10-25-03
Dear Family and Friends,
Remember I mentioned that Tim had some problems with his catheter recently? Well, it escalated into a larger problem this week. I had noticed that Tim’s abdomen seemed to be swelling, as well as his legs, but when I asked the staff at the hospital, I was told that everything was fine. Well, it really wasn’t. The urologist finally did an ultrasound that showed Tim’s bladder was distended and his kidneys were enlarged. Evidently, he was unable to evacuate urine, but it wasn’t really noticed because his bladder was being irrigated with so many fluids. The doctor determined that the foley had been placed in a false passage. I have never heard of such a thing – have you? Anyway, the doctor quickly used a scope to find the right passage, replaced the catheter, and Tim immediately evacuated 1500 cc of urine. I still have some questions for the doctor, and will let you know how everything turns out. Tim has been pretty tired looking since this incident and today he looked pale. But, I am told his vitals are fine, strong.
Oh, this past weekend, Tim was given a new trach. It is smaller and can be plugged so that Tim breathes on his own – which he has been doing since it was put in. Today, I arrived just in time to help finish up his bath. After he was all cleaned up, we got him sitting up in the cadillac chair. The nurse suggested I take Tim outside, so I did for about 20 minutes.
Dan celebrated his 11th birthday this week. I took the kids to the State Fair. We had never been to it before. We watched the Wild West Show and rode some of the carnival rides. Dan declared the evening to be “his best birthday ever” (except, he said, that daddy wasn’t there). Oh, Dan also FINALLY hooked a big fish this week – unfortunately, it got away. REALLY. I am a witness. The hook came off. Still, he was thrilled to get one on his line finally.
I appreciate that you continue to check the website and faithfully pray. I wanted to ask you to pray for my aunt, Judy. She was just diagnosed with bone marrow cancer and has begun chemo treatments. Thanks.
Oh, in the last update, I mentioned a coma scale, but when I was writing the update, I was tired and couldn’t remember the entire name of the scale. I meant to look it up before Becky posted the update, but forgot. The scale is called the Rancho Los Amigos Coma Scale and Tim is at level 2. Level 1 is no response at all. Level 2 is a generalized response to external stimuli. Tim makes some responses, but they are always the same and not necessarily directly related to what he was asked to do. Level 3 would be a big improvement because at that level people make specific responses, even though delayed and inconsistent. There are 8 levels that people progress through when coming out of a coma. Sometimes, though, people plateau at a level and stay there for good, so we are praying that Tim will start to progress again – soon.
Maranatha,
Carole and the Kids