June 9, 2009

Mark is still holding steady, all vitals stable. He does have two new infections. One is bacterial, and one is fungal. So his antibiotics are being switched around to fight these.
Mark started physical therapy again today, and the report from the therapist is that his strength and range of motion are incredible. She said he is doing "amazing!" Of course he is...that's our Mark!

Uncle Mark and Jayden

June 7, 2009

During this morning's visit, Mark was alert. They had just changed his line (IV) to a new location and were waiting for X-rays to confirm it's proper placement before they could resume any of his sedation or pain meds. So his blood pressure was elevated due to the pain. Otherwise his vitals have all been stable. His temperature was up a bit yesterday (38 C/100.4 F) but it is back to normal this morning.
The results of his echocardiogram were good. There is no damage to his heart from the infections.
One more day...one step closer to the finish line!

Surgery Went Well

Today's surgery went well. There was actually more done in the surgery than we had originally thought. The same process Dr Guy used about a month ago to graft skin from Mark's scalp to cover his right leg was repeated using skin from the backs of his hands. Due to the process of "stretching" the donor skin, he was able to make it go a long way towards covering Mark's burns. He covered all of his right arm, about half of his left arm, his knees, and the small portions of his chest that needed repair. Mark tolerated the surgery well.
The cardiologist came later this evening to do an EKG to determine if Mark's heart has been affected by the still present infection. We are still awaiting the results of that.

Surgery Tomorrow

Mark is scheduled to go in for a "cleaning up" surgery tomorrow morning. Dr Guy will go in and look at the cadaver skin on his legs and replace any areas that need to be. He will also assess the grafts on his right leg. The new skin on his chest is still looking good.
He is back on one of the meds for his blood pressure, but there hasn't been any scares like last week. They also increased his pain meds tonight.
Surgery for tomorrow is tentatively scheduled for 8:00 AM, unless there is something that comes up with another patient. Just another leg of the marathon. Nothing to it, eh Mark?

New Skin Looking Good

They have removed the last of the gauze and backing from the cloned skin, and it is looking good! Now Mark is now able to be in a position other than flat on his back. (It's been two weeks today since the skin was placed.)
His blood pressure was going a little low earlier today, but they were able to level it out by giving him fluids rather than having to put him back on meds for it.
He is more alert and responsive than in recent days. Back to mouthing words again...time to brush up on our lip reading skills.
Let's keep it going in a positive direction Mark...one day at a time!

June 1, 2009

The last few days have been uneventful for Mark. He is off of his blood pressure meds now, and vitals have been holding steady. As with previous posts, his infection is still of great concern. The antibiotics are still having no effect.
Otherwise, there have been no major events. One day at a time, holding steady, and waiting for improvement with his infections.