Friday - Update (2/8)

There have been some major set-backs with Scott. I do not intend for that to scare anyone, but here are the details:

**I'm changing the theme and background of this blog so that things are a bit more uplifting, instead of that dark black. Maybe it'll help!**

Two days ago, Scott was talking (just briefly) with the nurses and seemed to be on the mend. Although, later Wednesday night and early Thursday morning Scott's health declined rather rapidly. His breathing became shallow and his white cell count was up. By mid-afternoon Scott's lungs were filling with fluid and they determined that pneumonia had set in. Fortunately, I was flying back to Rochester from business in New Orleans and was able to redirect my flight to Pittsburgh. Scott's brother picked me up from the airport to be with him during this new delay in recovery.

Scott was intubated just after lunch yesterday. Now a machine is regulating his breathing and the doctors hope this will help the fluid dissipate. He's on high doses of antibiotics to rid the infection in his lungs, his kidneys are producing less urine but his creatinine is 1.0. They are also pushing more potassium through him. The nurses mention that his liver still does not appear to be functioning well.

He went in for a CAT scan earlier today (10 EST) and the results STILL are not back. They will identify if the infection is in the lung or elsewhere in the body (they would not rule out infection in the abdomen). I'll update here when we know more about this scan.

Furthermore, the liver biopsy is STILL not back either and it has been over a week since the samples were submitted for review. We're following up on this as well.

He is being "fed" through his j-tube and they say his intestines are complete and functioning as expected--good news.

He currently has an NG tube, a breathing tube, two small sub-skin drains and a deeper abdomen-drain (both present after surgery). He is almost entirely out of it, however I got about 15 solid minutes (over the whole day today) with him when I knew he could hear me and his subtle nods gave me confidence that he'll get out of this jam, like all the others.

I will be here until tomorrow afternoon, waiting for the snow storm in the Northeast US passes (we're fine in PA). After that Allie will be here Sunday and Monday.