The neurologist has gone over the MRI with Roger and Babette. He showed them the damage to that brain that was caused by oxygen deprivation. There is damage on both sides of the brain. The damage is primarily in the part of the brain that controls leg movement. We have noticed his legs move much less than his arms.
How about some good news.
The neurologists says that the MRI shows much less damage than he expected. The doctor is very optimistic that Derek will have a good recovery, but that it may take a while. He expects Derek to begin to regain consciousness within the next 2 to 7 days!!!
He does expect that at that point Derek will still need a lot of help. Derek will probably still need to have some form of feeding tube in place, as he is not expected to be able to eat normally right away.
Derek will have his last hyperbaric treatment tomorrow, Sept. 25th, at Noon. After the treatment they will remove the breathing tube and allow Derek to breathe on his own. He is expected to be able to breathe without assistance at that point. They have already reduced his oxygen levels from 100% to 35% and Derek's oxygen saturation levels are staying in the 91% region. (it is not felt that Derek ever had a time when he was not able to breathe on his own, although it was very labored on the boat ride back to the marina.)
Now back to some bad news.
Even though many public officials are trying to tell us we need to get a good health care system like Cuba and Mexico, Derek seems to be suffering some ill effects of his time spent in a Mexican Hospital. The doctors say he has some type of infection and they believe that he has contracted a mersa infection in Mexico. If the cultures taken prove them right, they have a good solution for it, but it will require 2 weeks of IV treatments. Derek has had a fever at least since he arrived in the US, but seems to be getting it under control somewhat at this point.
Keep up the prayers, it's working.
1 comment:
Chani I don't know what to say. I am sorry that your family has to go through this. I had heard about this a couple days ago and was wondering how he was doing.I hope all is well soon.
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