Chico « Journals of Journeys

8May/09Off

Update on Sean, The Rock Star

Good news awaits us....

Sean is a rock star!

Posted at approximately 8:45 AM PT
Sean had a great night last night! His ICP stayed in the teens and his temperature and all other vitals were great. Andrea ( one of his amazing nurses) was able to cut his pentobarbital (barbiturate) in half! I know that he has a long way to go and I was thinking that we should try not to get to excited because he could still go back and forth for awhile. Buuuut, you know what? We get so low on the bad days, why shouldn't we rejoice and say thank you Lord on the the good days! Say it with me people "THANK YOU LORD"! Can I get a hallelujah! Okay so I'm a little excited.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support last night as we were making the difficult transition out of "the room". I did get some sleep and I feel much better today.

BREAKING NEWS...... The Dr. was just in to talk to me and he said that things are going better. He said that Sean is coming out of the barb coma. He said his suppression rate is 4 and it was 8. I'm not sure exactly what that all means but I know that it is good. He also said that they are taking the bolt (ICP monitor) out of Sean's head today and that they will monitor his ICP through the ventriculostomy (the catheter that drains cerebral spinal fluid). They will no longer be draining fluid from it continuously, however it is there if they need to use it.

I'm going to close for now so I can go in and hang out with my boy. By the way, I may call him my boy, but that is one strong amazing man in there!

Blessings today dear friends and yes I have an assignment for you today. Rejoice! Count your blessings. I mean it literally try to count your blessings and I guarantee you that no matter what is going on in your life you will not believe how many blessings you have (thats if you can count that high). So count them and thank God for them because God is the creator and the source of all blessings. I will start counting now, lets see where will I start. Sean's prayer warriors, well thats already to many to count. Now you see how it works.

Thank you all for supporting us with your prayers and presence.

Love,
The inner circle gang Terri, Vince,
Sean, Kiersten, [and cousins] Kyle and Kayla

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7May/09Off

Good Morning Day 10: An Update On Sean

Those of you receiving email broadcasts

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4May/09Off

Prayers Needed For Sean and Family

Posted at approximately 3:10 p.m. PT

Well Sean was doing great

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3May/09Off

Remember, if you'd like email updates (only available to people I personally know and recognize your email address), leave a comment along with your current, working email address (which doesn't get published). I send out the update email notifications at the same time I post here.

This coming Monday I'll add a link at the top of the page so that with a click you can see all the updates as I'll be returning to the photo essay entries and a few other posts.

Tonights Joy

(Updated at approximately 8:30 pm PT)
The roller coaster continues. Sean had a battle again today I posted about the pneumonia and his oxygen levels. Well it just seemed to be a battle between the barbiturates to keep his ICP down which is causing the pneumonia, and the need to keep his oxygen up which also makes his ICP go up. His amazing nurse Kellie took excellent care of him today and with her vigilance and 2 bronchoscopies, and antibiotics he is doing well tonight. Currently his ICP is 9 and his oxygen saturation is 100%! He is still on 100% oxygen and the max dose of barbiturates, but he is responding and eventually they will be able to lower them. This may technical but I don't know how to share with you what he is going through without sharing the details. I don't know about tomorrow and what challenges it may hold. All I know is today and it's challenges and how God has carried him through another day.

Some of you may not know Sean well. He really never does things the easy way. My pregnancy with him was very high risk and it was a miracle that I was able to carry him to term +3 weeks. I know that God wants Him here and He has a purpose for Sean. Those of you who know Sean are agreeing with me because you know that he is remarkable. Sean is intelligent and creative and so funny. He brings so much joy into our lives and the lives of others. He has faced some huge challenges the last 2 years and he has never complained. He inspires us.

Sleep well tonight dear friends as we will. Pray for Sean and know that God is powerful and miraculous and He is carrying Sean through this and He will continue to do so. Believe, have faith because God is great and He is present.

Love,
Terri, Vince, Sean & Kiersten

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1May/09Off

Riding The Emotional Roller Coaster & Feeling Weak

Terri wrote in her latest update just a few moments ago that she is feeling drained. While she emphasizes the support of friends and family has been helpful, she certainly needs her share of prayers and loving thoughts to lift her spirits and care for her needs, too. I'm sure her husband and daughter could use a little extra, too. So please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Here's the most recent update:

Well after I posted about the ICP 11, things went a little awry. Sean had a junction heart rhythm. You will have to google that because I don't understand it well enough to explain it. It only lasted for a little while then his heart went back to sinus rhythm. After that they did an EEG to try to determine what caused it, the barbiturates or the brain injury.

His EEG went well. It showed his brain firing as it should. They didn't fully figure out the cause but they did some med adjustments. His ICP has been anywhere from 11 to 31, mainly high teens, low twenties. Sooooo he's stable, he's hanging in there.

I wish I could report that he was on the mend but I have been told this is a long slow process. Right now we have to be thankful for every day and not get to excited about small changes either direction.

We are also hanging in there. Feeling a little worse for wear riding an emotional roller coaster, but God and friends and family are holding us when we are week.

I will post again later but I suspect things will be about the same for the next couple of days. As I said before lets just be thankful for stability.

As always thanks so much for the much needed prayers and support. Keep on praying prayer warriors!