Lung Update #7 - More Oxygen Please

We are here and I am sorry that I have been ignoring phone calls. We have been with doctors, surgeons, nurse practitioners, and nurses since around 7:00am and we didn't get settled for the evening last night until around 2:30am. I napped in two 2-hour stints, but Jeremy slept VERY little. The return to the ICU is necessary for the trauma his body was undergoing; however, as some of you probably know, ICU divisions tend to be restless because they are constantly evaluating vitals. With Jeremy, they are evaluating, re-evaluating, coercing breathing, changing out medication, checking 3 different drainage tubes, and not to mention that there are about 5 different doctors per division wanting to see him and ask him questions (repetitive questions).

My deepest apologies for not updating you guys since our move last night. The ICU has no computers and Jason had gone back to the hotel for the night and I didn't want to leave him. I am now able to give you a synopsis of the rest of our evening and where we go from here.

Jeremy was transferred to the ICU last night around midnight. So he spent about 5 hours on the regular surgical floor. During his time on the regular floor, he ran out of pain medication (the self-induced pump). The ICU did not forward the orders for refilling the prescription so that his medication would follow us in the transfer, but they had to notify the "new" doctor on call and then he had to write and request the prescription. THIS TOOK 2 HOURS. In the mean time, they finally gave an IV pain medication. It took effect about 45 minutes later. However, by now they had also checked his vitals and Jeremy's oxygen levels were ALARMINGLY low. The average person's oxygen level is between 95-100 and at rest it is still around 90-95. Jeremy is a mouth breather when he is sleeping (something about this large mass in his nose keeps him from breathing through his nose at night - if you don't know about that, just know that it is there and will remain). So when you breath through your mouth, your oxygen levels will drop further - those of you with sleep apnea are probably aware of this.

His oxygen level was at 79, and his heart rate was elevated. His fever peaked at 104 - I know, that is nothing for Jeremy, right? So, after a battle with the on-call doctor to get some tylenol for the fever, we finally got some. The fever remained; however. They ran an EKG, an x-ray, and a CT scan last night. We got to the ICU and the 30 minute untangling process of all of his cords had just been completed, when the CT scan escort arrived. So we unhook him and wheel him down to the CT scan. The doctor was looking for blood clot that could have possibly been causing this elevation in fever. He read the scan and there was no blood clot - so thank God all is well and we will not have to take any blood thinner.

We returned to ICU around 2:30, where the kind ICU doctors had made a bed for me in a chair that converts into a cot. I slept in the back of the room on and off, but the nurses evaluated Jeremy all night long. He got 2 pints of blood and was on oxygen all night. He has remained on oxygen and is now, hopefully, resting with a CPap machine attached to him. His fever broke sometime between 2:30 & 6:00am. I missed that moment. Sorry. The blood was given to try to reduce his elevated heart rate and the oxygen was given to increase his saturation level. Jeremy does have some fluid on his lungs, but after our talk with the doctor this morning, that is to be expected.

So, this morning, we have seen 8-10 doctors total. We are still grateful for the enormous attention he is getting and the people that are seeking to understand his disease and current illness. We know that God is providing us with each new face and new source of knowledge. Dr. Quaong came by this morning to evaluate all of the tests from the evening and to discuss with us the possibilities of what might have caused the reactions Jeremy was experiencing. He did state that it is not guaranteed that we will ever be able to pinpoint the exact cause, but the testing and timing of events lead him to believe that the lack of pain medication for an extensive amount of time is the primary culprit. The body was in pain and it's natural reaction is to fight inflammation with fever. The elevated fever raises the heart rate. Because he was in pain, he was not taking as deep of breaths as needed to absorb the adequate amount of oxygen. This all makes perfect sense to us. Dr. Quaong was NOT HAPPY that Jeremy went for an extensive period of time without pain medication. Jeremy cannot have certain types of pain medicine because of his disease, so they want to make sure he can have all that he needs of the medicine he can have.

So from here, he is to work on breathing treatments with two different devices about 10 times an hour when awake. He will be on a 4 hour on/5 hour off regiment with the CPap machine for the remainder of the day. When he is not on the CPap, he will be receiving oxygen still. Our stint here has been increased to at least 10 days total and about 2-3 more days in ICU so they can appropriately monitor him.


Please be patient as I try to keep you posted. I don't have access to a computer at all times. I know that you are anxious and need updates because you are not here and I know that if I were you I would be pacing as well. I am doing the best I can with what I got. I am so grateful for your prayers. They are getting us through this. Saturate Jeremy with prayers of sleep and steady breathing. That is what he needs. Pray for an appetite to arise as he is not experiencing that & he needs nourishment to strengthen him as well. Pray for my endurance. God is good and so is STARBUCKS. I love you all.