July 26 (Thursday) - 3pm

As of 3pm the news hasn't changed all that much with Jeanette.  She is holding her own, her oxygen numbers and blood pressure are all holding where they want them to be.   The concerns for infection are still there, some discussions about trying to get an MRI series, now being discussed.  One of the injuries was the fracture in her neck, and the good news about that was as she came into the OR she had feelings and movement in all extremities.   Since then she has been unsconcios so it has not been possible to evaluate the extent of that injury.   Still, it is a concern for today's discussions.

Her white blood cell count is still elevated, so that too remains a concern.  Her enlarged heart is still pumping adequately and that is of course good news, and the concern on the embolism is still an issue but seems possibly to be improving and so perhaps the measures they have been doing are working as hoped.   It is hard to predict things, and we live the minutes and hours one after the other and don't look too far ahead.  The changes and ups and downs are unpredictable.

Rich is doing better with his mental state.  As the doctor put it, yesterday Rich was goofy with moments of lucidity and today he is lucid with moments of goofiness.  That's something I understand completely.  To me, the non-doctor thinks he is yellow, but they say his liver function should improve and they do not seem focused or worried on that complication.   They were even talking to him today about fixing his left broken arm next week.  Apparently he is going to need two plates to put the bones back together and of course at some point that must be done.  

They are actually looking ahead, discussing how and when they will discharge him and what must be in place for that to occur.   While that's still "out there" it strikes me as one of the most positive conversations I've heard in this place, and it makes you smile. - John