Wednesday, November 30, 2005

 

November 30th

Not a lot to report today. Jeremy seemed a bit more comfortable physically than yesterday. He reported that his fever was gone for a time today-yay! However, when I left it was back up over 101 degrees. I reminded him that for whatever reason fevers seemed to come back at night-I know other people probably have told him that too but it seemed like the thing to say. Today he was visited by physical therapists who gave him some exercises to start doing to build his strength up. He is supposed to be talking to a couple of his doctors tomorrow so that he can ask them some questions.

Jeremy seemed very depressed today-but this is probably totally normal-I know that I'd be depressed. It was pointed out to me earlier that we have all had a lot more time to process everything going on than Jeremy has-he just kind of awakened half way through. He wants so badly to gain some independence and do things on his own. It is becoming increasingly obvious that this will be a terribly long process-and it's going to take the entire village to get it accomplished.

Thanks for bring there for this journey.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

 

November 29th

Well, once again surgery did not go as we had expected it to. Jeremy is OK-but more of the muscle tissue in his left leg had died. They will be removing another inch and a half to two inches on Friday. The reason that they were not able to do this today is because his left femur had a rod through it. The rod had to be removed through his hip. After the rod was removed they found that his femur was still too fragile to cut through. They have made a splint for his leg to hold it still and allow more healing to take place-this is very uncomfortable for him. For the next couple of days they will be flushing him with antibiotics. On Friday they will put a plate in his femur and continue with the amputation. There is one small bright spot that we found and that is that when they do this amputation there will be very little of the burn left on his leg-so hopefully they won't have to do skin grafts-or if they do they will be minimal.

Jeremy is in a lot of pain and very tired. He's making sure we know it too. He said that someone had been constantly bothering him since surgery-and he was right. He's had X-rays and respiratory therapists, and nurses, and speech therapists-you name it. His nurse (Kim) told me that he just had to get some rest. We decided to leave and give him some quiet time (I could tell that he was thinking hard about a lot of things anyway). His nurse told me that she was going to give him a little "IV loving"-meaning that she was going to give a boost of pain medicine and hope he would go to sleep. Mom and Dad came home long enough to eat and then headed back down to see him again before bed.

If there is anything new to report tonight after I talk with Mom and Dad I'll get back on and make another post. Otherwise I'll just wait until tomorrow night.

Monday, November 28, 2005

 

Monday, November 28th

Jeremy is first up for surgery tomorrow. We are hoping that all they will be doing is skin grafts on his left leg-with no surprises this time. He is very worried about this surgery-which seems odd to those of us who have already sat through so many surgeries with him-but for him it is the first surgery since he's really been awake. I imagine they will be taking him fairly early and there has been no word on how long it will last.

It was nice to be able to talk with Jeremy tonight. He is very clear-in fact, I didn't see any of the strange side effects of medication. He passed his swallow test and was able to have a Coke-Hallelujah! The nurse told him for now that he had to be on a clear liquid diet-meaning you have to be able to see through it. Jeremy and I discussed the fact that beer is in fact "see-through" but decided it might really mess with his pain meds. :)

The test that they did on his stomach and gall bladder was also done-it was actually kind of an ultra-sound. It turned out to be just fine. His fever was down a bit today too. So, all things considered, he had a pretty good day. Hopefully he will get some sleep tonight and be well rested for tomorrow's adventure.

One of us will post information following surgery tomorrow. Keep your fingers and toes crossed and say a few prayers.
Thank you.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

 

Sunday, November 27th

Just briefly wanted to let you know that surgery is actually going to be on Tuesday-that's a good thing because that means he was bumped because he's no longer the most critical. Sounds strange doesn't it? He continues to be alert and is asking a gazillion questions. Jeremy is very uncomfortable and wants so badly to be able to drink a Coke and hold his cat among other things. He is anxious to spend time with Mom and Dad but has found it to be a bit stressful to have other visitors. He hasn't slept in a couple of days and he is very, very tired. Don't get me wrong-that doesn't mean that you can't come by-but he may not want to see visitors or the nurses may not think that he is up to having visitors in his room. Please don't be offended by this-he is just trying so hard to sort things out-and he feels extra rotten due to his fever.

