The captian has turned off the seatbelt sign...

Hello all, well I just got back from visiting PJ, and we are now eclipsing 48 hours of good oxygenation. All this means, is we haven't had a setback in a while, nothing more. So I have good news to report for the moment. As the title says, the captain has turned off the seatbelt sign for right now. We may have future turbulence, but for now PJ has had a good couple of days. The nurse told me that the infection is getting better, so the antibiotics seem to be working. PJ was at 40% oxygen this evening and oxygenating at 97 - 98 percent which is great. We can only hope to keep this going. They are removing him from the bed tomorrow. The doctor told me today that they will wait until Wednesday to determine if they need to put in a trach for PJ.

I was able to see him tonight with no bandages on his face, he looks great. His lips, eyes, ear and face is healing wonderfully. This is great news. So that is the goodness that is PJ land for right now. I hope everyone has a great night, and keep PJ in your thoughts and prayers for the evening.

Chris

The roller coaster ride continues...

Hello all, well I have good and bad news, so I will start with the good news.

I was able to talk to the Doctor today. He told me that his burns are healing exceptionally well. At this point, they are not thinking that he will need any skin grafts at all. I was able to see his left ear today for the first time. It looked really good. His fever has been non existent today and when I left his temperature was still normal. He has had a very good day today, much better than yesterday. When I left this afternoon, after he was turned, he was holding strong with good oxygenation and the oxygen levels at 50% on the vent. We need many more of these good days, but it is all up to PJ right now. I was also able to see him move a bit. It turns out that they were lowering the paralyzing medicine to ensure that his body doesn't get too used to it. So I saw his head, lips and shoulders moving. At first I was a bit freaked out, but once they explained what was going on it made much more sense. And as anyone that knows PJ would expect, as soon as they let him do that he tried to take over completely and was overbreathing, so they had to give him more medicine for his own good.

The Bad news

He is still on the bed and his lungs are still producing a lot of "crud". They are bronching him everyday, and are taking chest X-Rays everyday to see how things are going. There is no other course of action according to the doctor. It is a waiting game, but the only therapy is what they are doing for him currently. It is a matter of him having several good days in a row. They will most likely make the decision on the Tracheotomy on Monday, and at this point I think it is the right thing to do for him. He has been on the ventilator for 16 days now, and they say that the longer you are on it can be damaging to the vocal cords. They most likely will take him off the bed on Tuesday at the latest, just to give him a break from the bed. He sustained the most internal injury of all the patiients it appears. He is a fighter, and I know that he is fighting. We would all like it to go quicker, but that is not happening at the rate we would like it.

That is what I know, so you know what I know. I am anxiously awaiting the time that I am able to give him crap about all of this, but for now I will continue to pray as I hope you all will as well.

Thanks for all the support, it has been tremendous.

Chris

Friday, December 1, 2006

PJ Land is never boring....

As Chris said earlier Peej was having a better day and when we were all there was doing well. When we left, they were ready to turn him on his stomach. I called about 730 this evening to see how he tolerated the turn (it is at those times he usually dips in O2 sat a little but after about 45 minutes - compensates and balances out). Apparently, he didn't feel like cooperating so much this time. They decided not to leave him on his stomach and turned him back over. After adjust the ventilator back up to 70 his O2 sat came back up to 98-99% and they will gradually bring the vent back down to 40 as he can tolerate. The nurse said they did another bronch and got a bunch more of the cruddies out his lungs.

We all know PJ is a fighter. He looked really good when I left tonight, they were going to try to turn him again when they felt they could. I talked to Chris and he said he was going over early in the morning so hopefully one of us can update early to let you all know how his night went.

With great respect for PJ and his family and friends,
Lynette

One small step for PJ, one giant leap for PJ kind...

