Well, when I got to the hospital, the first thing the nurse told me was that he didn't do so good. So after hearing that my hopes were down. She told me that he did have a brief period of desaturation when she went to lunch. So I was in the middle of lecturing him on how he needs to behave and work with them in the hospital. That is when the nurse came in and gave me the BEST NEWS YET, they were taking him off the paralytic medicine and moving his vent to the pressure setting instead of the volume setting (or it could be the other way around for all I know), but anyway they were going to let him start waking up and moving. Then they kicked me out so they could change all of his lines. About 1.5 hours later, they let me back in because, of course, right when they were going to let me in he crapped himself so they had to clean that up. So when I went in there they asked me to speak to him, AND HE OPENED HIS EYES!!!!!!! The tears just started welling up, he was loopy, but responding to simple requests and questions. He responded that he knew my name was Chris, and that he was in the hospital. He was not happy at all, he looked a bit mad and very much scared, which I think is to be expected. So I got to talk to him, but he was getting all worked up and kept trying to talk back to me, which is not good. So after about an hour, the nurse and I thought it would be best if they started his Ativan again to sedate him and let him rest and get some sleep. It was tough to leave him, but I am going to put my faith in the nurses that they know what is best. I am going to go back up there when my Dad gets here in an hour or so. It is very tough to see him struggling when he wakes up, not knowing what is going on. They keep telling me that he won't remember, but it is still tough to see. So now we need him to cooperate and relax, which we all know is not his strong suit given the situationl. I told them that if you give him any control, he will want to take all control which is bad. They will slowly start to reduce the sedative and allow him to start taking over the breathing. The better he does, and the more he cooperates, the quicker he will get out of the hospital.
It has been a huge step today, so much so that now I am thinking that I may stay out here a few more days so that I can talk to him. I haven't decided on that yet, but I am thinking about it.
Well that is the news that I have been waiting to type, and I got my wish today. Things could still go backwards, so we need to be cautiously optimistic about all this. What a day. Well remember hug your loved ones and tell them you love them.
Chris
Friday, December 8, 2006
All the kings horses, and all the kings men...
Hello all, just got of the phone with the nurse and PJ had another good night YIPEE! He no episodes of desaturation, and has done wonderfully since he got the trach. Not that the trach has contributed to it. So if we can continue to have these good days and nights, they will start to change the ventilator and start modifying the PEEP (Which I have no idea what that is), but the RT (Respitory Therapist) yesterday told me that is what we are wanting to be the next steps. So he is doing better. They are still bronching him daily, and they continue to get a bunch of stuff out of his lungs. They particularly get most of the stuff out of the upper right lobe. The RT told me yesterday that his lungs were looking better, not good yet but better than they have in the past.
I took off work today to rest and I will get to see him this afternoon. My dad gets here tonight, and Heather gets here tomorrow. PJ will have plenty of love here, which is great. I wish I could be here when he wakes up, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, they have been wonderful. Hug you loved ones and tell them you love them.
Chris
I took off work today to rest and I will get to see him this afternoon. My dad gets here tonight, and Heather gets here tomorrow. PJ will have plenty of love here, which is great. I wish I could be here when he wakes up, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, they have been wonderful. Hug you loved ones and tell them you love them.
Chris
Thursday, December 7, 2006
Picture of the spinning bed...
In case anyone wanted to see the spinning space bed from hell, here is a picture.
Chris
Another day, another piece of spaghetti...
PJ had a great day today. His vitals were good all day. Oxygen level was at a solid 40% all day long and he did really well with his new trach. We definitely need more days like we had today. His fever was down and they cut back his food supply today, which also means they cut down his insulin needs. I was able to see his left hand better today, although it looks good, that is definitely one of the areas that was hurt quite a bit. He is just doing so great. At this point, we need for him to continue like this for a while and then they will begin to reverse the respirator to make it more of PJ breathing. That is when they will start to bring him out of the coma and send him on the road to therapy.
PJ is doing so good that I keep trying to talk his nurse into letting me shave him so that I can shave designs in him. Big Guy and I think we should do 1 of 2 things: 1.) Shave a Hitler mustache on him (my personal favorite), or 2.) Big ugly shovel sideburns and a soul patch under the chin. In fact, post your comments to tell us what you would want us to shave on him, I am interested in hearing what everyone elses idea for shaving him like.
Well that is all for now, a great day for PJ and we need many more. Hug your loved ones and tell them you love them.
Chris
PJ is doing so good that I keep trying to talk his nurse into letting me shave him so that I can shave designs in him. Big Guy and I think we should do 1 of 2 things: 1.) Shave a Hitler mustache on him (my personal favorite), or 2.) Big ugly shovel sideburns and a soul patch under the chin. In fact, post your comments to tell us what you would want us to shave on him, I am interested in hearing what everyone elses idea for shaving him like.
