Author Archives: Colin II

Friends and family,

So in all actuality, this is not truly an update. We just want to say “Happy Father’s Day, Dad!!” We love you!!!!

And we hope you and yours have a wonderful Father’s Day as well!

Colin and Ian

Friends and family,

A quick update:

Since our last update, it was determined that dad still has pneumonia. This caused some additional abnormalities, including a fever and high heart rate with some atrial fibrillation and flutter. He was placed on a different antibiotic and heart medication and his heart has been stable for a couple days. His kidney performance deteriorated slightly (likely a result of the heart problems), so he will be placed back on the renal therapy today. He is also back on the ventilator full time, one setting above the minimum where they will take him off again. The doctors still feel optimistic about his progress and only consider this a minor set back.

Friends and family,

We just received a call from Dr. Clemens, Dad is improving!!. This is a great day…

Dad is coming off of CRRT (kidney assistance) and will start coming off the ventilator (again) by the end of the day. His urine output has returned to normal levels and he has been doing much of the work when it comes to breathing. The doctors will start him in cycles where he will be off the ventilator for 30 minutes and on for four hours.

Friends and family,

The last week has been tough for all of us. Dad took a couple steps back since our last update. He has experienced atrial fibrillation and flutter on and off, which the doctors have treated with medication. While atrial fibrillation/flutter by itself isn’t considered a major concern (a lot of people have it and live normal lives), dad’s situation is different because of the extent of his injuries.

Friends and family,

A quick update on Dad:

Dad started to show signs of pneumonia this weekend, with a 102 degree fever starting on Saturday. He was placed on three antibiotics on Sunday and tests were taken. The doctors confirmed today that he does have pneumonia and reduced him to a single antibiotic. He has been fever-free for 24 hours. While we are a little frustrated by this, the doctors told us early on to expect it. Burn patients are especially susceptible to infection because of their suppressed immune systems.

Friends and family,

Great news to report! Dad’s seventh surgery took place yesterday (Thursday) and Dr. Peck (one of our favorite doctors) told us that dad is doing extremely well despite the extent of his burns.

The plan going into surgery was to take a look at all of the cadaver grafts and, if he was healing well enough, replace them with dad’s own skin. This is called autografting. (If you recall, dad had all his grafts removed in his 3rd surgery because the tissue underneath wasn’t doing well.) Things looked great, so the doctors removed all available skin on dad’s back and grafted it to his chest, abdomen, arms, front of his thighs and part of his hands. They were able to cover such a large area by using a mesh technique that allows the skin to cover 3 times the original area.

Friends and family,

Dad’s sixth surgery took place yesterday (Friday) and lasted just under four hours. The doctors replaced the cadaver grafts they had placed the previous week and said his tissue beds are progressing well. It is possible they will begin grafting with his own skin as early as next week. They will focus on his chest and abdomen first. This area (and the legs) represents the largest burn area, so getting them healthy first is critical to his recovery.

Friends and family,

A quick update: Dad is scheduled for surgery #6 tomorrow (Friday morning). We met with the head surgeon this afternoon and were provided more detail on what to expect over the next many months. It was a difficult conversation; the journey Dad faces is hard to even comprehend. Please know how thankful we are that Dad has so many amazing friends keeping him close in thoughts and prayers.

Friends and family,

Dad’s fifth surgery took place on Friday. Doctors spent 7.5 hours on him and we are happy to report he made some progress. Dad successfully received cadaver skin grafts and a tracheotomy after not being able to do so in the two prior surgeries. It’s difficult to describe our feelings over the last two weeks, but we can tell you that our idea of progress is much different than it was when this first happened. Here are some of the highlights (and lowlights)…

Friends and family,

It is hard to believe that it has been two weeks since Dad’s accident. The news we have to report isn’t great, as some of the burns are more extensive than first thought. Burn injuries take time to develop, and sometimes they are less severe than first thought and sometimes more severe. Unfortunately, Dad is in the more severe category.