Day 1 - Post Coiling Surgery

Hi again!

It's time to put on our prayer rally caps, and now that it's Lent, a few more trips to church wouldn't hurt. Jimmy is still not waking up. There can be a lot of contributing factors, and the doctors and nurses are doing their best to address them.

Of course, the obvious one is the fatigue that his body must be feeling. They are trying not to bother him too much but, unfortunately, are having to address other possible issues, so they are always fiddling with him.

He is also back on the ventilator because his heart rate is up, which is causing him to breathe more quickly and more shallow, and that is making his oxygenation level a little low. That faster heart rate doesn't exactly put his body in a very restful state either.

His fever is also high, and that can be a major contributor to his lack of responsiveness. He is not responding much to Tylenol and they can't use Motrin because he is already on major blood thinners and Motrin or aspirin will thin the blood too much. They are testing him for infection but everything is coming up negative so far. They have him on a broad based antibiotic for now. They are using ice baths and a cooling blanket also, but they have to try not to make him shiver as that will raise his already too high heart rate. Jimmy may just be suffering from what is called a brain fever, which is caused by swelling in the brain; that swelling can also be putting pressure on his brain stem, which would also explain his inability to respond to commands or wake up.

The good news is that Jim's CT scans and MRI are looking okay for now. The bypass looks great, and the coiling appears to be successful. His last CT showed some fluid building up in his brain ventricles, but that was because his EVD tube (brain drain) that they replaced yesterday morning had quit working again. They were going to have to replace it once more, which was a bleeding risk due to his high heparin blood thinner, so they decided to tap into his existing shunt instead and do some draining that way, which was a much safer option. They plan for him to go for another MRI tomorrow as they are watching him for possible stroke activity. Even a small stroke in Jim's brain stem would be devastating.

Dr. Spetzler told me that this next week will allow us to see if Jim is going to be able to survive this radical treatment or whether he won't. We knew that the risks were extremely high going into this, but we also knew that Jimmy was miserable and had no possibility of getting better without occluding the basilar artery to try to reduce the pressure from the thrombosis on his brain stem that was going to continue to get worse without taking this measure. There was no other choice, there was no option of waiting any longer, and there was no other place to try to accomplish this.

I still feel that God will bring us through this to the end, and that we will have a positive outcome, but we both knew it was not going to be easy. My Jimmy is famous for always making life interesting and prides himself for being able to think outside the box, so it's no surprise that he's keeping the doctors and nurses on their toes and having to use their creative thinking caps. I truly believe that God wouldn't be putting us through this if it wasn't His plan to take us across the finish line. Remember the adage, "If God takes you to it, He will take you through it." So, I am going to continue to think positively, and I need you all to do the same. We won't give God any other option other than the positive one we expect because He will have too many believers who have the kind of faith that He asks of us. We'll do our part, so God can do His!

Let's use this season of Lent to prepare ourselves to receive another gift of life -- Jimmy's, just like we celebrate the gift of eternal life that God has given to us all through the death and resurrection of His only son, Jesus Christ! Please pray your hearts out, along with me, and let's finish this game as winners!

Prayerfully yours,
Krissy