Today was a good day.  Danny is a lot more comfortable and the sedation is mostly off now.  He is ready to get out of here and ready to start working.  He enjoyed all the visitors he had today.  He had lots of family here today and some friends too :)  He seemed happy tonight...and very tired. 

Danny has a wonderful, supportive family who could fill you in much more on all Danny had to say and do today.  Hopefully they all had as much fun with him today as I did this evening.

Danny is sitting up today and seems to be relatively comfortable.  He has figured out how to get a pretty good whisper out even with the trach.  He obviously wants to go home and is frustrated with the progress but each day is a little better than the last (mostly).  His lungs get a little clearer everyday.  Right now we are waiting to hear about a rehab in Boise.  Hopefully he can go there on Monday and get the rehab started.  It will be so hard for him and all of us to have him go so far away but we will figure it out somehow.

They removed the sedation for most of the day today.  He was definitely back and talking (mouthing, as he still has the trach)  with everyone most of the day.  The short term memory loss has improved substantially!!...and he is definitely Danny.  Sherrie told him today he better clean up his language for Candace's visit tomorrow :)  He smiled.  His strong will is obviously still intacted and he is ready to work.  Danny is still the strongest man I know.  I admire him more everyday.  What I thought I saw in Danny 12 years ago he keeps showing me over and over.  I doubted him then but he can remain wonderful, faithful, and diligent during the toughest trials.  As he mouthed today (and got pissed cause I kept interrupting him with my "what, what, say it again...") "The Lord is my Shepherd"...

There is a spinal cord rehab in Boise that we are trying to get Danny into.  They will move him there as soon as he is accepted, ventilator and all.  We need him to start rehab so we have the best possible outcome. 

Danny was pretty out of it most of the day with all of the medications they are having to give him.

Sitting up (more like laid back in the recliner) didn't last very long.  His oxygen levels dropped.  He is still extremely sedated and out of it most of the time.  They moved him back to his bed after about 10 minutes.  During the move the feeding tube that is up his nose got pulled out so they had to get the radiologist to come to make sure it is where it needs to be...so we've been in the waiting room most of the morning/afternoon.  Nicole and Billie have been here with us today which has been awesome.

Danny was pretty sedated yesterday.  They rolled him over onto his stomach for 8 hours to help his lungs drain.  They sound a little better everyday.  Right now that is the biggest issue.  We can't start working on anything else until they get his lungs cleared up.  He is back on his back this morning and breathing on his own.  They are going to sit him up in a chair around 10:30 this morning for a few hours.  He is progressing, it is just frustratingly slow. 

The doctors and nurses have been really good and patient (as I can be pretty trying to deal with at times).  He says they treat him well when I'm not here, which is a huge relief.  He smiled when I told him about my grouchiness with some of the nurses.  He seems like the quiet sweet one now :) 

They are getting him up now so will post again shortly...

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. Yesterday was definitely a roller coaster. Danny still has a lot of lung secretions. They turned the ventilator off yesterday for 1 minute to see how well he can breath on his own. While his breathing seems to be fine, he cannot keep his oxygen levels up on his own so they will do the same test again today. The goal right now is to get his lungs to heal/clear up so they can turn off the ventilator. After the ventilator is turned off then we will wait for them to clear up enough that they can take the trach out. He needs the trach until his lungs are clear enough that they don't have to suction them out for him.

He was awake a lot yesterday and his memory loss seems to have improved substantially. I asked him if he remembers what is going on and he mouthed "DUH!" He is back and definitely still Danny :) He is mouthing a lot of words and obviously super frustrated cause I am not a good lip reader. This will teach us a lot of patience with each other. He should be able to talk to us some once the ventilator is shut off and they show him how to plug the trach so he can force the air past his vocal cords.

I talked the nurses into sitting him up a little more and untying his wrists after making him promise repeatedly that he wouldn't pull on the tubes and neck collar. He did as he promised.
He didn't have the same full range of motion in his arms as he had on Friday when they had to restrain his arms but I am hoping that is just because he has been unable to use them.

Again, I know you are all eager to hear updates on Danny, and I apologize for being slow to post. It is hard to fit in work, kids, and so many trips to Pocatello.

Today will be a better day.

Oh my gosh...I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner but Danny has had his contacts in all this time. No wonder he didn't want to open his eyes!! Took those out and I'm going to order him some glasses today...

Danny is headed in the right direction :) He was awake for awhile this morning before I got here and the nurses said they think he even smiled. They only have him sedated lightly and he didn't become agitated when he woke. He has a lot of secretions in his lungs still and the meds they are giving him cause a lot of mouth secretions which are obviously uncomfortable for him. He looks a lot better today. The puffiness in his arms and legs has gone down and his coloring is really good. I think I'll stay with him for most of the day as I really want to talk to him when he wakes. I wish I could be here every minute.

