January 14th - Day 10

Good evening to everyone....or should I say good morning?

First of all, I can't tell you how much it has meant to Ericka to hear how everyone has been asking about her and Mike, and emailing for updates, etc. You know, we all know that God is there for us and he will provide, but in difficult times like these, it is awesome to see how God can use people to bring comfort, peace and love to each other.

On a personal note, I really appreciate all the offers of help and concern. Especially in the nursery.

I just finished talking to Ericka about an hour ago and she was very upbeat and positive about Mike's day. He was able to go without an elevated temperature for 8 hours. They didn't have to put him back on the cooling blanket until this afternoon and he had a low grade temp at that time. All of his pressures were good today. If he makes it through the night without any pressure spikes, it will mean that he made it for 24 hours. This is all good.

As of this moment, depending on Mike's night, they are planning to go ahead with the tracheotomy and feeding tube procedures tomorrow. This is also a good sign.

The doctors have told Ericka that the extent of his brain damage is probably more than they first thought. However, she should keep the following in mind: His brain suffered severe trauma. The occipital lobe and the frontal lobe are the areas that received the most damage, those are the areas that will require the most therapy. The other parts of his brain suffered trauma, but the extent of damage and/or lack of damage really will not be able to be evaluated until Mike actually wakes up. All of the tests that they are running now serve more as markers to record his fluctuations from day to day. They don't necessarily mark his actual damage. The doctors told her that they determine their prognosis off of the initial assessment of Mike when he was brought into the hospital. They have a scale of assessment of the brain. The numbers range from 3 - 15, with 3 representing someone that is essentially brain dead and 15 representing a healthy individual. Mike was assessed as somewhere between a 4 and 5 when he arrived. That is the number that they work from in the treatment of Mike. So if they can get him to a 7 or 8...that would be great.

All of Mike's bodily functions are doing well....heart, lungs, etc. He does make movements with his feet and hands. He spent most of yesterday clenching and unclenching his fists.

The accident happened a week from this past Saturday. We are now in day 10 of Mike's hospitalization. He still has not regained consciousness.

So, what to pray for today? Let's start with specifics. Healing. Pray that Mike's brain will be healed. That the trauma will be minimal. Pray that his fractured bones will mend. Pray that he will have a good day tomorrow. Pray that the tracheotomy and insertion of feeding tube will go smoothly. Pray that Mike will come out of the coma in a time frame that allows for maximum healing of his body...not too quickly, but not too slowly. In a larger scope, pray that this will be the turning for Mike and he will find God in this event.

My extra request: Pray for Ericka and the kids...all five of them. For Kevin to be strong and continue to be the strength that he has been for Ericka, for Lacy to be able to deal with the situation, and for Baylee, Audrey and Wes....just to be able to understand and cope. Ericka has really found her strength in her faith in this...pray that she will continue in her strength. She is really doing an incredible job of counting the small blessings as big accomplishments for each day. Please pray that she is able to do that.

Once again, as I close for the night, thanks to all of you for your prayers and support.