PJ has done good today, hopefully that will continue. Just returned from the hospital and PJ is doing well and on his back when I was there to visit him. He is oxygenating very well today. They did bronch him today, and we were told that they found a section of his lung with "crap" caked to the walls of his lungs. They were able to get most of that out, and this could be why he was having such a hard time when they had him on his back. His fever is slight, and he is still fighting the nasty little bug that he has caught. It must be pretty bad, because now they are making us wear gloves when we touch him. Supposedly they have not seen this bug in the hospital for over a year. They will continue him on the bed until it is no longer working, they will not even give us a date now because we just keep getting disappointed. I got to see his face good today and his left arm, the burns are healing great. He is growing hair on his arms, and they are now saying that he may not need any skin grafts at all because of how well he is healing.

So a small step for PJ, hopefully a giant leap for PJ land. As always keep the thoughts and prayers coming.

Chris

A step in the wrong direction...

Well, I am here posting again after a great visit with PJ. Not everything went his way tonight, he is still having intermittent problems saturating oxygen in his lungs. Particularly when he laid on his back and side this evening. Because of that, he gets to stay in the bed for another 24 hours. The nurses seem to say that this is normal behavior, and that most patients go through this. His fever was gone when I left, and they believe that they have found the culprit (a nasty little bug they tell me) and they are dealing with it. We are simply waiting on the lungs to heal, and that is not happening as fast as most of us would like. They put him back to 100% oxygen this evening, and were getting ready to roll him over on his belly when I left. They bathed him tonight, and I finally got to see him laying on his back for a while. The swelling is going down day after day, and his burns are healing great. It is just a waiting game to this point. So not the best of days in PJ land, but things could be much worse. They keep telling me we will have some set backs, and it appears that PJ is having a slight setback tonight. Pray for a good night, and a good couple of days.

That is all for now, as always keep the thoughts and prayers coming.

11/29 Evening Post from Chris

Just returned from a very nice 3 hour visit with PJ. PJ had a rough evening last night, his respiration was not doing what they would have wanted it to do. Having said that, he had a much better day. So his lung volume (?) was over 800 all day, which is good. In fact they changed the pressure from 15 to 14 while I was there, which is also a good thing. His fever was mild all day 100.4, but when I left it was creeping up to 102.4 so getting a bit high. His oxygen level is 40 % which is what we want with his oxygen level in his body was at 98% when I left. He is still in the space bed spinning on his belly for 3 hours and on his back 2 hours. If he can have a good evening tonight, finger's crossed, they will take him off of the spinning bed and start to cut back the medicine that is paralyzing him.

Keep your fingers crossed, and keep those thoughts and prayers coming.

11/ 29 Update from Chris Part II

I talked to the nurse this morning. They were in the process of changing his bandages. They said that they did Bronch him this morning, and did not get much from his lungs. His X-ray is still showing some slight collapse in the back so they are wanting to keep him in the bed another night to make sure they can get this out. He did have a slight fever through the night, but the nurse did not seem to concerned about that. Not sure if I am speaking the terms right yet, but that is what I wrote down. So, one more night in the space bed, and hopefully things will be better in the morning for PJ. I will be visiting him later this afternoon, as soon as I am finished working for the day. Should be about 3:30 Pacific time.

That is what I know for now, so you know what I know. Please keep the thoughts and prayers coming.

11/28 Update from Chris

Hello everyone,

Well I was able to get to San Diego and Steve and I went straight to the hospital. I got to see PJ in his space bed that spins him like a rotisserie. He wears his Darth Vader mask and was on his belly spinning around. The good news is that today, as long as everything continues to go well, he will be removed from that bed and placed back in a more normal bed. I thought that PJ looked great. We sat and talked to him for a few hours, it was wonderful to be able to talk to him. While we were there, his fever was mild, 101 degree and he was oxygenating very well at the time. His face looked wonderful, even with the little bit of swelling that had occurred. I am working from PJ's house this morning, and I will call up again in a few minutes after the shift change to find out his schedule. My plan is to go the hospital at about 3 pm here and visit as long as I can.

I will update more when I hear it. So far things are looking good. At one point, when the nurse was sucking some stuff out of his lungs, you could actually see him coughing. The nurse pointed out that they would need to give him more of the medicine to paralyze him because of this. He needs more days like the last couple that he has had.

That is all for now.

