These were the previous updates that Mom sent out that you may or may not have gotten. (I thought this might be easier for everyone. Besides, Scott & Rachael have been bugging me forever to start a blog, so this was a good excuse). I'll add the mass updates mom has been sending out as I get them. Thank you for being such good friends to Sean & our family, all your positive thoughts, support, prayers and caring! He needs y'all a lot right now & we appreciate it more than we can say.
All our love, warmth and prayers,
Andrea, Paul, Sean, Paulette and Delaney
Feb 17th, 2009
Today was OUTSTANDING!
The doctor told us last week not to get too excited for good days or bad ones because Sean would have a lot of both in the process BUT today seemed to be HUGE! He told his speech therapist "yes" and "ok". His nurse said he was talking a lot today. I am not sure but I thought I heard him say "mom" when I walked into his room this afternoon; it was very soft so I'm not positive. He is coming back inch by inch. They almost had him standing up today, with help of course. His therapist expect to have him standing for a few minutes tomorrow in a special standing type chair. They are pushing him and it is working. We are thrilled for windows of hope and progress.
Saturday we will be packing up his apartment and putting his belongings in storage. It has been difficult going through his things but I know he will have them again in the future.
Thank you again for all of your support and prayers!
Feb 13th
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for praying for us and Sean; it has made all the difference; his recovery has a greater purpose which will give God the glory.
We have met a milestone. Yesterday (Thursday 2-12-09) we moved Sean to the interim hospital. He is at Triumph (Long Term Acute Care) Hospital at 700 Potomac St. in Aurora. It is 3 miles north of The Medical Center of Aurora where he has been for nearly a month (his surgery was the 14th of January). Delaney got to see him for the first time yesterday and it was very touching to see them react to one another. He held his left hand out and tracked her and she held his hand, patted him then talked a blue streak. He is aware of his surroundings and beginning to respond to people more and more. He doesn't talk currently but I can hardly wait for him to do so.
He has a blood infection currently but is stable; we found that out today. We had hoped to have been able to move him to Colorado Springs but it wasn't the best fit for Sean. He will have some of his Critical Care Unit doctors, the continuity is a huge plus and if he has an emergency he will be with taken back to the Medical Center of Aurora and have doctors that know his history. He will have Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy, and some Neurology therapy 6 days a week. His primary doctor told us yesterday that in 6 weeks we will know what part of Sean we will have for the future; for us we will take whatever that means. The amount of brain damage he has is still unknown and probably due to being on the heart by-pass machine for 10 hours. Even though they monitored it closely that is a long time, his age is on his side.
When I went up today he responded to me and held out his hand for me to hold. It is a GREAT feeling to know he wants you to touch his hand even if he can't speak. He is awakening slowly and I know he will amaze us all when everything is said and done.
February 2nd & 3rd, 2009
We had a scare last night and today as Sean was bleeding out but we didn't know from where his blood count was 24. His white count was elevated as well. They gave him back 30% oxygen, 2 pints of blood, took him off the Heparin and stopped his stomach tube feeding because the area was distended on the opposite side of the stomach tube. They waited until today for his blood count and pressure to stabilize to do a total ct scan. They found his diaphragm is bleeding possibly from all the coughing and being on the Heparin(a blood thinner). They are hoping it will stop on it's own because in this area the tissue usually does. His kidneys took a hit for lack of blood and low blood pressure so they are hoping they don't have to put dye in the veins to find the bleed and repair it as the dye is extremely harsh for the kidneys. He has better color today and we are praying that he maintains his blood count and pressure through the night.
