Days go by…

We just got back from the hospital and saying good night to Morgan.

I find this the hardest part of the day, I never want to leave him.

I’d like to just sit by his bed, there’s nothing I can do but it makes me feel better that he’s not alone.  As he lays there intubated, unable to move, multiple tubes going into him, his head all bandaged up I can’t help but feel helpless for him in his incredibly vulnerable state.

Today we taped up some cards to give him some colour in the room.  I taped up a family photo for him on his bed (I’m hoping the nurses don’t take it down).

Not a lot has changed in terms of what we know.

I find this the most frustrating part of everything.

I’d actually like to just sneak a few (and a few more) minutes with his chart so I can get the “full picture.” Being a family member of a patient gives me an incredible perspective on how to be a better “family” nurse.  It also gives me a very accurate portrayal of family frustrations when they feel left out in the dark.  Unable to articulate the exact questions you want to ask but knowing there are so many things left unanswered.  I KNOW for a fact that there are so many things they don’t tell us (maybe insignificant, maybe not) that if I was able to look at his chart, and his blood work then I would have some answers (and likely more questions).

Some praise reports:

• His intracranial pressure was never above normal!
• His swelling has gone down A LOT.
• The ultrasound showed no internal damage to his organs!

A bit of a Debbie Downer was finding out that they could not book an OR to extubate him tomorrow so they had to push it back to Friday.  Looking at it in a more positive light, if the swelling continues to go down as much as it has today he will hopefully be able to open at least one of his eyes when they wake him up which will give him some sort of orientation.

He had a bit of a leak in his endotracheal tube today so his sats had been lower than I liked to see them – although not worryingly low – they fixed the leak and his sats have since been at 100%.  He did have at least one episode of coughing due to his pneumonia and they had to give him a bit more of sedation and suction him out a couple times.

This morning he had really gross looking urine and I had a bit of a concern about his kidney function.  I was fairly certain that he was a bit fluid overloaded – based on the amount of intake, how little and how concentrated (unbelievably concentrated) his urine was, and how swollen he was. It ended up that he was positive 900 mL – which is far to much.  I never got to ask the dr about his kidney panel and they vaguely said they weren’t “bad” to Leona.  That means nothing to me (being a renal nurse!), but they gave him Lasix (a diuretic) to take off some fluid.  His urine cleared up and the swelling went down.

His blood sugar was a bit elevated today (something that can happen after trauma as well as surgery) so they started him on an insulin drip.

They are talking about starting to decrease a couple of his meds before they fully wake him to really slowly take him out of sedation.

Some specific prayer requests:

• Pray that Morgans intracranial pressure continues to stay within normal limits.
• Pray that the swelling continues to subside.
• Pray that his renal function restores completely.
• Pray that his blood sugar stabilizes (this would indicate that the stress factor has subsided in his body)
• Pray that the lacerations he has heal quickly.
• Pray specifically for his dad Montey, who travels back and forth daily from Yellow Grass to Regina.
• Continue to pray for strength and peace for the rest of my family.
• Continue to pray for wisdom for the dr’s and for knowledge and healing touch from the nurses.

Words can’t express my families appreciation and awe at how much support and prayers have been given for Morgan.  UNBELIEVABLE.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Gideon
Jason Upton

I don’t have the power
I don’t even have a clue
I don’t know all the answers
I don’t even know a few

And if I were really honest
And the truth were known of me
It may sound a little funny
But this is what My prayer would be

I don’t know what to do
But my eyes are on you

I don’t know what to do
But my eyes are on you, My Lord

I lift my eyes toward the heavens
I tune my ear to your command
Help me boast in my condition
You’re the God and I’m the man

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