Rejoicing in Your Strength!

Yesterday, Sept. 28th, was a good day overall.  Jayson had improved from Friday and is doing well at this time.

Jayson had several procedures done yesterday.  At about 10:45 in the morning, the ENT doctors came in to check Jayson's sinus area for possible infection.  They swab his nasal to get a sample of crust and will be doing a culture to check for any bacterial growth.  His doctors still don't know what's causing his 6-day old fever. It will take 2-3 days to see if any bacteria grows.

At 11:00 in the morning, his ICU doctor placed a PICC line on Jayson's right arm.  This is a special IV that goes through his vein and into his chest area.  He then received two units of platelets since his platelet count was going down.  After the platelet transfusion, his nurse removed the central access line on the right side of his neck.  Since Jayson was getting fewer medications and other fluids, the central line was no longer needed. There was also some concern that there may be an infection at that sight, but his ICU doctor yesterday said it looked fine. They will just continue to keep an eye on it. 

The rest of the afternoon was fairly quiet.   My sister-in-law, Melissa, helped my mother-in-law watch Jayson after lunch while Henry & I took a nap.  Our eldest daughter, Kristen, took Keilani out in the afternoon with their cousin, Natassia, to watch Disney on Ice at the Valley View Center. Jayson slept most of the day.  He would wake up once in a while to ask for water or to see who was talking to him.

His respiratory system seems to be improving.  He didn't have to use the BiPap mask on last night.  His nurses and respiratory therapist just kept him on the vapotherm tube and he was doing well on just that. His doctor and nurses are very pleased with his progress and we just hope his progress continues. 

Henry and my mother-in-law watched him overnight, while Kristen, Keilani & I slept in the next room. At about 5:00 this morning, another chest x-ray was done and according to his ICU doctor, it looks  a little better than the previous day's x-ray. I haven't seen this last x-ray myself so his doctor will print me a copy.

Henry woke me up at 5:30 and I sat by Jayson's bedside. My dad came in at 6:00 and took over and I was able to sleep for another hour.  My mother-in-law and I went to mass at 8:00 while my dad stayed with Jayson.

When I returned from mass, Jayson's medical team was gathering up to begin their rounds.  Luckily, I came back just in time.  As usual, they reviewed the activity of the last 24 hours and discussed changes to be made for today.  They will try to minimize the amount of blood products they will give Jayson today or at least delay the transfusion.  They want to continue to minimize his fluid intake while maximizing his urine output.  It has worked great so far.  He had a negative 2 liter differential (2 liters more going out then coming in) every day for the past 2 days.  They plan on slowly weaning him off the medication that is helping him pee. They will try to make some changes in the vapotherm settings to see if they can also slowly wean him off from the vapotherm and BiPap mask.  They continue to help fight against his fever.  He doesn't get too hot as often as he did and we've tried to lower his fever by wiping him with wet wash cloths. 

I know all of Jayson's doctors, nurses and staff are doing all they can to help Jayson.  They are also doing anything and everything they can for us, his family.  I tell them that even though this has been a difficult 3 weeks, it's been a positive experience for us.  The stress that we've felt is mainly due to Jayson's health struggles and not because of any issues with the staff here at NMCSD.  They have been a blessing and a source of support for our family.  We have gotten to know many of the staff members who've taken care of Jayson these past weeks and through us, they've gotten to know Jayson as we share stories with them.  They were all very happy to hear Jayson was extubated successfully and I told them they have played a major role in Jayson's progress.  

Right now it's almost 11:00 a.m. and Jayson is sleeping soundly.  I have yet to see him open his eyes this morning. Henry and our girls are still asleep in the next room.  We are expecting some family members to visit today and we're praying that Jayson continues to do better. We are also praying for my sister, Joanna, who would have been 41 today. Happy Birthday Joanna! May you continue to rest in peace.  We miss you and love you.

I'd like to end this post with a bible verse from Psalm 21:1-2 

"O, Lord, the king rejoices in your strength. 

How great is his joy in the victories you give! 

You have granted him the desire of his heart 

and have not withheld the request of his lips."