Thursday, September 01, 2011

Updates on JR Vigil from the PI

I received a couple emails from May Vigil updating the progress of JR as he recovers from the injuries in his car accident…

August 30
Yesterday we left Guam for St. Luke’s Hospital. It was a very long trip for JR, he was agitated the whole flight. The nurse gave him two doses of sedative but did not help much. When we got to the airport the ambulance was already waiting for us. We cleared customs and immigration fast, I rode with JR in the ambulance. It took twenty minutes to get to St. Luke’s.
Last night three doctors saw him right away (Internist, Neurologist, and Orthopedic). Today about a dozen specialist doctors came to assess his situation. They took another CT scan of his brain and the doctor said that the hematoma is still there, but not nothing new and no swelling of the brain. At seven tonight they will do an MRI on his liver and gallbladder. The gastroenterologist mentioned that maybe the reason that JR developed jaundice was due to the trauma (not infection of the liver) and if so then he does not need surgery to remove the gallbladder if the duct is not damaged. This is our prayer for today that the liver and the gallbladder are okay, and there is no damage to the small duct intestines, he does not need another surgery.
Please keep praying that the LORD will continue to heal JR's body and mind and the doctors will continue to do what is best for JR. The nurse just came in and giving JR a citicoline, a brain vitamin. There is so much going on its overwhelming. Please continue to pray for strength for me and Anthony. We appreciate all your prayers.

August 31
Today was another exhausting day especially for JR.  He panicked last night when they did the MRI, so they had to repeat the MRI this morning.  They had to sedate him for the MRI this morning and were able to do it.  An answer to prayer, the MRI showed the gall bladder and the duct is not damaged and the liver is doing well.  They put a clamp in the drainage and will monitor it for 48 hours, if he does not turn yellow they will remove the tube.  Another praise is that they did the endoscopy and he is able to swallow but they did not remove the traec as his lungs are not clear yet.  He is getting a nebulizer treatment four times a day to clear his lungs.  When his lungs clear they will remove it.  They also did a memory assessment on his brain today, he was really agitated after the test.  He did pretty well.  As for the legs they are healing well and the orthopedic doctor said that the limbs look very good and will set him up for physical therapy.
Please continue to pray.  Anthony and I are getting pretty exhausted as we have to stay with him twenty four hours a day.  We cannot leave him alone even for a moment as he gets frustrated and starts pulling the tubes.   Also he does not sleep very well and keeps us up most of the time.  The hospital here is very different than the navy. They don't provide nurses to keep an eye on him all the time.  If we want to get a nurse to keep an eye on him on the evening it will cost us an extra $50.00 a day.  My brothers are here but JR does not know them well so he does not fell comfortable with them to keep an eye on him.  Pray also that he won't turn yellow and that his lungs will clear.  Again thank you for all your prayers and support.

September 1

Thank you for all your prayers.  Today is our third day here in St. Lukes and more testing was done today.  They took another x-ray on his stomach since he has been having severe stomach pain for the last three days.  They also took a hearing test since he was complaining about his left ear.  Right now they are giving another unit of blood as his platelets are low.  Last night he was running a fever of 104 and today his back to normal temp.   Praying that in three days they will removed his gallbladder tube and the traech. 
As I am writing this email JR is sitting up holding on to the bed rails.   He is doing very well, even the doctors here are amazed how well he is doing considering what happened.  He ate Jell-O today and been drinking from a cup.
As I read my devotional today I am reminded that God knows what is good for us.  We just have to completely rely on his grace and trust completely on Him.

Love, May, Tony and JR

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