He did get to see Madeline today-which was a big surprise-and called for some quick thinking on Mommy's part as I hadn't actually told her all of the details about his legs. We all thought that we had more time before this would happen. We actually had a decent talk about it in the car on the way to the hospital-and she had a funny look on her face-when I asked if she was OK she said yes, but that she was sad for Uncle Jeremy. We talked about the doctors making him new legs someday and the fact that he is still the Uncle Jeremy that she loves. The nurses say that he speaks of her constantly so they allowed him to come out in his big chair and see her for an extremely short amount of time. Hopefully, both Jeremy and Madeline realize that this won't be happening each time she is at the hospital-they just made an exception on a quiet Sunday morning. She, of course, played shy and was very quiet with him-but I think it did his heart good just to see her-and I think it helped her to realize that he really is still here. He's been shut behind those closed doors for 5 weeks now-that can be very strange to a four year old mind-it's strange to my 33 year old mind.

It sounds like the doctors will be doing a swallow test on Jeremy tomorrow-although we're not really sure how that will work when his jaw is wired shut. Hopefully this will show that he doesn't have difficulty swallowing and soon he can get a few sips of that Coke he wants so badly. The infectious disease team is also going to do some type of test on his stomach and gall bladder to see if that infection is hiding in one of those areas-so although he doesn't have surgery tomorrow it sounds like he will be busy.

I'll let you know tomorrow about the timeframe of Jeremy's surgery on Tuesday. Your prayers are working-keep it up.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

 

November 26th

Much the same today-Jeremy still has a fever which indicates that there is still infection. I fear that it is in his left leg and wonder what they will find as they head into surgery yet again on Monday. He was very clear today when I went to the hospital. He wanted to know about the girl that caused the accident. He asked questions about his house, the car, his cat, etc. He knows about his legs-but I'm not completely sure that reality has set in-in fact I'm reasonably sure that it hasn't. We continue to tell him that he is going to be OK, he is going to be able to return to his work, he'll be able to walk again, and even drive a car. We also tell him that his friends and the rest of his family are so anxious to see him and we read him all of your cards and letters. He said to me earlier that he would have a lot of responses to make-I told him that we'd take care of that for him.

The medication is playing tricks on his mind and so he is spending a lot of time trying to differentiate between what is reality and what is not-for instance, he told me several times that he saw Madeline run by in the hallway-and even made me go check despite the fact that I told him that she was not there. Some of this confusion may stem from his high fever as well as the medication. He is uncomfortable and says that he is hungry. Mom is spending the night with him at the hospital tonight to ease his mind a little.

Some good things-he is totally off of the vent and the dialysis-they have even taken those wires out and removed the machines from the room. It has been easier to understand what he is saying-and when he is clear minded-he is very clear minded.

There will be surgery on Monday-I don't know details yet but will be sure to update tomorrow.

Friday, November 25, 2005

 

November 25th

There was little change today for Jeremy-still has a fever, still very alert, still responsive, and still frustrated. They did take the splint off of his right wrist for awhile today-then later it was replaced with a different type of splint that allows his fingers to move a bit. We had slightly more success with understanding him today. He made it very clear that he wanted some ice cream-he repeated that throughout the day. Of course, that's just not possible right now-but I, for one, intend to take him the biggest bowl of whatever kind he wants as soon as he can have it.

We noted that he sort of comes in and out of reality with his questions-he knows who we are but often seems to think he's at the hotel or needs to be working his shift. Other times he is perfectly clear and asks questions about what is around him. I'm sure that this has a lot to do with the pain killers, sedatives, and antibiotics that he has been on for weeks. Mom and Dad did try to talk with him some about what has happened-but it is unclear how much he was able to process and remember-we will probably have to go over it many times. When I left today he was sitting up and watching a Smallville DVD-he was uncomfortable but the nurses were coming to put him back in his bed. Mom and Dad stayed several more hours and felt that he was OK with them leaving and that he was in need of rest.

