Wednesday March 24

John had surgery this morning and is resting comfortably in his hospital room with Holly by his side. With this surgery as with the one on March 10, Holly stayed overnight with John to make sure he is well cared for. At some point tomorrow, John will be transferred back to TIRR to once again begin the rehabilitation process. His physicians were able to only open the previous incision on his back and replace the leads from the Baclofen pump which was good news in that they didn't need to open the area in his abdomen where the pump was placed. Evidently, the leads move in some patients so although this is a bit of a setback, it's not all that uncommon. I snapped this photo in the evening and don't let the hospital gown fool you...John is an incredibly resilient man and he is recuperating from this surgery well. Hopefully, over the next few days and weeks, John will be able to resume all normal activities and the pump will allow him to have less pain and be more mobile. As always, thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Sunday March 21, 2010

Over the past two weeks, John has been recuperating from the surgery to implant the baclofen pump. Unfortunately, this process has been a difficult one. While we were initially very excited about John's move back to TIRR, it is a rehabilitation facility and not intense patient care and as such, John has required near around the clock care and attention from family members. Outpatient surgery is difficult for all of us but particularly so with John because he is unable to clearly express where he feels pain and also unable to let nurses and doctors know about which medications he takes and when. You would be surprised how many people walk into John's room and seem unaware of the fact that he has a brain injury and begin barraging him with questions. We carry lists of John's medications and try to keep track of what he is given and when and remind them when meds are needed. This may seem like overkill but we noticed that the hospital had an old list of John's medications and luckily we were able to get his chart updated.

We recently learned that John will be having surgery again this week. At some point over the past several days, the leads going from the pump to his spinal cord have moved and will need to be repositioned so we will be going through the same outpatient surgery in the next few days. To say that this is frustrating and that we hate for John to have to endure any more discomfort is an understatement however we truly feel that this pump might provide him some assistance and relief over the long term. After the surgery, John will return to TIRR to once again begin the long rehabilitation process. Another slight setback is that since John remains largely unable to swallow, his physicians have placed an N. G. tube which goes up his nose and into his stomach to provide extra nourishment. After this next surgery, the hope is that John will resume eating and swallowing more normally however placement of a more permanent feeding tube is not out of the realm of possibility. We are taking this one step at a time and remaining hopeful that the Baclofen pump will help to improve some of John's basic activities of daily living.

As soon as John is out of surgery, I will update here. As always, thanks so much for keeping him in your thoughts and prayers.

March 11, 2010

I went by to see John and Holly at the hospital today and I am happy to say that John is doing well. He was in a lot of pain last night but it seems to have subsided and it appears that he will be released from the hospital sometime later today. Once he is released, John will be heading back to TIRR. The reason for this is that since he now has the Baclofen pump administering medicine directly to his spinal cord, there is no better time to start moving his muscles. We feel really blessed that John has been given the opportunity to go back to TIRR because we saw such improvement when he was last there. Over the next few weeks, John's physicians will tweak the amount of medicine the pump administers until the perfect setting for him is reached. The neat thing about this is that they will be able to adjust the dose, rate and timing of the medicine given using an external programmer.

This medicine is used to treat a variety of conditions including multiple sclerosis and other causes of muscle rigidity and spacisity. I recently decided to ride the MS150 bike ride from Houston to Austin to help this wonderful cause and have found it coincidental that some of the same treatment modalities will be used to help John. The last time I rode this bike ride was several years ago and John came out to cheer me on at two of the training rides. I will miss him being there this year but I intend to wear my Coaches Crew t-shirt for many of the training rides so throw a banana at me if you see me out on the road!

One of the things I've noticed lately is the fact that I forget how much time has passed since John first had his heart attack. The other day, I was driving through the medical center and a building near TIRR which I frequently passed while John was at TIRR is now almost complete and if I counted correctly, has 25 floors. This is unique in that the last time I was by there was when John went from TIRR to Mentis and they had just broken ground on it! Holly is with John every day and is still at the extended stay hotel. I never cease to be amazed at her commitment to John and his well-being and while I could never put in a blog how many times on a daily basis she has to advocate for him, suffice to say that it's a lot. Holly can crush John's pills and get him to take them, help him with bathing and other toileting issues and carry on a conversation all at the same time...and make it look easy. She does this while working full-time. She makes sure that John gets his medicines and receives great care and although some might say it's a wife's responsibility to do so, I would tell you that she is omnipresent and everyone at each facility knows her and John by name. John's mom, Paulette and brother Ray have also been incredibly helpful and take turns being with John and helping him eat. This is a team effort with the common goal of making sure John receives the ultimate in care and that he is given every opportunity to thrive, regardless of his injury.

March 10, 2010

I just wanted to update everyone about John's surgery this morning. Things went as planned and although they didn't take him in until later than expected, John is currently in the recovery room. He is in a lot of pain but the procedure went well. At this point, Holly will be staying with him overnight and I will provide updates as to his progress as they become available. Please keep John and Holly in your prayers as they get past this hurdle in his recovery.