A note from Mom

From the Mom's point of view:

From reading Rebecca's wonderful entries, I appreciate the service she continues to give her brother. I know many friends and family members are following the story and are praying for Daniel. Thanks to all of you, even people who don't know us, who pray for his recovery. Even though it sounds in the blog entries that Daniel is making lots of progress, we have a very long way to go. Let me describe his room in the Intensive Care Unit: It is small, filled with a bed and many many machines and monitors. When I am in his room with a nurse and a doctor, we feel crowded. Daniel has many medications dripping into his multiple tubes, but we are seeing fewer meds each day. Daniel has his head elevated because of the feeding tube--if laying flat he might easily choke and get some fluid into his lungs. The pneumonia he is fighting appears to be from fluids aspirated into his lungs when he had the heart attack, so no chances can be taken to have that happen again. He is responding to antibiotics so we are hopeful the pneumonia is clearing. In addition to concerns with Daniel's heart, the main problem being addressed right now is possible brain damage. Through the myriad tests that have been run, there appears to be no permanent damage (one of many miracles), but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a struggle ahead. His brain did swell from lack of oxygen during the ordeal, and the swelling has caused some problems. His speech and behavior appear like someone who has had a stroke. His mind is very sharp and we can make each other laugh, but he is very hard to understand, as if his tongue is too thick. He gets frustrated when we have to ask him to repeat his words. He does best in the mornings when he has rested at night. Last night he got a full eight hours of sleep, and he was quite a character this morning! But as the afternoon drug on, he got more tired and I could tell he wasn't feeling well. His speech was very difficult to understand. He spiked another fever and the nurse had to give him some tylenol. I hope he is resting now. Rebecca is with him. This is the first break I have had since 7:00 AM (It is now 5:00 PM). Because he is being brought down from some meds that have kept him sedated, he cannot be alone at all. He is very agitated, but also alert and very aware of his surroundings. Those are not an easy combination for a caregiver. He wants to get up--he is sick of being in bed. He is tired of all the tubes and has decided to take them out by himself. He is very strong, and it is hard for me to keep him still. We finally untied his restrained arms today because he hated it so much. He was able to turn on his side and sleep for a while, until he had to be awakened for another test. He did well on this one, which was checking to see if he could have the feeding tube removed and eat normal food. He got his first foods--orange juice and tapioca. He will probably get the tube removed tomorrow. Yaay! Daniel has so many doctors, and they all work with teams of doctors in their own practices, so it is hard to keep them all straight. But most of the doctors came in this morning to check on him and said that they are astonished at the progress he has made considering what state he was in when he arrived at the hospital.(More miracle evidence!) But the Doctors did all temper their comments with reminders that he has a long way to go before he returns to life as he knew it one week ago. Rebecca has mentioned that his short term memory is a problem. He asks again and again what happened and why he is in the hospital. But he can remember things from many years ago. We pray there was no brain damage, but even the swelling will take a long time to heal and can cause frustrating behaviors for him. One of my brothers was in a bad car accident in high school, and had brain trauma. I spent enough time with him in ICU to know what to expect when Daniel starts healing--some really bad language, asking the same questions over and over, and difficulty speaking. A cardiologist did tell me this morning that he treated another case very similar to Daniel's heart attack a year ago, only with an 18 year old college student. That student recovered fully with time and we are hopeful of that same thing for Daniel. He was really being ornery and difficult with me for part of the day, but then he turned around and told me he loved me and apologized for having a heart attack. Every doctor or nurse who came in today--he would tell them thank you when they were leaving. Even though it took him a while to say it. Yaay! Manners survived the injury! Since Daniel's dad and younger sisters went back to Texas, and Rebecca is back at work during the day, things have changed a bit as far as my hospital schedule. I am required to be with Daniel full time. Because he is in ICU he is not supposed to have any visitors except immediate family, for several reasons--to prevent spreading of germs among critically ill patients, to limit stimulation that might make resting/healing more slow, and to allow patients privacy during a very difficult time when doctors and nurses must be able to get into those very small rooms in a big hurry. Because I have to stay with him, and I need to talk with doctors when they show up in his room (no clear schedule) I am unable to greet visitors in the lobby. The only time I am in the lobby is probably between 5-7:00 PM, during nurse's shift change. If you desire to contact Daniel, cards and letters will be read to him, or please post messages on this blog, or send a message to Rebecca's facebook. Thanks for your continual prayers and support for Daniel and our family. There is too much evidence to ever doubt that God watches over his children and answers prayers. We know the struggle may be long for Daniel, but God knows who Daniel is and has preserved his life at this time. ~Rochele Dunford