I'll be sure to update you again tomorrow-let's all pray for the fever to go down and the infection to go away.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

 

Thanksgiving

Well, Jeremy remains about the same today-fever is about one degree less than it was yesterday-but still a problem. There is a team of infectious disease doctors that are continuing to look for various causes of infection. I pray that I'll be able to pass along good news about that soon.

He was very alert and responsive today-which is good-but I can see and feel his frustration as he tries to communicate with us. He moved his arms around a lot today and seemed to attempt to gesture at things.

It was a long hard day-but I think it some ways it brought new meaning to Thanksgiving. We are so thankful that Jeremy is still here with us and seems to be taking steps to improvement-no matter how small. We are also thankful to you-his friends and family (and ours) for the support you are giving him in so many ways. Next year we will have so much to celebrate.

Sarah-and the entire Warriner Family

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

 

November 23rd

Jeremy has had a rough day. He is still running a fairly high fever so the doctors are looking for additional infections. He was very alert and responsive today but between his fever and the amount of pain he has he just feels rotten. He's been trying to communicate with us which is frustrating for him and for us because we can't understand him. There is supposed to be a speech therapist coming in the next couple of days to work with him on how to use the new trach-so hopefully it won't be long before we can really talk to him. It is still unclear what he does or does not know about the accident and about his legs. We have yet to actually tell him but we know the time draws near.

Several people have asked us what they should specifically pray for concerning Jeremy right now. I think my parents and I agree that what is most concerning to us right now is the infection that won't seem to let go. It is impeding everything that concerns his progress. Please pray for the doctors to be able to find and treat this infection-and that his body is able to heal.

Take care of each other over the holiday weekend and please be safe in your travels. I'll update more tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

 

November 22nd

I visited with Jeremy after school today. He was fairly alert and definitely in more pain than I've seen him in. This is partially due to the skin grafts as they took his own skin this time. They were doing their best to keep him comfortable without "over medicating" him.

Some positive things today-the doctor's seem to have found the source of Jeremy's infection and put him on an antibiotic that reacts to this infection late this afternoon. Jeremy has been off the vent all day. His trach is going to be replaced with a trach that will (eventually) allow him to speak. He has also been off dialysis because his kidneys have been producing a good amount of urine. They will be continuing to monitor this situation but we are certainly hoping that he will not have to go back on dialysis.

I met his orthopedic surgeon on the way out the door. She told me how badly she felt about his knee-but said that she still intends for him to be able to walk-it's just going to be much harder. She said that she's been told that Jeremy is a very determined man (I like to call it extremely stubborn) and thinks he will be a great rehab patient.

I think that's about it for today. I'll check in with you again tomorrow. Keep those prayers coming!

Monday, November 21, 2005

 

A Rough Day

Jeremy's surgery was delayed until close to 6:00 this evening-thus the late entry on the blog. We have had some sad news-the doctors had to go ahead and amputate Jeremy's left knee. When they undid the dressings for surgery they found that the bone had not healed from last week's surgery and that there was a large blood clot that had caused the muscle tissue to die. If they had allowed this tissue to remain it would have caused an extremely serious infection for Jeremy. Also-the leg would not have been viable for a prosthesis. They were able to go ahead and do skin grafting on his right leg. Skin grafting on his left leg has been postponed until the beginning of next week. Therefore-another surgery. He came through this surgery fine. When Mom and Dad left around 10:15 he was sleeping and should sleep through the night.

It is still our belief that Jeremy will know about his legs in the next couple of days. Please continue to pray that he will find the strength to deal with all of this information as well as for his physical healing.

