Blue Power Ranger Down

Some Good News

Here is an update that Amy emailed me this morn.

Hi everyone,

I have good news to share with everyone - Wout opened his eyes
yesterday for a couple of minutes, two different times! He is not focusing,
just kind of staring ahead, but I was able to talk to him. The doctors
have been able to get him to open his eyes on command since then, but as
they told me, "not as often as we want him to." He is in right now
getting a tracheal tube for his ventilation, and a stomach peg tube for
feeding, which they may have to do in a couple of hours. They are still
treating him for pneumonia in his right lung, and giving him an
anti-fungal treatment for the fungus in his lungs. Every day brings a bit of
good news, and I believe it is not only because of all the wonderful
doctors and nurses here who are working on him, but also because of the
strength of Wout's spirit, and all of the love, support, and especially
prayers he is receiving at this time. So, let's all keeping praying
and pulling for him - thank you all so much for everything!

Love,

Amy

More Good News

Hey guys, Wout is showing improvement every day. He was off of the ventilator for 6 hours today. He reached up and scratched his nose a couple of times. He will keep his eyes open for several minutes at a time, and seems to be focusing in more and more. Keep the prayers and good thoughts coming.

Thanks,
Wilbur

wilber-t,
wilco on the last. looks like wout is coming back.this is very good news,indeed.

looks like providence is on your side.


greg

Keep pullin' Wout! We are all asking for the best. Hope "He's" listening. Sounds like he is.

Amy's latest update

Here is the latest email that I received from Amy.

I spoke with Wout's doctor this morning, and they are considering
moving him to a specialty hospital to focus primarily on getting him off the
respirator, but also to do more vigorous physical and occupational
therapy. The move will pend on many factors, primarily approval from
insurance, and then, of course, his stability and availability of beds.
Someone from a facility in Durham came this morning to do an assessment,
and she expects to hear something by Thursday about approval.

This morning, a percussion module was attached to Wout's bed to help
break up the fluids in his lungs from the pneumonia. This makes the bed
shake and vibrate periodically, to shake things up. They are going to
remove his central lead today and begin giving him everything that went
through that line through IVs. They are hoping this will help bring
his fever down.

I also asked Wout's doctor this morning about where they considered Wout
to be as far as his status. He said that they use a scale called a
Glasgow scale to rate brain activity. Your and my activity would be at a
level of 15. He said that when Wout originally came in, that he was a
3, and that now they consider him to be a 7. So, that was good news
to me - he did say that Wout may never be at a level 15 again, but they
won't know for sure until he wakes up more, and they can do more
testing. I have not researched anything about the scales and other measures
they are using, because I know in my heart that Wout is getting better,
and I don't want to confuse myself with all the technical stuff. He
is hearing noises outside of his room and will try to look and see
what's going on. Yesterday, the nurse let me wash his hair with a special
shower cap that they have, and they had him in a chair, and he leaned
his head forward to help me put on the cap, and also to massage the back
of his head. So, I can see improvement every day, and I am thankful
for each step forward.

Please keep Wout in your prayers. I know that they are being heard,
and I feel in my bones that Wout is getting better with each passing day.

With love and many thanks,

Amy


Amy is getting a web site together so every one can log on and check his progress. I'll post a link when it is up and running.
Thanks,
Wilbur.

Wilbur, trust me when I say that this is good news, I was in Wout's shoes after my crash and the doctors did not know if or when I might recover from the brain damage. I had what they called just plain ol' severe head trauma and a bleeding vein in my brain. They gave the wife a choice to make, either have me undergo surgery to repair the bleeder or wait and see if it clears up on its own. She opted for the surgery and it's a good thing for me that she did. While I was on the operating table another vein in my brain ruptured and resulted in me having a stroke, which they were able to quickly repair. Now I'm not a medical genius by any stretch of the imagination, but you don't have to be to figure out that if you are going to have a stroke the time to have it is when you are on the table for brain surgery. I was in a coma for two weeks and when I finally woke up my wife thought that I may have been better off if I hadn't. The brain is an amazing organ and has an ability to heal itself beyond what man can comprehend, it just takes time for it to do it's thing. It sounds as though Wout is still there and wanting to let her know it, but he may never be able to. All she can do is have faith and put her trust in the hands of a Higher Power, I know that I will be praying for Wout's full recovery until he has fully come back.

Joe aka CADFather

Wout was off the Respirator all day yesterday. They are giving him supplemental oxygen, but he is doing all the breathing by himself.
Last night, Amy held up a picture of his little dog and he reached out and took it from her, moved it back and forth to get it in focus and stared at it for a while. He will also look out in the hall when someone walks by. The nurse said that Wout does not want to follow commands, but he will do things for himself like scratch his head or look at something you put in his hand. Things that he does deliberately. If that nurse knew Wout, He would not be surprised. He has never liked following commands.

Thanks for all the continued thoughts and prayers.

Wilbur

It sure sounds like good news. you can tell by his actions, Wout is a fighter, thats the biggest part of the game.

Amy's latest update

Hey everybody,

Wout has had a great day! He has been off the ventilator since 6:30
yesterday morning - they even moved the ventilator out of his room! He
is now breathing on his own, with the assistance of the trach collar.
So, today has been a wonderful day, and I am thankful to God and
everyone who is praying for him and keeping him in your thoughts. His
temperature stayed at 37.9-38.0 (C) today, without Tylenol, and He has not had
to have any insulin today either. I feel like things just keep moving
in a good direction. We haven't heard yet whether the insurance has
approved the move to the specialty hospital, but the hospital is ready
to take him if they have a bed ready at the time. So, right now, we're
just waiting to see.....

Take care, and please keep praying for us,

With love,

Amy

April 18

Today, Wout sat in a special chair for about three hours, and also had
a cat scan of his head to make sure he could be placed on a blood
thinner to reduce the risk of forming clots. We still haven't heard whether
the specialty hospital has been approved by the insurance yet. They
will probably come by to do another assessment on him, and the nurse
told me that since he has been breathing well, and has not been back on
the ventilator since last update, there is a chance that he will no
longer meet their criteria for admission, since they specialize in weaning
patients from the ventilators. If he doesn't go there, he will go to
what is called a "step-down" unit here in Chapel Hill, which is like an
intermediate care ICU center. If he continues to be as stable as he
currently is, the step-down unit move could happen this weekend sometime.

No other major updates, but I'll try to keep you all posted as things
progress. Thanks for all of your prayers and e-mails.

Take care,

Amy