Day 14 - Morning

Last night I arrived shortly after they had to intubate him again.  It was hard seeing him with the ventilator because we want so badly for him to be better.  Dana had planned on staying with his breathing being unstable, but after intubation, he was pretty sedated, stable and calm so we convinced her to go home, it had been a really long day for both her and Todd.

Today is a new day and I am confident they’ll figure out what caused the “episodes” the last two nights around 5:30pm.  At that point, they’ll be able to treat the problem and begin the extubation process again hopefully in a couple of days. By the way, they use the term “episode” to describe his high blood pressure, high heart rate and him becoming unresponsive for a period of time.  As Dana mentioned, they could be the result of neurostorms, seizures or something else.  Once they pin point it they’ll be able to treat it and begin the extubation process again.  His swollen throat was also making it hard for him to breathe on this own so they are now giving him steroids to help with that.   

Unfortunately, yesterday was a setback but he’s already back on track and moving in a positive direction today.  I will tell you this, Jake’s proven he’s one tough kid and he WILL get through this.  During the night, Jake was a little restless but would calm down if you rubbed his hand and talked to him.  His restlessness is partly from the withdrawals of the sedatives and partly from laying in a bed for two weeks. The goal is to slowly ween the constant drip sedatives and give him longer lasting meds like Oxycodone to help his pain.

As I’ve mentioned previously, we're constantly encouraged by the emails we receive from people letting us know Jake is part of their daily prayers. We know he's going to be okay, it's just going to take some time. I truly believe in my heart YOUR prayers, love and support are helping Jake and his family get through this so please continue doing what you’re doing!  Please also continue to share Jake’s story so we can continue to grow his prayer chain.

Specific prayers for today

1. The doctors figure out what’s causing the “episodes”
2. Jake remains strong and doesn’t feel pain or discomfort
3. The swelling in his throat goes down
4. Give Jake’s family the continued strength to help him through his recovery

We love you Jake!!!!! 

Uncle Ryan