Sunday Night Monday Morning

Well tonight started off like anyother with the anticipation of being tired the while time and the distinct possability of nothing happening at all. Other than that we encountered the usuall ICP spikes with Sam's temp staying around where it should be.

Some excitement did take place when one of the many bags containing Sam's meds ran out and the machine it was attached to began to beep letting anyone within earshot know. It continued and as Tom had stepped out for a second the on duty RN came in and to tend to things. That seemed to be the end until the RN left and Tom came in and as he (Tom) and Dart were standing on either side of Sam's bed, Sam began to get quite restless and actually needed to be restrained and held down.

After moving quite a bit Sam opened his eyes and on command managed to wiggle his thumb again when prompted by Dart. And even squeezed anyone's hands with plenty of strength and I think he took a couple of nurses by surprise at how strong he actually is. At that point it seemed a good idea to Bolus Sam with more sedatives to calm him down because his ICPs spiked to about 28 but then made a quick drop to a little below 10 or so and everything kind of smoothed out from there. But it was really awesome for him to open his eyes and be able to listen to some one then perform the action required by them. But even though this is great the spike in his ICPs shows that his brain isn't ready for any significant kind of pressure required to operate while not sedated.

After just a bit we left the room because Sam required a bath, but from what I could tell it was only me that needed a bath 'cause Sam seems to be getting more than I ever have. It also seems that he is taking more baths than he ever did at home and he doesn't have to do anything, LUCKY! except the being in the hospital thing kind of sucks. After his bath we came back to his room and noticed the lights were all the way on and his ICP was staying at 5. Tom thinks it is due to Sam not being/wearing the Arctic Suite Cooling Unit and as long as his temp stays where it is (37.0) he won't have to wear it. This is a big deal because the Arctic Suite is like wearing a nearly ice cold wet suit that is constantly wet where it is making contact with you skin but not anywhere else on your body and it is also coated with some sticky stuff on the inside that makes it stick to your skin and causes quite a bit of discomfort. And that is one of the reasons Sam's ICP was so high while he was wearing it.

Here are some quickly formulated notes from last night:

2:15am- ICP staying between 5 and 7 Temp at 36.8, no body suit no cold blanket and everything looks good.
2:50am- Tom and 2 others moved Sam and he woke up and on command he opened his right eye and almost his left and wiggled his thumb too. Tom feels Sam is regulating his temperature more on his own. Sam has really been working at waking up most of the night.
4:50am- Sam stirred and opened his eyes, kicked off the PT boot on his left foot. Squirmed, opened right eye and mostly opened left eye. ICP got to 30. No shivering since removal of Arctic Suit.

So, as you can tell Sam is very determined to wake up whether he is being sedated or not. This is a good sign as the doctors think that Sam is over the hardest part of this but his brain still can't take the pressure right now. Yet, even though it can this is a good sign, and we know that this could be a dance of 2 steps forward and 1 step back we will eventually get to the end and that is okay cause we know that Sam is gonna pull through. We have also begun to tell him he is in the hospital, when he wakes up, but that there is family there with them because when he wakes up he seems a little unsure of where he is and maybe a little scared. That is the main reason that there is always a family member in the room with him just in case.

Well everyone that is this morning's update and I am tired and need to go to bed, but keep praying because it is helping and you can never pray to much for anything. So, do whatever it is you do to think of Sam, light candles, pray for him, think of him or anything it is all helping and will continue to help into the future.
Thank you and Good Night (maybe a little cliche but I am the one writing this section of the blog so get over it.)

In God We Trust>>>Cameron Huntting
--
Cameron Huntting (chunttin@uoregon.edu)