Thank you so much.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

 

Sunday, November 20th

Yay! I got to go see Jeremy after having to stay away for so many days. I was pleased to see that he was fairly alert-and seemed genuinely happy to see me. He tried to say a few things to me-but unfortunately he can't talk right now so it was hard to understand. I did get him to answer some yes and no questions and was able to show him some pictures that Madeline drew for him which produced a smile. Please understand that when I say alert and responsive I do not mean that he knows about everything that has happened. There is a whole range of emotions that flash over his face-from being happy to see us all the way to being confused and sad. We continually reassure him that he is going to be OK and that he is safe and well cared for in the hospital. He is in and out of alert states-which is OK because he really needs to rest. He will be more sedated again tomorrow due to surgery and probably on Tuesday too as he begins to recover.

Here is the medical update. Surgery is still scheduled for tomorrow (Monday). This is an orthopedic surgery to shape the bones in his right leg and burn surgery-skin grafting with his own skin. Jeremy is second in line for surgery-tentatively scheduled around 12:00 but if you'll recall this is what we were told last week when his surgery didn't actually start until 4:30. He did spike a pretty high fever this afternoon (103 degrees). The good news in this is that the cultures have finally come back positive and hopefully by tomorrow they will be able to identify the bacteria that is causing the infection and find the appropriate antibiotic to treat it. For the time being he has been given the same "broad-spectrum" antibiotic that he was taking before.

Other good news is that Jeremy has been off the vent for almost two days. He does have a trach collar and there is some sort of oxygen mask that fits over the trach to assist him-but he is really breathing on his own. They will, of course, have to put him back on the vent for tomorrow's surgery but didn't seem to feel that it would be a problem to get him off again soon.

That is my news for now-please take a few minutes and send some good thoughts and prayers towards Jeremy as he heads into yet another surgery. Hopefully this will be the last major surgery. Probably by the end of this week-unfortunately nearing Thanksgiving-we will have to tell him all that has happened and about his legs. We (especially my mom and dad) could use some thoughts and prayers to get us through this too if you think of it.

As always, thanks for everything you are doing,
Sarah

Saturday, November 19, 2005

 

Oh...and one more thing

One more thing that Mom wanted me to clarify-the Warriner Family Fund information that you see to the left of the screen says to send it c/o the People's Burn Foundation. This is not because the Burn Foundation gets any percentage of this money-100% goes into the account. The People's Burn Foundation will simply be keeping a record of who sends money so that we can thank you individually and appropriately-apparently banks are not very good about that. Thanks for your generosity.

 

Jeremy's day on Friday

Sorry this is just now getting on here-I think I'm on the mend now after 24 hours of antibiotics and some sleep. Jeremy was up for about 4 1/2 hours yesterday. He was off of the vent for a long portion of the day-in fact I think that they didn't put it back on until about midnight last night. He was much more alert and somewhat responsive-he is able to nod when the nurses ask him questions and even indicated somehow that he wanted a drink-which sadly they could not give him. They did have to put him back on dialysis-he was producing plenty of urine on his own but was not flushing out the things that needed to come out. Hopefully this will just be temporary. He is still runing a low-grade fever so the doctor's continue to search for the infection. Surgery is still scheduled for Monday on his right leg and skin grafts with his own skin on both legs-probably around 12:00. I don't know much else having been out of the loop for a couple of days but it seems like we are taking baby steps forward which is good. I am so upset to have been banned from the hospital but have been given clearance to go back tomorrow.

The doctor's and nurse's-and our family- would like to remind people that we would love for you to come and visit in the waiting room, sign Jeremy's book, bring him CD's, and work on the quilt squares-but as much as we know you all want to see Jeremy he just gets too quickly agitated and tired out at this point when people come in. He tries to respond to people and when he gets frustrated everything shoots up-blood pressure, heart rate, rate of breathing, etc.

