Dropping by from Road Cycling forum with greetings, stay strong and hoping for the best.

Machka, sorry to hear of Rowans fall and injury. Both of you are in my prayers.

Tracheotomy went well.

Rowan was breathing on his own for quite a few hours today which they are pleased about. They will likely give him a break and put him back on the ventilator overnight and then try him breathing on his own again tomorrow. As with cycling, if we don't do it for a while, we lose fitness. Breathing with a ventilator means that the muscles involved in breathing don't get much work, so they lose fitness. When a person starts breathing on their own again, it can be quite tiring.

Odd to think that I figured I had lost all my fitness when I had DVT and could hardly hobble around the block. Meanwhile Rowan is working on breathing again.

Unfortunately he is still struggling with an infection. We are hoping that can be resolved soon.

And his eyes are open again. It's so hard to tell what he really notices or takes in, but it is nice to see his eyes.


Continued thank you to you all. We appreciate all the support ... it helps.

Good news...thanks.

Sounds positive, good to hear.

Reading everyone's responses to this thread reminds me of why all of us 50+ers hang out here. The world would be a much better place if the members of all communities -- physical and virtual -- were this caring and supportive.

Thanks for taking time to update us Machka, our prayers from Florida are continuing, for Rowan and you.

Bill

Stay strong. Both of you.

Baby steps, but progress none the less. Thanks for the update.

Breathing on his own is huge! That's very encouraging.

I wouldn't worry too much about Rowan's apparent unresponsiveness if he's been on the vent this long. My understanding is they keep a patient pretty well doped up (prophylol is a wonderful drug!) so they won't pull the ventilator out, which creates a big mess.


Ergo, he's doing as well as we could hope at this point. Here's hoping the improvement continues!

Thanks for the update. Thinking of you both.

Thank you for the update. Praying for both of you from the west coast of Canada.

Machka -

You and Rowan have been an inspiration to the rest of us for... it seems like for half of forever.

Very tough deal now, but I like to think that the two of you will get back to riding together again, maybe in the not terribly distant future. I hope that you are finding a little time to envision such things, and that Rowan will too before too long.

Thanks for keeping us posted.

Machka, I know that it pains you to leave Rowan alone at the end of the day. You have to keep the homefront in order for him as well. I would suggest placing a large picture of you or the two of you at his side to let him know you are always at his side, in person or spirit.


Cycling is not going to be something he'll return to for a while. Brain injuries are very daunting, I have a friend who was involved in a bad wreck on his bike on the west coast and it took a while...on the other hand he started a disability advocacy and assistance organization that has helped hundreds across a large portion of our state, including persons with HIV/AIDS for close to 20 years.


Thank you for being there for him.

Hi Machka,
lungs and legs are much more important than brain, as a psychiatrist, I can tell you that our brain is essentially a nuisance !!!
I'm a total atheist so ... no prayers, but I believe the intensive care unit will do everything that's possible to get Rowan out of his brain trauma.
Clots and lung infections are frequents and not that terrible.
I'm not posting very often on BF, but I'm positively certain that Rowan will get out all of this without any real problems
Yves

Rowan has moved from ICU to the neurosurgical ward. A step in the right direction. He should be able to get better night's sleeps and they will likely start physio stuff with him to help him regain strength.

Still chest infection.
Still DVT.
Still not responding much.

But he is watching what goes on around him, frowns when he doesn't like something, and seems to raise his eyebrows when he's interested.

He's also moving both legs and his left arm.

And he's been breathing on his own (through the tracheotomy) for about 72 hours.


This ward move does, however, mean a change to visiting hours so I'll have to make some adjustments.

I'm a complete stranger dropping in to do a fist pump into the air for him responding like he is. God bless.

Serious progress!

Good news

Thanks for posting the updates - lots of folks here are eagerly waiting for new on his recovery and cheering him on!

Breathing on his own and demonstrating the level of alertness that you describe is good stuff.

A virtual hug and to let you know that there are others praying for you and Rowan.

Paul

Glad to hear the improvements. Hopefully you'll note rapid improvements over the next few days.



Many hospitals in the USA have gone to no fixed visitor's hours, at least for some patients. They frequently have hard bench couches that are sleepable in the rooms.

The buildings may have limited ingress/egress, but once in, one can stay as long as one wishes.

Of course, for your own sanity, 24 hours a day in the hospital for weeks on end may not work, unless you have relatives and friends that can trade off some.

This ward has very strict visiting hours because they feel their patients benefit from periods of quiet and rest ... which I can understand. I benefit from periods of quiet and rest too.

Each ward is different.