Hi all:  This is Claudia again.  I just came from Daniel's house to get the latest.  I apologize that you are receiving this a bit after the fact, but Bill and I were out of town for a week.  

To update everyone, Daniel came home from another hospital stay today.  Last Thursday afternoon, Daniel had a scheduled appointment with his trauma team at the hospital.  The doctors took one of his drainage tubes out, leaving Daniel with only one tube left.  The doctors were hoping to wean him off of the remaining tube, which would be removed after another two weeks.  

By 9 p.m. that same Thursday night, Daniel began running a fever.  He was up all night with diarrhea and chills.  Early Friday morning his parents called his doctor, who said Daniel should be taken directly to the ER.   Blood tests revealed that Daniel's white blood count was quite high, indicating continued infection in his liver. Daniel was put on IV antibiotics, and the doctors said he should remain in the hospital until his fever and diarrhea were taken care of.  (Okay, let me just say I am using the descriptive 'd' word to give folks an idea of his medical condition.  I hope it does not come across as TMI -- too much information!)  

Daniel finally began feeling better early Monday morning.  He came home today, Tuesday, about 4 p.m.  He is still on IV antibiotics at home.  A home health care nurse will be coming in periodically to check his vital signs and make sure he is doing okay.  

As most of you know from reading the blog, Daniel has had great difficulty tolerating the pain meds given to him, and so he found taking ibuprofen helped his pain as well as, if not better than, anything else.  However, his bloodwork at the hospital revealed some beginning danger signs of his kidneys being negatively affected by so much ibuprofen, so he can no longer take that to relieve his pain.  He is on a different pain med, but Mendy said it is not nearly as effective as the ibuprofen was.

Please continue to keep Daniel in your prayers.  His latest unexpected hospital stay reminds us that even though Daniel is an amazing young man who has been greatly blessed through this ordeal,  much still lies ahead of him in terms of recovery.  We continue to pray that Daniel and his family will experience strength and comfort as Daniel's body continues to heal.        

  

Day 66 - Daniel is home again

Hi everyone -- Claudia here. I spoke with Aubrey and Mendy on the phone this morning, and they informed us that Daniel was released from the hospital yesterday about 4. He came home to a visit with friends and a home-cooked meal.

The doctors sent him home with two of the four drainage tubes still in place. Daniel still has pain, but it is tolerable, as long as he is very careful in his movement.

The plan is for Daniel to continue to recuperate at home. He will see the doctors again next week, around Thursday, and at that time a scan and x-ray will be done to be sure everything (the drainage tubes and the new stint) are working as they should.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Daniel usually sleeps until noon, so if anyone wants to visit or call, please wait until later in the day. You may also post messages to Daniel and his family here.

Day 63 - Post Surgery Update

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Monday 1 June, 9:15 pm MST

Aubrey called just a few minutes ago to report that the endoscopic surgery has been completed successfully. The surgical team replaced the stint in Daniel's liver and also performed some exploratory procedures. They discovered his liver is leaking again, but said these types of leaks usually heal.

Daniel is still experiencing a lot of nausea and pain and isn't talking at this point. The doctors said tonight that the remaining tubes will need to stay in his liver for 8 more weeks.

Daniel has been optimistic and strong for over two months now, and he still has a couple of months to go before he doesn't have tubes coming out of him, plus several more months of healing after that. He will endure this and some day, hopefully soon, the surgeries will all be over (he still has a couple more to go). But this much pain and trauma, not to mention all the surgeries, take their toll on a person's strength and spirit. Please continue to pray that Daniel will have the strength to endure all he has to go through. And thanks to everyone who has helped in so many ways. Your faith and prayers have helped Daniel and his family more than you will ever know.

Update from Aubrey -- Another Surgery Scheduled for 5pm Today

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Monday 1 June, 4:45 pm MST

Dear Bill,

Yesterday (Sunday) I went to the hospital to take Daniel to church. The hospital has a chapel and provides a short service for the patients if they want to attend. Daniel was in a lot of pain when I showed up, so much that he just mumbled a few words to me. His eyes were glossy and his lip was quivering, so I sat with him and rubbed his feet until he fell asleep. Then, I stood guard outside his door and wouldn't even let the nurses in to check on him. I hadn't seen him sleep for a long time so I wasn't about to let anyone wake him. He had previously quit taking any narcotics because they made him sick, so he had been surviving on Tylenol and Ibuprofen for the past 2 days.

Yesterday, they prescribed Tramadol, which helped him relax and seemed to take the sharp edge off of his pain. Later, he perked up when his friends came for a visit and I actually talked him into letting me go find something for him to eat. I came back with some cheese raviolis (that were actually pretty tasty) and he ate them all. Christine and I both reacted to his first huge bite and told him that one bite amounted to more than he had eaten in a week. After I left, the doctors came in and removed all of his staples and one of his drainage tubes. He was not prepared for the pain caused by the removal of the tube. He said it hurt worse than anything so far. When I came back later in the evening, Christine put some latex gloves on and pulled the tube from the trash can to show to me. It was over 2 ft. long and had an additional 8" flat strip attached to the end. I can imagine that the liver tissue must have tightened against the tube and caused some intense friction when they pulled it out.

Today he is at the Huntsman Center, just about ready to go in for another surgery. They are replacing the stint from his liver to his large intestine because it was starting to move out of the liver. Over the past few days, bile has been coming out of one of his drainage tubes rather than traveling through the stint. This will be the 9th surgery they have performed on him. They will go through his throat and perform the surgery endoscopically. They are considering taking out another one of the (4) drainage tubes during the surgery as well. Daniel told them he wouldn't allow them to remove any more of the tubes unless they put him to sleep first. You know it must hurt for him to say that. In the past, whenever they removed the other chest tubes, he didn't even flinch.

His spirits aren't too high right now, which is to be expected. He has been extraordinarily courageous and positive through this whole ordeal, and so has Christine. I'll let you know how the surgery went, as soon as he's out of recovery.

Love,

Aubrey