July 24 (Tuesday) - 11pm

Jeanette continues to fight, and even to surprise her medical team.   The diuretics they gave her worked better than expected, and the reduction in swelling seems to have stabilized her.   What I'm writing now is a non-medical person's understanding of what has gone on since.   Not giving up, it appears that the medical team were encouraged by her stability, and so they modified her meds to attack the embolism.  LIke a lot of things there is a give and a take, a risk and a reward, and when you are making life and death decisions I've come to accept and realize that medicine is as much an art as it is a science.  

There has been some bleeding as a result of the blood thinners needed to attack the embolism,  but it was not unexpected.    As of now, a lot has not changed--she is stable, her blood oxygen count is good, her right side of her heart is still not working well, and the embolism has not yet dissolved.   That said, she continues to fight, and they continue to try and so as I end this note this evening I feel encouraged that hope is still there.

As for Rich, as evening came he got a little feisty and they had to summon an extra "room guard" to keep him in his bed.  He kept trying to get out of his bed, yelling down the hall "I want out of here!" and "I need to go home and get something to eat!".   He called out for Jeannette more than once, almost as if he hopes she can come and rescue him.    His confusion to me is worrisome, but the team in the ICU tell us that it is normal, and in fact very normal for someone with a head trauma and who is trying to make sense of a place that has no night or day, and where they come by and bother you several times each hour.   Still, I so want him to just come out of his fog, and start talking about the hear and the now.   Patience John....patience.   The healing process apparently moves forward and its own unhurried frustratingly slow snail pace.

A final note worth telling.  The enormous outpouring of concern and sympathy has been very helpful for Sam.  I can tell you that when she takes a break from the hospital vigil,  and take a few minutes to eat or breathe, she will often read the comments sent for her parents.    She reads each and every one, and more than once.  It occured to me that if anyone wants to send photos, perhaps two or three good ones of themselves with them, I could post the pics into a photo album attached to this site.     I somehow think they would like that.  Just send them to me at [email protected] and I'll get them loaded.  I am hoping that the day will come when both Rich and Jeannette could sit down and read the memories and look at the pictures together.  Oh I would like to hope for that more than I can say.