Not much news to report

Thanks for all of your emails, phone calls, fb messages, blog messages, etc. I tear up every time I read or receive one, as it's a poignant reminder that we are not alone in this fight for Patrick's life! Your prayers from near and far not only lift my spirit and encourage me when I'm down, but also, I believe, move heaven and earth, when all I can do is hold onto my Patrick's stiff hand.

The short of it is that he did not wake up today. He started running a fever last evening, and they've discovered that he's developed some sort of pneumonia, from aspirating vomit into his lungs during Sunday's seizure. So, they have him on antibiotics, continuous anti-seizure drugs, sedatives (to make him comfortable), and of course a breathing tube (and all that goes with it). His levels are still pretty healthy/normal, so that is good. Perhaps, because of his brain trauma (from receiving mounds of chemo and from fighting two gnarly tumors), his pneumonia, and all that he's been through neurologically over the past few months, he's not responding as quickly to the reduction of the sedative as the drs would like to see. In other words, he's not waking up as quickly as expected (if at all), not responding appropriately to commands to lift certain limbs, squeeze certain hands, or open his eyes. The medical team is changing his sedative to something different, which may not cause him to be in as deep a sleep, nor demonstrate as much agitation when he awakes.

So, if he's feeling better tomorrow, if his vitals are good, and if his temperature is down and stable, they will try to bring him back to consciousness.

I suppose my requests for prayer remain the same. Each day without him beside me feels like a hellish eternity. I peel open his eyes, and peer directly into them, hoping he sees me, begging him to come back to me, praying that he hears me. Tomorrow could be the day; let's pray that it is!