As soon as he is more stable and we are better able to communicate with him and he is able to communicate more with us about his wants and needs we will most certainly let you know and hope that you will come see him-although just one or two people at a time. You-his friends and family-are going to be an essential piece in his recovery and in dealing with the loss of his legs-I honestly believe that. He will need to know that you are still there for him and want to be around him regardless of the changes in his physical condition. I, personally, continue to be overwhelmed by the responses to these blogs and the cards and help we have been receiving from all of you. It is truly amazing to see how many lives Jeremy has touched throughout his thirty years. Thank you so much for continuing to share your thoughts. It means a lot.

I will try to get back on later this evening and tell you about today and any changes-big or small. Once again-so sorry I missed a day-I'll try to do better. :)

Thursday, November 17, 2005

 

Nov. 17th

I'm filling in for Sarah tonight because Patty tells me she is sick with a fever of 102! Poor Sarah! We hope you feel better soon!

Jeremy was alert again today. He continues to do well breathing on his own, but is still getting oxygen through the vent. His jaws will be wired for 2 more weeks, then the wires will be replaced with rubber bands for a few weeks. At that point, he will be able to talk with the help of a speaking valve.

Jeremy's kidneys seem to be functioning much better today and he was actually off the dialysis, although it is possible that he could back on it at some point.

Unfortunately, he still has an infection, and in fact, his fever was a little higher today. They are hoping to culture something specific since he’s off the antibiotic for now. But overall he was better today.

Let's pray this infection gets knocked out soon!

Colleen

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

 

November 16th

Jeremy sat up for 2 1/2 hours today. He was off the vent and breathing on his own from 7:00 this morning until around 7:00 this evening-that's good. They put him back on tonight in order to give his body some much needed rest. He does still have a fever-hopefully after being completely off of antibiotics for a couple of days they will be able to do some cultures and isolate the infection-then we might see him go back on an antibiotic again. His sedation level remains the same-mostly sleeping but occasionally opening his eyes when he hears our voices. While I was there tonight he had a breathing treatment-which he did not like and the PT came and "stretched" his left knee which he liked even less. I could tell from the expressions on his face. We also managed to get a CD player "approved" by the hospital so it has been hooked up. Mom and Dad report that he was listening to a Star Wars soundtrack when they left this evening. That is all on our end for now-I'll write more tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

 

November 15th

Jeremy was pretty much asleep when I saw him today-which is no wonder because he was actually pretty busy today. Mom said that he sat up in a chair (recliner type)for about an hour and a half today-now don't get me wrong-he was still very sedated and slept through a lot of that. Apparently it is very good for his lungs to be up like that-but hard work for him. They did have him off the vent for a little while today as well-they will be trying to wean him off the vent totally in the next few days. His next surgery should be on Monday because the burn doctor wasn't available on Friday for skin grafting. The doctors have also taken him off of his antibiotics for now-he still has a low grade fever but it isn't spiking like it used to-it seems strange to be taken off the antibiotics to me-but I guess you can't stay on them forever. If he has a problem I'm sure they will put him back on them. That's about all my info for now. More tomorrow....

Monday, November 14, 2005

 

Surgery over-for now

Mom and Dad called around 9:15. Jeremy is out of surgery. They were able to keep the left knee-in fact they were able to remove the original plate put in, (during his very first surgery immediately after the accident), and did not replace it with another because the bone was fusing together so well. They decided not to introduce anymore foreign material into the body. The doctor said that the temporary skin grafts look good and that there is no sign of infection in either leg.

The doctor opted not to work on Jeremy's right leg tonight due to the potential of too much blood loss. His next surgery will be either Friday or Monday. In that surgery they will shape the right leg and hopefully do skin grafting of both legs (with his own skin this time). Dad called back just a few minutes ago and said that Jeremy is back in his room. They were going to go see him and then head home for tonight.

I believe that because Jeremy will be having more surgery after all that he will remain in the same type of sedated state that he has been in these past few days-with moments of alertness here and there but still very sedated.

As always we appreciate all of you sending your thoughts and prayers his way. Keep it up-he still has a long road ahead. One of us will update more tomorrow even if it's just to say it was a quiet day-that in itself is sometimes good news.

