Chris is still in critical condition and his nurse says that he’s consuming half the resources in the ICU-three nurses are doing nothing but attending to him and there are at least 2 doctors who wander by every couple of minutes. On rounds there are 10+ people around the bed.
We are literally thanking God that he is here. Some of our friends who are in the medical field say that Children's Hospital provides some of the best care in the nation. That’s good because he needs it. What they’re working on constantly is balancing his blood pressure, his intracranial pressure, his cerebral profusion and his respiration. These things now are being balanced on the “head of a pin” and require constant adjustments. This morning they needed to reverse his bed so his head was facing the center of the room to facilitate a mobile CT scan. It took an hour to move him with all of the equipment. Then the simple effect of having him flat on his back during the CT caused his pressure to rise, and it took 90 minutes for them to get things back to where they wanted it. When we go in and visit, they really don’t even want us touching him or talking to him because they don’t want any stimulation(even though he’s in a drug-induced coma).
The doctor told us that things are progressing about how they expect them to. The new CT scan showed a slight increase in swelling but not unexpectedly so. So far, they don’t believe there is anything happening that will require neurosurgery. Its just trying to keep the swelling down. The rest of his medical condition is good. His lungs are clear and his kidneys are working well. We
Paul, Emily and I are well cared for. The generosity of people is amazing. So many people have shown up unbidden at the hospital that the front desk is warning people that they may have to go the cafeteria. Even the EMT’s who were first on the scene called the ICU to check up on him and then the head of our local fire department offered take care of the house, do anything we needed.
So now we wait. Paul and I are taking shifts - I stayed all night and and am now home, attempting to sleep, which has, for the most part eluded me. It seems as though when I stop long enough, I find myself thinking about all that is transpiring, I can't seem to stop seeing Christopher as I saw him yesterday... laying on the street, unconscious.
It looks like this will last for 5-7 days. Thank you all so much for your notes, texts, phone calls and visits regarding Christopher. We are moved beyond words. Please keep up your prayers.
Laura --
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