Kris had some significant consciousness last night. For about 5 minutes he and Rod (his dad) were able to communicate. Rod said that Kris would write letters in the air trying to get him to understand that he wanted Clare. When Rod would say "You want Clare," then Kris would nod his head. With all the tubes in his mouth and throat all he could do was try to mouth the words "help me." Rod said they kept up this exchange for about 5 minutes. Kris is still on schedule to have his shoulder operated on this afternoon. Every time we talk to someone they give us a different time so we are not sure when it will happen.
Clare's neuro surgeon is suppose to be one of the best in the country. He gave the ok to have her pelvis fixed with conditions. She cannot be put under for more than 2 hours, her head must stay elevated, and need to try to keep her blood pressure up. The orthopedic surgeon thought he could do that if everything went right, but to protect her brain he decided to wait a couple of more days to let her brain heal more. They are currently draining about 300ml of fluid off her brain each day and would like that to decrease significantly to reduce the swelling risk. Now they think the surgery may be Thursday or Friday when they will try to fix her pelvis.
The alarm in the hall went off this morning and startled Clare. She really started thrashing in her bed and chewing on the tubes in her mouth. I looked over her and could see that she was trying to open her eyes. Her left eye was open an 8th of an inch and her eyeball was moving. She really was struggling and moving her head trying to get her eyes open. She responded somewhat to hand squeezes and telling her we were there and we loved her. She eventually calmed down and fell back asleep. They have told us that brain swelling makes you very tired and that is what makes it hard to wake up. The goal right now is to be real quiet and let her sleep and her brain mend during this first 7 to 10 days. Then the swelling risk will be reduced and we can start trying to get her to respond.
I hope they can get Kris in to see Clare soon!
ReplyDeleteOh my oh my Clark.... so sad to hear all of this. Your family is in our prayers....
ReplyDeleteThis is Melinda Welch by the way......
I'm sure you won't remember me. I took wedding pics at Brian and Bethany's wedding.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear about this whole affair, but what a miracle that they both survived and are stable!!
This is so wonderful to have a blog to update everyone on their status and recovery. Our prayers are coming your way.
Deborah Raymond
I went to school with Kris, while we weren't close in school, he made an impression on me. My prayers are sent their way for sure, and I'll be watching this blog for updates.
ReplyDeleteI know it's seemingly too early to think about it, especially with so much uncertainty still looming, but have any methods for donations for bills etc been set up? Any fundraisers been scheduled or set up? I don't have much to give, but I'd like to help however I can.
Please let us know if you need anything. We will keep them both in our prayers! We hope that they both will recover fully, and have the courage to make it through!
ReplyDeleteLove, Derrick and Nicole, Karl and Cherie