 

Surgery just started

For you blog watchers-just wanted to let you know that surgery just started around 4:30. Long day for everyone who's waiting but especially for my parents who have been at the hospital since around 7:00 this morning (if you'll recall we thought he was first). Surgery is said to last between 3-5 hours. We'll keep updating as we have information.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

 

More surgery

Just a quick note to tell you that Jeremy will have orthopedic surgery in the morning-he is first on the list because it is a fairly long surgery. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as you go through your day tomorrow. We'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes.

 

Progress continues

Patty called this morning and reported that Jeremy had a pretty good day yesterday.  He was sedated a little more because of a g-tube adjustment yesterday, so has not been opening his eyes as often as he had been.  But, now they will continue to lessen his sedation and expect him to be fully conscious in the next 7-10 days. 
 
They are making some progress in weaning Jeremy off the ventilator; he breathes much more on his own and just gets periodic help from the ventilators.  This is sort of "exercising" his respirations, so eventually he won't need any help from the vent.
 
His temperature has just been low-grade, with no sudden spikes last night, so he had a pretty good night last night.
 
As far as they know, he still has follow-up orthopedic surgery scheduled for Monday.  After that, his only surgeries will be skin grafts. 
 
Jeremy's kidneys still aren't functioning, but the doctors are still hopeful that the dialysis is temporary.
 
He continues to make "baby steps" in improvement, and for that we are so thankful!
 
Thank you for your continued prayers for the Warriners,
 
Colleen

Saturday, November 12, 2005

 

Another good day!

Sadly, I couldn't go to see Jeremy today because Miss Madeline is sick and I didn't want to leave her or take any germs to Jeremy-he has enough to deal with already. However, my parents report that he had a good day. He does have a slight fever again-but at the time I talked with them it hadn't spiked nearly as high as it had been. The good news is that he is doing more breathing on his own. They have turned the vent down-I'm not sure of the percentage of his own breathing vs. the vent helping him but everyone was pleased. He was resting comfortably and calmly at last report.

Keep praying!

Friday, November 11, 2005

 

A Quieter Day

Just a quick note to let you know that Jeremy had a calmer day today. He appeared to be sleeping when I saw him-but I managed to get a little rise out of him before I left. It is so wonderful to see his whole face without the tubes coming out of his mouth. He was fever free when I saw him and had been for two hours! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't help but think this is a good sign.

Friends of Jeremy's continue to make contact and visit with us. Cliff is here!!-good buddy of Jeremy's and of our family. I'm sure that just his presence will bring out the fight in Jeremy. We continue to be so thankful to all of Jeremy's friends and our family for the support you are giving us and him. What a great network! Take care-I'll post more soon.

Sarah

Thursday, November 10, 2005

 

Surgery a success!

Just talked to Patty. Jeremy is still in surgery, but the facial surgeon is just finishing up wiring his teeth, which is the last procedure. The Dr. reported that surgery went really well and Jeremy is very stable. :-)

The have done a temporary graft to all the burn areas. Also, they have inserted a trach tube and a g-tube. The trach is an "acute trach", so he will not be able to talk while it is in. The drs. expect to have him off the vent (which is coming through the trach tube) within the next week. At that point, he will have a speaking valve to communicate. Remember, the trach is just temporary, until his jaws are healed.

Sarah had written the other day that Jeremy has been a little more responsive lately. Patty & Robb mentioned that to the doctors and they said for now, his sedation will only be increased if he seems to be in pain or is agitated. So, they anticipate Jeremy will be aware of eveything within the next week. He is not being kept in a drug-induced coma anymore.

I didn't ask Patty about Jeremy's fever/infection, and I will try to remember to do that next time (or maybe Sarah can answer that for us), but I'm hoping that the fact he is "very stable" is a sign that the infection is weakening.

I am so thankful for this good news! Let's pray the progress will continue!

