Monday, May 17, 2010

Monday Morning

Shannon has had a pretty good morning. Her paralytic has been off for 5 hours but we still are waiting for a reliable neurologic exam--no movements yet. Her pressures are staying down (20 and less). Her neurosurgeon, Dr. Walker, rounded on her earlier and said her ICPs have been acceptable and he does not place a lot of weight in her pupils right now because there are so many things that could be effecting them. He felt that she was still in the critical time period for another few days. He confirmed that Shannon has a significant amount of DAI (diffuse axonal injury) but while it is still way too early to know for sure, he was hopeful that she would make a "meaningful recovery." The recovery road ahead will be long and difficult.

The newest development this morning is that Shannon has developed pneumonia. Her white blood cell count is elevated (16) and she has 40% bandemia which is a sign of acute infection. She is having more secretions from her lungs and her x-ray is much worse than it was two days ago. All that points to pneumonia, but they are checking for other sources of infection. She has been placed on strong broad-spectrum antibiotics and have sent cultures to see which bacteria are causing the infection. The good news is she has not required more respiratory support from the ventilator. They have increased the PEEP setting on the ventilator which will help keep her lungs more expanded but it was a prophylactic measure rather than a response to her lungs not working well. Her lungs are healthy at baseline and pneumonia is extremely common in trauma patients on the ventilator so while this is a "setback" it is very manageable and I suspect she will get over it quickly.

Shannon also has developed an ileus--where the intestines slow down in response to the medication she is getting. This means that the nutrition she was getting was not going through her intestines quickly enough and things were backing up. They have stopped her tube feeds and are given her some medication to help stimulate her bowels. Hopefully they will be able to restart the nutrition later today.

We continue to feel at peace, knowing the Lord is in charge. We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers. Shannon has received several incredible blessings that have blessed her with full recovery. We trust in the Lord and know that He's plan for Shannon and for us will be what is best. Aaron

5 comments:

  1. Wow, I am SO impressed by the faith and patience everyone has shown. It has given me greater perspective and gratitude for the Lord's blessings in my life, and has strengthened my testimony. My prayers have already been answered concerning Shannon, especially in hearing that she's received blessings promising full recovery, and I continue to pray for Shannon and the entire family. Thanks for the updates and incredible example of faith and trust.

    -Member of Bishop Blackham's BYU Ward

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  2. thank you Aaron... we love you and your WHOLE family... prayers, faith, prayers, faith... we're with you. Sister Tolman

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  3. I am so glad you guys are posting all of this I really appreciate it! Shannon is in our prayers!!

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  4. Thank you so much for posting these updates. Our family gets on here multiple times a day and we are all praying for her. Your strength is really a beacon of hope for us and a guide in our lives.

    Love, The Petersons

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  5. It's so nice to know that Aaron is there. I was hoping and praying that he would be able to come from the moment I heard the news. It sure makes me feel more secure knowing that someone is around, that from an experience standpoint, knows what's going on. But I have to ask you Aaron, can you use some smaller words and put a little more of the English language in your postings? Love you all, Jade

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