Today Danny began to stabilize. His CT scan came back clear and they were able to remove the neck collar. This is a good thing, but it made the amount of swelling in his head and neck much more visible and pronounced. For example, the burns on his neck stop in between his shoulders and his head. His neck looks almost twice as thick as it normally is. Although his chest and stomach were mostly spared from any burns, the severe swelling from his neck and head come down as far as his mid-sternum. The physician said that swelling will begin to go down beginning tomorrow.
When we first went in to see him early in the morning, he had developed a slight fever and was shaking badly. To us, it looked like he was having a hard time, but the doctors said that the shaking was a normal reaction and the fever was nothing to be worried about.
Around 1:00 PM they had decided to put a feeding tube in. It went alright. Normally The best place to place the tube is past the stomach into the small intestines. They had difficulty getting it that far so it is only to the second half of his stomach.
By this evening he looked better. They have to keep his arms elevated so that the fluids will flow out of them and prevent pooling. He still has the big ace bandages on his arms to help control the cuts they made along his arms, but the will likely remove the bandages tomorrow and just wrap them with gauze like the rest of his burns.
Around 1:00 PM they had decided to put a feeding tube in. It went alright. Normally The best place to place the tube is past the stomach into the small intestines. They had difficulty getting it that far so it is only to the second half of his stomach.
By this evening he looked better. They have to keep his arms elevated so that the fluids will flow out of them and prevent pooling. He still has the big ace bandages on his arms to help control the cuts they made along his arms, but the will likely remove the bandages tomorrow and just wrap them with gauze like the rest of his burns.
The skin graft surgery on his arms is scheduled for Friday the 7th, sometime before noon. It should be a 2-3 hour surgery. It is unsure whether or not both sides of his arms will be grafted at once, but they will do as much as they can. We are hopeful that within a day or two after his arms are done he will be taken off of the ventilator and be able to communicate with us again.
Today we got a guest book and put it in his room. We would like everyone that comes and visit to take a minute and sign it and write a few words of support. He may or may not be aware of all of the people coming to visit him right now, so it will be nice when he wakes up and has a few pages to read. Thank you everyone for the support you are giving us. It means a lot to everyone involved.
Pictures courtesy of Scott, Matthew, and Elizabeth Herrod.
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ReplyDeleteHi everyone! I spent a couple of hours with Danny Boy tonight - until the nurses kicked me out at 7 :) The swelling and discoloration seemed worse than yesterday but I am confident they are taking really good care of him. There are three or four nurses checking in on him all the time and they are more than willing to answer any questions that you may have. In fact I think I know what every machine in the room does now :) They have lots of questions to ask about Danny as well. When I went in there they were calling him Daniel but when I left they were calling him Danny, Danny Boy or DB! That made me happy! The nurses suggested bringing in pictures - so if you're going to see him, maybe bring some of your favorite pics. I really enjoyed the artwork on the wall especially the picture of Scott jumping over Danny with his skateboard :)
ReplyDeleteIt's really hard to see Danny like this, but I know he will be comforted by the support of his many friends and family. We love you Danny!!!
Brandt
Danny is a great guy and we hope and pray that he will recvoer very soon! Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family at this time..
ReplyDeleteGet well soon.
Stan Beckstrom, Emily Brown, and all at SWB Construction inc.