Saturday, August 15, 2009

S T I L L in the ICU

Steve is still in the ICU. He continues to have issues with different things. One day his magnesium and phosphorus were low. The next day his sodium was low. Then his sodium levels shot up.

He had a swallow evaluation. He has difficulty swallowing liquids which is the probable cause of pneumonia. The Speech Therapist will be working with him to strengthen his swallowing.

This is a long slow process (understatement).
They hope to do the biopsy on Monday or Tuesday.


A big thank you to all who offered to and did do the midnight irrigation.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Still in ICU

The Good:
Steve's blood pressure and breathing are better - still up and down - but better. He no longer is taking medication to keep his blood pressure up. He is down from 15 liters/minute of oxygen to 5 liters/minute.

The Bad:
Steve has a slight case of pneumonia and a blood clot behind his left knee.
They have started him on antibiotics and have put a filtering screen in a major vessel to keep the clot from going to his heart or lungs.

The Ugly:
A new lesion has developed outside of his brain stem that is large enough to biopsy. When Steve is well enough, they want to do a third biopsy. If they could get a diagnosis, they could have a more definite treatment plan.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Steve is back in ICU as a precaution

Steve had trouble keeping his oxygen level in a good range on Saturday evening. They were able to stabilize him by giving him oxygen at 15 liters/minute. They are reducing the rate gradually.

On Sunday morning his blood pressure dropped again. He has been transferred back to ICU as a precaution to closely monitor his statistics.

Luckily he does not feel any different with all the changes. He feels comfortable. He has a fantastic appetite although they have put him on a soft food diet - ugh.....

The doctors said that Steve's body does not follow medical rules.