Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Since the last blog posting, John unfortunately had to undergo yet another surgery. The Baclofen pump leads once again moved and had to be repositioned. His surgeon said that this rarely happens once...much less twice. We were very discouraged that John had to have another surgery but I am happy to report that the leads were replaced and as of today, the pump is functioning properly and John is recuperating. John continues to have some difficulty swallowing however with the placement of the feeding tube, he is receiving adequate nutrition and fluids. He is back at TIRR and as soon as he has healed from this surgery he will hopefully resume daily rehabilitation.

Over the past weeks, John has had a total of 5 surgeries. Two to replace the Baclofen leads, one to place the feeding tube and one to curtail internal bleeding. This has been a rough time for him and since he has a brain injury, someone has to be with him in the hospital 24 hours per day to answer questions on his behalf and make sure that he receives exceptional care.

This has been an emotional roller coaster as you might imagine. Each time we start to feel that John is recovering and may begin improving there has been a setback. We are hopeful that at this point there will be no more surgical procedures and he can continue on his path to recover strength and gain some weight. His overall health remains good in that his kidneys are functioning normally, his heart is strong and he is as comfortable as possible. At some point soon, John will be released from TIRR and will most likely return to Mentis to continue with his rehabilitation and recuperation. His physicians will also continue to monitor his medications in an effort to give him every available opportunity to thrive regardless of his diagnosis. While the future is uncertain, what is certain is that John is still in the window of time which should allow for improvement and the eventual progress toward good quality of life and comfort. What is also certain is that John has many folks praying for him constantly and so many who love him. The continued support exceeds our wildest expectations and we wish to thank everyone for their well-wishes, thoughts and prayers.