Another Update From Lynette

I have talked to Lynette again, and she said that she was waiting to go up to see him until after they did the suction out of the lungs again today. When she called later, she was told that they weren't going to do the procedure because his vitals were standing strong. (His O2 and such are staying strong). This is GREAT news!

She also said that they just can't believe how great he is looking. I can't wait to see him when I go out again.

I am sure Chris will update more when he gets in and sees him.

Talk to you soon
Heather

Tuesday, November 28

I just got an update from my dad. It seems PJ is doing very well. The nurse said he had a slight fever but nothing to be concerned about. They have lowered his oxygen rate to 40. This is the lowest it will go while he is on the ventilator. They have also lowered the respiration rate from 17 to 14 which means he is breathing more on his own. He was inverted in his space ship bed when my dad called. They told him they were going to be looking in his lungs with the camera after he gets flipped back over.

Chris is on his way to San Diego and will be updating when he finds anything out. Keep those prayers coming!

Monday 11/27 update

Saw the PeeeJaaay today. He was out of the spinning bed and out of the darth vader mask. this is the first time I have seen him without all the gauze and tape. He is looking GREAT. I was so excited to see his face...and he looks just like the PJ we all know and love. There does not seem to be a lot of scaring. his eyebrows are starting to grow back, which means we won't have to paint them on later:) His face is still a little puffy, but it is way down from before. I saw his left ear (which is the one most hurt) for the first time as well as that side of his head. It looks good, but the doctors still needs to determine if graphs will be needed. His hands are still wrapped up so I was not able to see those, but word is that he may need some minior work there. No fever, O2 saturation was holding great at 99 and the vent is still turned down to 45, which is really good. He is still on antibiotics for the pneumonia, today they got A LOT of the junk in his lungs that has been causing some of the problems with his pneumonia. So this is a really good thing. The bed he is in has been working and he is probably going to be out of it by weds am. He is still on the rotation of 3 hours on his stomach swinging back and forth and the two hours on his back. So this my friends was a really good day in PJ Land. We need lots more just like it - keep him in your thoughts and prayers - they are working :) - steve

11/26 From Lynette

Hello everyone.

Lynette is a very good friend of PJ's who is out there with him right now. She sent me this email giving the daily update....

Hi Heather,


Just talked to you and here is how Peej is doing:I spent an hour and a half with PJ, he looks good. According to his nurse he is still battling strep, staph and is still somewhat septic but that is par for the course with his injuries.

His temp is down a little bit (but still there) but not concerning at this point.
His O2 assistance is down a little more to 45% that is good news!! His bodily functions are all working normally which is good news too!! We tell him of all the well wishes and thoughts that are sent his way from family and friends. His blood pressure was great while I was there holding steady and 153/70. They said he should be out of his "space ship looking" bed in the next couple days. They say whatever good it was going to do, it will do in the first 5 days and then not be so productive.

Steve will go this afternoon to see him, harass him and tell him to hurry up and get better. I will resume a constant vigil of harassment starting tomorrow!

Have a great day,
Lynette

Sunday, November 26

I just talked to my mom and dad and they have both said that PJ did well last night. His oxygen level has stayed the same. He has a mild fever and they are starting him on another antibiotic today.

Mom said the doctor will be in later to look at some of the tests they have run. She is planning on calling them back and we will post the information when we have it.

Sat 11/25

Just got off the phone with mom and Steve. Pj had a rough night last night. His fever is up again, and his rash is still there. Last night PJ was on 40% oxygen (That is what we are breathing). He is up again on 50%. They think that his right lower lobe of his lung is what is giving him the most problems. They think that is the one that is "clogging up".

They are giving him 6 units of insulin an hour to keep his blood sugar under control. His blood pressure is steady which is good.

I know I am forgetting something, so I will update later. Mom and Dad leave today to come home and Chris is going out Tuesday. His friends Steve and Lynette are going to be there with him for us. I really can't tell you how wonderful his friends are. There are a lot of people out there that care for him, which doesn't surprise me, but it's a great feeling to be part of that love.