Colleen

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

 

9 pm Prayers for Jeremy

Patty just passed this on to me. A group of family friends have begun praying for Jeremy at 9 pm each night. I don't think they actually meet together, but have just agreed that they would stop around 9:00 pm and take a few moments to say a prayer for Jeremy.

"The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective."
James 5:16



Thanks,

Colleen

 

Surgery scheduled for tomorrow (Thurs)

A bit of good news, today was a bit better for Jeremy -- at least better than this time last week. So, as of now Jeremy appears to be stable enough for surgery tomorrow. The surgery is scheduled for noon, "give or take 3 hours" is what they told his family. The Medical Director said Jeremy does still have the infection, but his white cell count has dropped, which could indicate that his body is starting to overtake the infection.

They have several goals for the surgery. One will be to repair his broken jaw. During this surgery, they will wire his jaw closed while his jaw heals. Because of this, they will need to do a tracheostomy. The trach tube will just be temporary -- I assume they will just need it until his jaws are healed. Jeremy will also need a g-tube (feeding tube) which is also temporary, and necessary because of the jaw surgery. Lastly, they will be doing temporary skin grafts. They won't be doing any orthopedic surgery tomorrow because the surgeon is out of town until Monday. So, the date for the follow-up orthopedic surgery isn't definite yet.

Let's all pray Jeremy will continue to be strong enough for surgery tomorrow, that it goes smoothly, and for strength and peace for Robb, Patty & Sarah.


Colleen

 

Quilt Project and Guest Book for Jeremy

Jeremy’s Mom (Patty) wanted to let you all know about the special project that is being put together for Jeremy. Some friends have volunteered to make a quilt from the well wishes of Jeremy’s visitors. If you are able to go to the hospital, please feel free to write a message of encouragement for Jeremy to be added to the quilt.

This also reminds me to mention Jeremy’s guest book. The guest book is in the waiting room and the family would be so appreciative if visitors would leave a note of encouragement for Jeremy in the book. If you’re able to visit the hospital more than once and have already left a note, feel free to just add an entry showing you were there that day.

Thanks everybody,

Colleen

 

Important Reminder about visiting the Burn Unit

On Sunday, Jeremy’s parents met with a representative from the People’s Burn Foundation, which gives support to burn victims and their families. One of the things the Foundation stresses is how dangerous infections are to burn victims. Because of this, they wanted to send a reminder about visits to the Burn Unit. Visitors are asked that if they feel they might be contagious, or have recently been in contact with someone who might be contagious, to postpone their visit to the Burn Unit. Because even if a visitor will not be in a patient’s room, a patient’s family member could become contagious, putting all the burn patients at risk. This is especially important to remember as we enter cold and flu season.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

 

Jeremy Updates: No surgery Wednesday

There will be no facial surgery as originally planned tomorrow-they find him to be too "unsteady". The doctors continue to be baffled by what the cause of the infection in his body is. We are told that there is every indication that there is an infection in his bloodstream-it's just what the infection is that causes the problem. They can't treat it appropriately until they know what it is.

Jeremy had an echocardiogram today-basically an ultrasound of his heart to rule out infection in the lining-the good news is that his heart is fine-and strong (but we all knew that didn't we :)? ) He also had a CAT scan of his stomach and intestines-they checked out fine as well. They changed a line that they thought had some bacteria attached and they also discovered a bit of a yeast infection in his lungs-but it is my understanding that the yeast infection is not the cause of everything else-however you probably shouldn't quote me on that. I think they started him on some type of anti-fungal medication to help clear this up.

When I was able to visit him this evening I thought he appeared to be more sedated and calm than yesterday-he did open his eyes here and there and moved his eyebrow a bit but mostly just seemed to be sleeping. Overall he appeared to be comfortable-at least I choose to believe that. At times he got a little too relaxed and his blood pressure seemed low-but nobody but me seemed to be overly concerned-I just poked him a little and teased about borrowing his DVD's and the blood pressure seemed to go up. (The big sister in me knows how to raise his blood pressure quickly when necessary!).

