Well last night seemed to be the longest night, not because of any emergency type things but just because Dart and I were both rather tired and we stayed up all night again. It seems that we are the unofficial 'All Night Shift' for the vigils for Sam. Sam would often 'wake' up due to a little coughing and start taking breaths for himself, not being totally forced into his lungs, and then one of the nurses would come in and press the 'Auto Correct' button that gets Sam's breathing back on track with the machine. It just seemed like it was a bunch of that and his temperature and ICPs jumping around, he really seemed to keep the night nurses busy and in constant awareness.
Last night has become pretty much a blur in that all of the nights have seemed to blend together. I think that in Sam's case that might be good because he isn't being rushed off for emergency surgeries or anything like that. Early last night he had two ice blankets put on him, one under him to lay on and one over him like a regular blanket. He was given some more meds to lower both his ICPs and his temp to numbers that the nurses and the rest of the staff would like to see. The blankets were taken off of him at around 3am because his temp had fallen to about 37 degrees celsius, about 98.6 degrees fahrenheit.
It was just a night of constant moving on ours and nurses' parts just trying to keep Sam comfortable. Early this morning there was talk of Sam going in for another CT scan, although his nurse thought that it would be a waste because she didn't think that he had made enough progress in a few hours to warrant jostling him about to see the Sam results as the last test. When the doctors came on their rounds this morning right before shift change she told them what she thought and they were kind of reluctant to listen but ended up listening because they knew that she had been with him all night and she probably knew what she was talking about more than they did. This morning they did result to putting Sam in an actual drug induced coma, as he was just heavily sedated before, so that his ICPs and other vitals would stay down. In this coma Sam was also given a muscle and bone like, movement blocker to keep him from moving his limbs which will also keep his pulse down. I know it sucks but this is the best thing for Sam right now and since this is not about us but about him it is okay because it will help him get better.
We were also told that there is a possibility that Sam has pneumonia mainly due to the fact that he is intubated and on a ventilator, and it is also a common thing with head injury patients. So, from this we can take that pretty much everything that is happening/ going on with Sam is common with patients with such extensive head injuries as him. Although this is not what we want to hear it does kind of ease our dismay because it has been prepared for and expected by the nurses. All we can do on the sidelines is keep praying and be there for each other because that is what Sam would want from us. So, Just Keep Praying.
In God We Trust>>>Cameron Huntting
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Cameron Huntting (chunttin@uoregon.edu)
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3 comments:
Cameron
You do a really great job of describing what is going on and what it all means. I know that it helps others to be kept up to date and to be kept encouraged.
I could not be more proud of you.
Love, your night-shift side-kick (Aunt Dart)
PS Sleep extra tonight and I will too since Aunt Stacy is taking the all-nighter. Then we'll be ready to be back at it on Saturday.
PSS We need a new card game to play. Any suggestions for something simple from any one??
sam is lucky to have been born into this family, i wish the very best to all of you. i can't begin to imagine what you have been through. it's been a long time since ive prayed for anything. but i pray now more than ever. hang in there sam
-twich-
Hi Cameron,
Thank you for your contuing comprehensive updates. I remember the many long nightshifts I used to do, trying to get some rest on very basic extra beds because I almost always had to go to work the following day.
What you do is very hard work, both physically and mentally, and you will find yourself very exhausted. But it has its rewards, let me ensure this to you, no matter what the outcome is.
As always, I hope that Sam will be doing better after another night.
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