DAY 17 - SATURDAY

So sorry, again. We just realized that no one has blogged since Wednesday. It has been an exhausting couple of days and, unfortunately, at the end of each day, there was no energy left for blogging. So here goes. Thursday turned out to be a miserable day for Joe as he was in incredible pain that could not be controlled, no matter how much morphine, fentanyl and percoset they used. As everyone knows, it is very hard to watch a loved one in pain and be completely helpless to do anything. Everybody tried hard to give him some relief, but it just didn't happen that day. But let me add that we knew it was just a bump in the road for him and we know how incredibly well he is doing. We found out that some of the residents have nicknamed him "The Tank", bec. a tractor rolled over and dragged him and he was still able to make his own 9-1-1 call. It was just a rough day for him, and thus, for us. They hoped that day not to have to give him any more blood. I have kind of lost track, but I think he has received 20 units of blood, maybe a couple more that I might missed somewhere along the line, but the bleeding seems to have stopped. He still has plenty of drainage from the open wounds and into the drain from the surgical site, and into the wound vac. from the open area on the right tibia, but seems to be holding his own, so that is very positive.

So, that night, poor Megan came on - her first day back after a week off - with high hopes about how the night would go. When she came on, Joe was resting quietly - for about a nanno second. It was down hill from there. Joe managed to pull his feeding tube out and Megan didn't notice it immediately until she realized she was standing in a puddle. He was proudly holding the tube in his hand. Uh, oh. She replaced the ng tube and put the arm restraints on him. Somehow, he managed to get the ng tube out again, even with the restraints on. He is nothing if not determined. The rest of the night did not go any better. When we came back in to see him early in the morning, Megan looked haggard and the little angel was, once again, resting peacefully for a nanno second. Megan told us, "Don't be fooled. It has taken me 12 hours to get him to this point. We've had 12 hours of negotiations and I didn't win any of them". This from a man who is unable to speak. Megan said, "Thank goodness! Only 17 minutes until Derek (the day nurse) gets here". It was quite a night for everybody. And for someone who really needs some rest to heal, not resting is getting to be a little bit concerning.

So Derek's shift began the same way. Fortunately, this day they seemed to be able to get a grip on the pain, but unfortunately bec. of that, it began a whole day of insisting he wanted to get out of bed, trying to move himself, insisting he needed to take a shower and on and on. Even though his pain seemed to be under control, he was not comfortable all day with back pain and kept trying to shift himself and tried to pull himself around . Nobody could figure out how he was managing to skootch himself all around, but he did. After hours and hours of this, and hours and hours of pulling off tubes, bandages, his identification bracelet and blood pressure cuff, Derek finally told us that he was suffering from "ICU psychosis". Personally, I think I have that myself, but that's a different story. So, once again, a long, miserable day for everybody ... but he is still doing wonderfully and we have no complaints. Couple of little blips with his insulin and some other small problems that needed attending. I've been asked many times if he is diabetic and my reply is that he didn't have it when he came in here, so please take care of it.

So by the time that Megan got on at night, there was a plan for getting him to sleep finally. It took several hours and more drugs, but voila, finally rest and sleep. He did look like a new man this morning when we arrived.

So, the update on the injuries. The lungs are starting to heal and re-inflate. Both chest tubes have been removed. He is now on a trach collar, which just keeps humidified oxygen going through trach. He is completely off the ventilator. The contustion on the heart is healing nicely. Ditto for the liver. The hip has been repaired and the femur has a rod in it. The head of the Trauma unit was in and asked how the "Miracle Man" was doing. He said the ribs are starting to mend together, as are the vertebrae. Somehow, the surgical residents managed to slip in last night and remove the drain from the hip and femur and disappear into the wind again without me or the nurse spotting them. They are crafty and quick and I have had to literally ankle tackle them several times to get some answers. However, that looks good and they are pleased so far. The rod in the right tibia looks good and he is still 2 hours on and 2 hours off on the machine that is slightly bending his knee and extending his leg. His left leg still has the external fixators on it and the word right now is that they are O.K. with that for now, but may require further surgery down the road. It may also require some skin grafting, but the more time that goes on, he is starting to do some healing on his own. They will wait and see. The plastic surgery on the right leg will be scheduled for next Tuesday or Wednesday and they will decide at that time whether they will need to do some muscle grafting or just a skin graft. Everyone is pleased and amazed at his progress and we are (quietly) wild with hope, joy and optimism. We are still learning about how many people really never thought he would survive, but no one ever said that to us and we never believed it for a minute.
I know that I keep saying this, but we can't thank everyone enough for all their thoughts and prayers. They are so important to Joe's recovery, so if you can, please keep them coming his way. They are helping. If you could, please keep our new waiting room friends, families and patients - Dana Carr and our new friend, Todd, and his family, both critically injured in biking accidents. Love, Cindi
Just a P.S. We have heard that some people have had trouble with the blog. You do not have to have a Google account to post a blog. You can just sign on as "Anonymous". But it does not cost anything to open a Google account and you do not have to share any personal or confidential information.