Another 24 hours

Sunday evening was a tough one. Mark kept the medical staff on their toes. They worked diligently throughout the evening to keep him stable. His blood pressure and heart rate were very erratic. One minute his blood pressure would be 70/40, and the next it would be 138/78. His heart rate was ranging from 54-120. As soon as they would adjust his meds to accommodate where his vitals were, they would change again. It was like a continuous waltz back and forth with the staff following and responding to his changes minute by minute. By early morning (around 1:00 am) he leveled out and remained stable.
Dr Guy made his rounds Monday morning and came in to give us his update. He used a word that we have never been happier to hear in our entire lives...REMARKABLE! He said that today was a better day than yesterday, and at that specific moment, where Mark is now considering his injuries is remarkable. He did go on to remind us that there will be more setbacks and obstacles ahead. The biggest of the concerns at this point is infection, though as of that moment there were no signs of that. Mark was doing well on the vent. He told us that within the next week they would be taking Mark in to surgery to remove the burned skin on his back that they were unable to remove initially, as well as placing his trach. He used an analogy of being at a track meet. There are multiple hurdles in this marathon, each one has to be cleared to finish the race. Such is the case with Mark.
Around 3:00 pm, Mark's nurse came out and requested that Kim and his mother come back with her. Another hurdle had presented itself. There were about 20 medical staff surrounding Mark's bed, working together to help stabilize him. His blood pressure had dropped in an instant to 40/20. For the next 30 minutes we all prayed, paced, cried, and waited as they worked to bring him back to normal. Trying different meds, at different levels to find what Mark's body "liked." Every member of that team had a job to do and did it very calmly and efficiently. Finally, after a very grim half hour, they stabilized him again. Dr Guy came out to speak with us about what had happened. He suspects that this is secondary to an infection that has developed. He started him on a strong antibiotic, and has sent out cultures of blood, urine, and airway to determine exactly what type of infection he is battling. It will be 2-3 days before those cultures are back, and once they are back the antibiotics will be adjusted according to what he is treating. They placed a catheter in his heart to determine more specifically the level of it's function at this point. In doing this, there also comes more risk of infection, but it is necessary at this point. At this point, all of his vital organs are functioning within normal limits. Dr Guy reminded us, as he always does, that he does not want to shake our faith or hope, but it is his responsibility to provide us with the scientific facts of what his condition is. And that his chance of survival remains slim. He referred to this as a reality check of where we truly stand. He told us that this would happen again. They were aggressive and able to bring him back this time. But with each setback, there comes the chance that they will not be able to. We remain hopeful that Mark will continue to fight and clear all of his "hurdles." With God, all things are possible.