Dan's Update

Sorry to be so late in posting this update. Have been waiting to see just what I could accurately report about Dan’s progress and prognosis. Progress today has been a little slower than we had hoped – but it’s progress nonetheless. He rested comfortably all night on a combination of sedatives and pain medication, along with medicine to keep his blood pressure up – and, of course, the ventilator.

The oxygen level had been turned down to 40 (from 100 originally), and yet he was keeping his oxygen readings at 90-95, so that was a good thing. His lungs still appear to be clear, thanks to respiratory therapy and antibiotics that zapped the pneumonia, so that’s good, too. His pulmonologist/critical care specialist was in with a slew of residents at about noon and determined that the best approach would be to leave his pain meds where they were, or even increase them, and let up on the sedative to see if he could gain consciousness without becoming combative, then wean him off the ventilator. She did not want to remove it precipitously, as he was extremely difficult to intubate when he was brought in and would likely be more difficult now, since the presence of breathing and feeding tubes in his throat for several days would have caused some additional swelling.

So, the goal is to remove the ventilator only when chances are high that it won’t need reinserting. He was partially successful, today, breathing on his own with the ventilator functions turned way down. He was conscious for an hour while remaining reasonably relaxed and cooperative. However, unlike a couple of days ago, when he answered Chris’s questions as she requested, today, he did not respond by following directions – something that probably won’t surprise any of you who know him well J. After an hour, he started thrashing all limbs again, so his nurse bumped his sedative up a bit – but not as high as it had been: more progress.

He’ll likely stay on this protocol through the night, and tomorrow, after the critical care internist evaluates him, perhaps we’ll be able to take more steps toward removing the ventilator. Let’s hope he decides to follow instructions, and that he’s able to be free of the vent for good. That will make it easier to allow him to be more “with it.” Also, his cardiologist said today that once that has happened, we’ll talk about getting the pacemaker/defibrillator implanted, which is a relatively minor procedure. Once again, many thanks go to you prayer warriors, friends, colleagues, family, and DMPD family members, who continue to lift up Dan and all of us and wrap us in your care. More tomorrow – probably not until afternoon.