times. It makes your eyebrow twitch. If the twitch is gone, you are paralyzed. When it returns, they know that the paralytic is wearing off, and they start you on it again. Since they are giving you steroids now, that can lengthen the effect of the paralytic... ok. So for tomorrow I want to remember to ask the doctor how long it "should" take for the twitch to return. 36 hours seems long to me, and it's still not back... but maybe it's normal.

Tonight I just moments ago received an email that our friends Jane and Bill's 3-week old grandson Joseph has pneumonia. They are at the ER as I write this. The doctor suspects that he was aspirating milk, but I am adding baby Joseph to my prayers tonight right along with you Mike. Pneumonia has never scared me so much as it does now.


Today was your 20th day on a ventilator. Dreams would at least make this time pass with some entertainment. Sweet dreams.
I hope you are dreaming, Mike.