MRI results…

GOOD NEWS! The results from the MRI confirmed that Jerry has not had a stroke and there is still no need for surgery!

They also revealed that Jerry has suffered brain damage in 3 places on both sides of the front of his brain. The extent to which this damage will affect his functioning cannot be determined until he wakes up and the swelling in his brain goes down.

Linda/Mom says ‘Hi’ to all and truly appreciates all the love and well-wishing. Colin will be printing your messages so mom can read them to Jerry. Mom will be stopping by to update you all this afternoon after rounds. Hopefully, she will have some answers about Jerry’s fever and the possibility of pneumonia.

Sarah

we spoke to a doctor!

Today, mom and I spoke to Dr. Kenny who will be his ‘body’ doctor this week. She couldn’t tell us much about the condition of his brain or his eye. When we spoke to her, she had only been on for a few hours and wanted to talk to the specialists and ‘triple check’ before she told us anything about that. She informed us that there is a possibility that Jerry is developing pneumonia, so she’s going to keep an eye on his lungs and fever. It’s nothing to worry about just yet. Thankfully, she encouraged mom to go home and sleep, saying that he’s going to need her when he wakes up – she emphasized that there’s not much Mom can do now, so she needs to rest for the upcoming weeks.

In other news, Jerry had an MRI this afternoon and we are awaiting the results. Because of the test and the prep for it, Mom could not be in his room for a better part of the afternoon, so I took her home and she had a nap. She seems almost refreshed, which is a relief. She also slept through the night last night and has been remembering to eat.

I will update as soon as I know the results of the MRI.

Sarah

Another Good Day

Jerry continues to improve, but he is still in critical condition in the ICU and has yet to fully regain consciousness.

There is increased movement on his right side, which may indicate a reduction in the swelling in his brain – we are currently waiting for the results of this morning’s CT scan.

Mom will finally spend a night outside the hospital tonight. Sarah is on her way back from New York and Mom will be staying with her for at least the next week.

Mom needs everyone’s thoughts and prayers now as the enormity of the next several months of recovery and rehab has begun to sink in.

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Colin

72+ Hours!

I’m about to head back to Toronto after spending the evening in Cambridge.  I just spoke to Mom, and she reports that all is well.  Jerry’s fever is still there but his ‘white count’ is still high which means that whatever infection is causing the fever is not very severe.

Also, Mom spent the day watching a number on one of Jerry’s machine fall lower and lower.  When she finally had the courage to ask the nurse what is was, she was told “Oh, that’s the pressure in his head. Anything under 10 is normal.”  Jerry’s machine reads 4. It had been as high as 15 before today.  This is a good sign leading into his next CT scan tomorrow morning – his first since passing the 72-hour milestone.

I will post again in the morning after we talk to Dr. Bolton at morning rounds.

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Colin

Some Geek Stuff

I’m home for the evening since Jerry & Mom are in such good shape today. I wanted to point out a few technical things:

1. I’ve added an “Email Update” feature so that youcan get new posts sent straight to your email inbox. All you have to do is click on the orange button at the bottom of the main page in the sidebar of every page under the words “Email Updates”
2. You can see photos of Jerry by clicking on the Photos link, also on the bottom of the main page in the sidebar of every page.

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Colin

Good News

We just had a chat with Jerry’s primary Neurosurgeon, Dr. Bolton. He is confident that Jerry’s slowness to respond is due to the fever and not any changes in his head injury. The fever has abated somewhat also, so we can breathe a little bit easier this afternoon.

Everyone’s support and prayers are so very appreciated. I’ve been showing Mom the emails and blog comments as they come in. Thank you so much.

If you are praying for Jerry, I have a request: pray also for the Sheehy family. Steve Sheehy sustained a head injury while visiting Toronto from Michigan. His family is with him here in Toronto and they need your prayers also. Steve’s recovery blog is here: http://stevesheehy.blogspot.com/

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Colin

A Setback

Jerry’s developed a fever. They are trying to determine the cause. It could be related to his injury or it could be a lung infection — he had aspirated a fair amount of vomit during the initial episode.
They are treating it with a “cold blanket” and possibly with a cooling IV. They are waiting for bloodwork results that will hopefully tell them where the infection is.

This is not a catastrophic development, but it is obviously not helpful either. We continue along the roller-coaster of recovery…

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Colin

More Improvements

We’ve just come from seeing Jerry for the first time in over 5 hours. The night nurse looking after him said that he was doing really well and has regained some mobility on his right side.

he pointed out that with head injuries, the recovery path is not linear – it’ll be “2 steps forward, one step back” for quite some time.
Jerry’s eyes were open the entire time we were there. It’s unclear just how aware he is, though he does seem to respond to familiar voices.
I wanted to let everyone know that the nursing staff here has been excellent. Jerry always has at least one nurse responsible soley for his care. She is often joined by a student or two (it’s a teaching hospital) so the nurse:patient ratio is sometimes as high as 3:1!

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Colin

A Good Rest

Mom got a solid 5 hours of sleep last night.

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Colin

Friday Night Update

It’s been an up & down day. This morning, Jerry opened his eyes on his own and turned his head towards voices he recognizes. As the morning went on he became progressively less responsive on his right side which led to a CT scan around 10:30am. The CT results showed no change from his intake CT. This was good news.
The day wore on and his right side responsiveness continued to slide. A second (third, total) CT scan again showed no change in the hematoma. This led the team to believe that something else is causing the lack of motion – perhaps a nerve pinch.

We learned a few things today. First, apparently high blood pressure is a good thing with a brain injury. Apparently, the swelling in the brain constricts the blood vessels which requires a higher blood pressure to ensure that the oxygen is reaching all the parts of the brain.

We also learned the difference between a respirator & a ventilator. A respirator breathes for the patient with no effort required by the patient – this is how Jerry was breathing when we first saw him at Cambridge Memorial Hospital. A ventilator helps the patient breathe, but the breath must be initiated by the patient. This is how Jerry is breathing now. It is a much more natural breathing – if it weren’t for the tube, you wouldn’t know he was on a machine at all.

Tomorrow at 7pm, Jerry will pass the magic 72-hour mark. If he makes it until then without surgery (that’s the expectation) then he’s as close to “out of the woods” as he can be – and a transfer out of ICU would follow shortly barring any further complications.

We are also holding up well. Arminta and Hannah came for a visit this afternoon which made Grandma very happy. Hannah couldn’t go in to see Grandpa J, so she set about charming an entire ICU waiting room instead!
Off to sleep for me. It’ll be another long day tomorrow.

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Colin