Dr. Jackson just came in and said his lungs are sounding better today and they will try this afternoon to have him breath on his own for a little while...will keep you posted

Today is a better day :)

Tonight actually turned out pretty darn good :) Danny was awake more than he has been and I know he could hear me and enjoyed listening to the stories of today...just shared my day with him, told him what I ate (as he's always on me to make sure I'm eating well for the baby) and it was kinda nice to make him listen for so long; He's usually the one talking :) I read him the blog and the comments and I can see that he is starting to soak everything in. Please post all your positive thoughts and support; I know he loved hearing them.

Sorry I am slow to post...it has been a stressful day and I finally got an hour alone with Danny and I needed to talk to him. Not for him but for me...

So they put the trach in and everything went fine. They are going to leave him sedated until tomorrow. His lungs are still very congested and the muscles he uses for coughing are not working properly. We still do not know anything more as we really have to wait for his lungs to clear and for him to be stable breathing on his own.

Patience is definitely a virtue. Tomorrow will be a better day.

They are going to do the trach today at 4:30 pm. This will allow them to remove the intabation tube, still be able to suction out his lungs as needed, and hopefully lessen the sedation substantially so he can talk to us!! He will likely be in the ICU for another week and then we would move to the 4th floor. After that a spinal cord rehab...

Danny still has a lot of secretions in his lungs and due to the spinal cord injury the muscles normally used for coughing have become weak. This is why they have not yet removed the intubation tube. They are discussing putting in a trach and removing the tube. They have lessened his sedation this morning to see how much he can cough and the doctors are all discussing if the trach can be put in with the other incision he had for the spinal surgery...

...and I apologize for those of you that haven't been personally told but DANNY AND I ARE HAVING A BABY!! Our due date is November 5.

Danny bit through the intubation tube again tonight. The nurse said he thinks this is a new record...5 times. They put a hard plastic around the tube that he shouldn't be able to bite through and hope that he will only need it for 12 more hours. I sure hope so...I miss talking to my best friend.

I am starting this blog to keep everyone updated on Danny. I think this will be easier than trying to keep everyone updated via text. I also want to apologize to Danny's wonderful family whom I flipped out on today. This is a hard time for everyone and I was selfish in my self-pity. I hope that you can find it in your hearts to forgive me. All that matters is that Danny is alive. I can't imagine life without him...

Danny was in a car accident on Thursday, March 22, 2012 around 6pm near Malad. He was heading to pick up his car that had broke down in Tremonton. He was driving a Ford F150 and pulling a car trailer. We don't know any details of the accident but that he was transported from the accident scene to Malad Hospital and then life flighted to Portneuf in Pocatello.

He has two huge lacerations on his head (about 12" long on each) that have been stitched up. He had a brain bleed that the doctors say is doing fine. He cracked his sternum, has 5 fractures in his neck, bruised a lung, and broke a finger on his left hand.

He was awake and talking to me in the ER at Portneuf. He didn't remember anything that happened and we would have to repeat everything to him every few minutes as the head trauma caused short term memory loss. He became very agitated because he couldn't remember/understand what was going on so they had to sedate him heavily. They ran multiple MRIs and a MRA. They determined that the force of the accident caused a compression of his spinal cord at C6 and C7 which is what they believe is causing the paralysis from his chest down.

We opted for surgery Friday morning to fuse and stabilize his neck and reduce the narrowing of his spinal column at C6 and C7. While doctor doesn't believe that this will repair the paralysis there is a slight chance and at this point there is nothing to lose. He currently has a pick line, is intubated, and heavily sedated. He will be in a neck collar for a few months.

Danny is still intubated today. Although they where aiming at removing the tube today, Danny lungs weren't strong enough as he now has pneumonia. They had turned down the sedation so that he could wake up and they could see if he would be able to breath on his own through the tube and keep his oxygen levels up on his own. Although he did well breathing on his own, he oxygen levels did not stay up. They will try again tomorrow. They don't want anyone with him while they wake him as he becomes so agitated because of the tube.

We won't know until the tube has been removed and he can talk if the short term memory loss has improved. The doctors are unsure if that is permanent or if it will get better. He still has not moved below the chest. He has use of his arms but has some loss of the use of his triceps (as of the last test they could do with him on Friday). That may have improved but we will not know until they have lessened the sedation and can have him do the tests. Before they sedated him on Friday, he did have some feeling in his legs and feet but could not move them. We don't know if he still has that feeling until we can talk to him.

Tonight the nurses said that his lungs are sounding clearer.