7/27/2006 Thursday Day #4 Past Accident

I am sitting in the Trauma waiting room with Aunt Kathy and Dad, it is 7:30am and we are waiting to go back to your bedside for bedside report with the Trauma Team.  I pray you are doing much better and that you have broken your temperature during the night.

Well here is the rundown:

(Basically you had a bad night)

• You never broke your fever; it stayed around 102 – 103 degrees, despite Tylenol and ibuprofen.  They keep the cooling blankets on all night and are still on.
• You also are having trouble keeping your oxygenation up so they are adjusting the ventilator to help you keep your oxygenation up.  By doing this they have to increase your sedation again so you won’t fight the ventilation.  The goal for you today s to rest, relax, and cover the focus is your lungs and fever. 

Family and friends can still come to see you today but they will be asked not to speak to you or touch because you don’t need the stimulus.

            The fever is somewhat perplexing because it has sustained for so long at the degree it has without breaking.  The doctors are suggesting that the subarachnoid hemorrhage in your brain could be located around your thermal regulator, which got irritated when you were agitated yesterday which is now responding telling you body “enough”!

7/27/2006 Day #4 End of Day Report

Today was a day of rest and some recovery for you.  You had no procedures done they focused on trying to get your fever to break and keep it down plus allow your lungs to recover and heal.  The team started your day by changing your ventilator setting and has the ventilator do most of the work.  They sedated you enough so you would not fight the ventilator and to keep your oxygenation.  % in the 90’s.  As the day went on the team would reduce the oxygen percentage from the machine to ascertain if you would be ale to maintain on your own, your oxygen level n the 90%.  By the end of the day you were providing 60% of the effort!  Great Job!

Your fever broke at about 10AM and they began giving your scheduled dose of ibuprofen/Tylenol.  The cooling blankets were removed.  The orthopedic doctors cam and removed your splints on your lower leap to make sure your incisions were clean and healing well. (no signs of infection)!  The replaced the splints with new ones and our left foot was back to pick and warm! Good Sign!

The nurses would suction out your lungs to get the “gunk” out.  You then had begun to start coughing on your own, to also get the “gunk” out.  Also a good sign! You also started to have movement of your eyelashes another good sign. The nurses also gave you a shave and a bath, changed your sheets and got you al “spiffy” for they day.  I teased Christine that they were getting you ready for your date with her.

Your fever returned at about 7pm.  They put the cooling blankets back on for assistance in getting your fever down along with the education.  I pray you have a peaceful, restful might.  We love you so very much!