Well that is all for now, a great day for PJ and we need many more. Hug your loved ones and tell them you love them.
Chris
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
I almost killed PJ...... Twice!
Just kidding. PJ received his tracheotomy today and given everything that he went through today, he did pretty darn good. While I was up there, I actually knocked the trach tube off twice while I was rubbing his arms. I had actually seen the nurse do it so I knew what to do. I was FREAKING OUT on the inside, but on the outside I was my old calm collected self. He did well today other than a brief episode of desaturation this morning. He was trached and bronched and CPT'd (which I really don't know what that is) and still had a good day of breathing. When I talked to the doctor today, he said that his lungs are healing, but it will take a little while. While they don't think it will be months, it won't just be days either. So we are still in the waiting game. So I entertained myself this evening by watching him blow large snot bubbles out of his nose as he rested. It was a wonderful sight to see, in fact at one point while the nurse was out Lynnette told me to suction it out. So I did! I got to use the small vacuum machine and sucked out a nice long spaghetti booger out of his nose. That was the highlight of my evening. It was a good day in PJ land today, and we need more of those.
I also got to see his entire right hand tonight and it looked great. He may have a few small scars, but nothing significant. He is moving along nicely with his burns. I decided that I am going to be flying out on Sunday with my Dad. Heather will take the reins here and keep us all updated.
Hug your loved ones, and tell them you love them!
Chris
I also got to see his entire right hand tonight and it looked great. He may have a few small scars, but nothing significant. He is moving along nicely with his burns. I decided that I am going to be flying out on Sunday with my Dad. Heather will take the reins here and keep us all updated.
Hug your loved ones, and tell them you love them!
Chris
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Tracheotomy here we come...
Well all, I had a brief visit with PJ tonight, mainly because I am exhausted after work today and I think that I need to rest a bit. PJ had a good day today. The doctors have asked for consent to do the tracheotomy on PJ for tomorrow. They said that although he is doing well, his lungs are still not great so he will need the ventilator longer than they can keep him on it through his mouth. So tomorrow he will be getting the trach around 10 - 11 am. I have a lighter day tomorrow so I should be able to get up to the hospital a bit earlier than today. So PJ is doing well, tomorrow is a trach and I will update the blog tomorrow morning to let folks know how everything is going.
Thanks to everyone for all the thoughts and prayers. They are greatly appreciated.
Chris
Thanks to everyone for all the thoughts and prayers. They are greatly appreciated.
Chris
Morning Report 12/5
Called the morning nurse, Scott, this morning and he told me that PJ had another good night. No episodes of desaturation which is what we want. They are going to bronch him today and told me they have to change some lines and tubes so that it would be good to come up in the afternoon. Hopefully we will have another good day today when I get up there and there will be more good news this evening.
Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers, they are greatly appreciated.
That is all for now,
Chris
Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers, they are greatly appreciated.
That is all for now,
Chris
Monday, December 4, 2006
There is a new smell in the air...
So as Steve has already told everyone, PJ is out of the spinning bed HALLELUJAH! Just in the nick of time too, because he was getting FUUUNNNKKYY. I mean I know that he is in a coma, but man was he starting to smell. So now that they have him out of that bed, they can give him a bath a bit more often. Ok seriously, he had a good day today. He did not "desat" at all during the day. He is staying strong, and we just need to continue that. Last nights episodes were not that bad, but frustrating because it was a setback. His temperature has been mild to normal. When I left tonight it was at 99.9. Now that he is out of the space age spinning stinky bed from hell, they are beginning to lower the paralytic drug so he is moving. It is more like involuntary muscle movement like a slight raise of the eyebrows, or his head will shake a bit. It is neat to see him moving a bit, and it appears like he kind of responds to you when you talk to him.
They are still holding out hope that they won't have to do the tracheotomy. I think that it is silly, but when I talked to the doctor today he said that he wanted to wait to see if we need it. My take on that is either the doctor has some hope that he will be off of the vent by Thursday, or he is delaying this aimlessly. They have to take him off of the vent through the mouth by Thursday so they don't risk damage to his vocal cords. So why wouldn't they just do it now unless they thought there was still a chance that he could be off of the vent in time. Anyway, that is my editorial opinion, no other factual evidence will back that up.
His wounds looked great today. He has no bandages at all on his face anymore, and his ear looks outstanding. The nurse this evening also told me that his hands have healed completely. I don't know this physically to be true other than her telling me. I still have yet to see his hands without bandages on them. His hair is growing back nicely, you can see the area that was burned off, as it is shorter than his other hair. The skin is blending nicely and his eyebrows are back. He only has a few scabs here and there on his face that should heal with very little scarring. So as I told my mother tonight, he will be just as ugly as he was before, which is great.