I will continue to update-hopefully with more uplifting news soon-I know I could use some. Thank you for your comments. I enjoy reading them and it makes me feel good to know that so many people care about and love Jeremy-I'm really quite impressed by him (but don't tell him I said that!). He will surely get a chance to read this all when he is ready and it will make him feel so good.

Go hug someone you love.
Be safe.

Sarah

Monday, November 07, 2005

 

Jeremy's Day-November 7, 2005

I went to visit Jeremy after work today. The nurses reported that he had a very "busy" day even though he did not have surgery. There were a few procedures such as a bronchoscopy, (I probably spelled that incorrectly), some work with his legs and the vac bandages on them, as well as turning him, changing lines, and a bath. The nurses also said that he was more alert than he had been and followed a few commands-I'm assuming it was just blinking his eyes or turning toward their voices. They said that they really didn't want him to be that alert just yet and will be tweaking his medications-he may be building up a tolerance to the current sedative and need something different.

When Mom and I went back his eyes were open and he was blinking. As we started talking to him his blood pressure went up as well as his heart rate which kind of worried us but the nurses said they would let us know if we needed to leave. Mom did a good job of assuring him that he didn't need to try to talk to us and he just needed to rest. We stayed fairly quiet and held his hands and he seemed to calm some. The nurses really are taking such good care of him and we are thankful for that. We all agree that it must take a very special person to work in ICU.

As far as we know there are no surgeries scheduled for tomorrow. The facial surgery we assume is still on for Wednesday but I think that is a matter of the doctor's assements Wednesday morning as to whether it's a go or not. Not knowing the source of the infection and lack of kidney functions are still major concerns in Jeremy's world. We will continue to keep people updated as we are able-I think that with Colleen's help I can try to stay on top of it fairly regularly.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and kind thoughts. I know that it will mean so much to Jeremy when he is in a position to be able to read all of this. Don't forget to sign his book if you stop by the hospital. I'll be in touch.

Keep praying!!
Sarah (Jeremy's sister)

 

How to leave a comment

I've had a couple people ask how to leave comments. At the end of each post, there is a line of information that gives the poster's name and the time of the post; for example "#posted by Jeremy Updates @ 10:44 AM". At the end of that information is a number, followed by the word "comments". If you click there, you will be able to leave a comment.

 

Today's surgery...

has been postponed due to the infection. No word yet on Wednesday's facial surgery.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

 

Visited with Jeremy's family today

We visited with Jeremy's family at Wishard Hospital today and he is still critical, and still sedated. He does have an infection that they can't find the source of, which has caused fever spikes and blood pressure problems, but today is relatively stable. Jeremy is still on the vent, although the Warriners have been told that his lungs look good and they hope to be able to wean him off of it soon.

Jeremy is still also on kidney dialysis, but the doctors are hoping it is temporary. They still don't know what has caused his kidneys to stop functioning, but apparently it can happen when a person has experienced this much trauma, including infections, etc.

At this point, they have tentatively scheduled leg surgery for tomorrow (Monday, 11/7/05). He will be evaluated this evening to determine whether he is stable enough for the surgery. His next surgery will be facial surgery and is scheduled for Wednesday.

The family appreciates so much all your support and prayers thus far, but as we know, Jeremy has a long recovery ahead of him and he will definitely need continuing support.

The Warriners also expressed that although we're all anxious to see Jeremy once he is taken off the sedatives, he may not be up for visitors, maybe even for some time. However, it will be so important that he knows so many others are praying for him and support and love him. You can send cards to Jeremy in c/o his parents. Also, please feel free to leave comments at this blog. Hopefully, maybe even while he's still in the hospital, Jeremy will be able to come to this site and read the comments.

We will make every effort to keep up-to-date information, while at the same time, trying not to bug the family too much by asking for that information. :-) Jeremy's sister, Sarah Moore, may also give updates from time to time.


A cousin to Jeremy,

Colleen Worley

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?