February 1, 2009
Today has been Sean's 37th birthday, yesterday was Paulette's 32nd. The weekend was a mixture of emotions, celebrating life and being thankful for small changes. Paulette didn't feel like she could celebrate without her big brother being able to celebrate too so we did things quietly as a family. Sean no longer needs oxygen; they say he is breathing room air and holding his own. He has a feeding tube now and getting the nutrition he needs to heal. He is also taking almost all of his medications through the feeding tube as well. When he is able to eat on his own they will remove the feeding tube. His lungs and heart are showing some improvements, his upper heart still needs some meds to keep it in rhythm. He is moving & bending his left leg and sometimes moves his left arm. He isn't talking to us but he does make noises like he wants to talk at times. He is being evaluated by several hospitals; he hasn't advanced enough to go to a rehab center. They need him to do things on command and he doesn't yet so 2-3 hours of rehab would be out of the question. A hospital in-between the critical care unit and a rehab facility is the next step. We had requested if possible, he go to an interim hospital in the Springs. We should know this week. If they can only place him in Denver we will continue to keep the oil companies in business with daily trips up I-25, whatever it takes. Thanks for your continued prayers, we know they are helping. The doctor said 99 out of 100 people would have died. Sean is an anomaly. He has come a long way from being thankful for each minute for the 2 days after surgery till today -- he just needs more time to heal.
God Bless you and yours, all our warmth, love and prayers,
#3 Jan 25th, 2009
Thank you everyone that has been praying for Sean and us throughout these past two weeks. He is in God's hands!
A parent's 2nd worse fear is happening, please continue to pray for him. The first fear being their death. They consider him to be in a coma even though he opens his eyes a lot now, can track you, look at you and make eye contact for short periods of time but he doesn't do it on command. He doesn't talk yet and has moments of tremors. The various tests, MRIs, EEGs, Spinal Tap & Cat Scans continue to be normal. The doctor says he has some brain damage called defused slowing so after his 37th birthday next Sunday he'll need to go to a neurological rehab center and then possibly to 24 hour long term care for awhile. We aren't giving up hope and want the very best rehab. The doctors says he may come back with more time because he does more and more each day but he won't necessarily be the same. From our viewpoint he and we will fight through this and doctors have been wrong before and we are up to the challenge. We go to see the social worker tomorrow, and get started on paperwork to get his affairs in order, pack up his apartment etc. Paul, Paulette and I are numb this it is going to take more time than we expected but we'll do whatever it takes. Again thank you for all your warm wishes and prayers we feel them we just need some more for awhile.
All our love, warmth and prayers,
Andrea, Paul, Sean, Paulette and Delaney
#2 Jan 21st, 2009
Some of you didn't get the first email so I included it with this one. Sean is still critical but stable and in a coma. They don't know why he isn't waking up other than it took massive amounts of medication to put and keep him under for the long surgery. He is not responding on command so one possibility may be "global brain damage" which doesn't show up on the EEG and Cat scan which were normal. Personally I don't like the word coma, I'd prefer him to be in a deep sleep and just needs to wake up. The rest of us have the crud and are unable to be with him due to running fevers among other bodily functions. Thank goodness for my Aunts, Uncles and cousins that live in the Denver area that have been wonderful and staying with him these last two days. I came home tonight, I was staying in Sean's apartment in Denver, I figured if I couldn't see him the least I could do was help with Delaney and Paul who are still sick. Paulette is doing better and works 5am to 1:30pm. If any of us are better tomorrow and not running a fever we will go be with him in the Critical Care unit. Thank you for your phone calls, prayers and warm thoughts please keep it up, he needs all he can get. I keep telling him he has visited with his Grandparents long enough he needs to come back to us.
Thanks again,
Andrea
#1 Jan 18th, 2009
Sean our son needs your prayers to recover from a very traumatic open heart
surgery. I took him to the ER Wednesday night for possibly pneumonia. What
they found was massive blood clots on his lungs, in his heart and one still
in his leg. They did open heart surgery Thursday to find out that the one
blood clot in his heart that they wanted to remove was 15cm and there were
more. They finally got him off the by pass machine after the 3rd try, 10
hours later. He is in critical but stable condition fighting for every inch
of progress. He hasn't been awake since surgery, they are cautiously
optimistic, it is now hour by hour-Thursday and Friday it was minute by
minute. They won't be able to begin to figure out the blood clots and what
caused them until he is out of critical care and stable. He will be 37 Feb.
1st.
Andrea, Paul, Sean, Paulette & Delaney