As you can tell, things were good today. I only kid him because I love him, and if it were me in there he would be writing the same thing about me. For those that know PJ you know that he is a joker and a prankster and loves to give people crap. I can't wait to give him crap and tell him I love him and give him a great big hug when he wakes up.
That is all from San Diego, I will try to write more in the morning after I call and talk to the night nurse.
Take care and kiss your loved ones!
Chris
P.S Kayler, Katelyn, Curtis, and Diane I miss you all very much and I can't wait to see you. I love you guys!
They are still holding out hope that they won't have to do the tracheotomy. I think that it is silly, but when I talked to the doctor today he said that he wanted to wait to see if we need it. My take on that is either the doctor has some hope that he will be off of the vent by Thursday, or he is delaying this aimlessly. They have to take him off of the vent through the mouth by Thursday so they don't risk damage to his vocal cords. So why wouldn't they just do it now unless they thought there was still a chance that he could be off of the vent in time. Anyway, that is my editorial opinion, no other factual evidence will back that up.
His wounds looked great today. He has no bandages at all on his face anymore, and his ear looks outstanding. The nurse this evening also told me that his hands have healed completely. I don't know this physically to be true other than her telling me. I still have yet to see his hands without bandages on them. His hair is growing back nicely, you can see the area that was burned off, as it is shorter than his other hair. The skin is blending nicely and his eyebrows are back. He only has a few scabs here and there on his face that should heal with very little scarring. So as I told my mother tonight, he will be just as ugly as he was before, which is great.
As you can tell, things were good today. I only kid him because I love him, and if it were me in there he would be writing the same thing about me. For those that know PJ you know that he is a joker and a prankster and loves to give people crap. I can't wait to give him crap and tell him I love him and give him a great big hug when he wakes up.
That is all from San Diego, I will try to write more in the morning after I call and talk to the night nurse.
Take care and kiss your loved ones!
Chris
P.S Kayler, Katelyn, Curtis, and Diane I miss you all very much and I can't wait to see you. I love you guys!
PJ's New Address
Just in case there are new friends reading this, I wanted to give out our new address. It will be better to send cards and pictures for PJ's room here to the house and I can take them to him. Our new address is:
PJ Meyerpeter
c/o Steve
1313 24th Street
San Diego, CA 92102
PJ Meyerpeter
c/o Steve
1313 24th Street
San Diego, CA 92102
Out of the Crazy Spinning bed
Hey everyone - I wanted to add a quick note. I am sure Chris will add a better note later. I had to leave him there to go back to work. PJ is out of the space bed - YIPPIE!!! Although he can go back in if things take a turn again. but for now he is in a real bed with sheets and everything!!! He was doing pretty good. he had great color in his face. I still marvel at how quick he is healing on the outside. He is looking more and more like pajamas everyday. It is those darn lungs that we need to get better. they got another good amount of stuff sucked out again today which is good. All of his stats seemed to be in the right direction. He was on 40% O2 when I left. His left ear is starting to look pretty good. I still have yet to see the back of his hands, but the upper arms are lookin pretty darn good. It was just so good to see him in a real bed again. lets just pray he has a couple good days again. Last nights episode wasn't a big hiccup but we need some smooth days/nights now.
A side note on PJ number 2 - he has had several operations that have completely cleaned away all of the dead skin and tissue. they will now start the graphs in ernest. they also have a plan to try to save his fingers - by graphing his hand to his body and letting the good skin grow around his hand with good strong tissue - absolutly amazing.
And good news for walter as well - when I walked by his room he was TALKING on the phone. they say he is going to be released from the ICU this weekend if not sooner. WAY TO GO WALT!!!!
Well look at that, how is that for a quick note - hahahaha
Have a great night everyone - steve
A side note on PJ number 2 - he has had several operations that have completely cleaned away all of the dead skin and tissue. they will now start the graphs in ernest. they also have a plan to try to save his fingers - by graphing his hand to his body and letting the good skin grow around his hand with good strong tissue - absolutly amazing.
And good news for walter as well - when I walked by his room he was TALKING on the phone. they say he is going to be released from the ICU this weekend if not sooner. WAY TO GO WALT!!!!
Well look at that, how is that for a quick note - hahahaha
Have a great night everyone - steve
Brief Morning Update on 12/4
Talked to the night nurse and PJ did have a few episodes of desaturation last night. He told me that the doctors were doing their rounds and would determine what they would like to do with him in regards to the bed. According to the nurse, the episodes were brief where he went to 89 - 85% oxygen level. So I don't know what that exactly means.
That is all for now.
Chris
That is all for now.
Chris
Sunday, December 3, 2006
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
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
Saturday, December 2, 2006
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
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
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
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