Hello Here are my last two updates to family and friends. If I don't answer texts, emails, phone calls, please do be offended. Days and nights run into one long nightmare that I cannot wake up from. My sister and brother-in-law leave on Sunday. I will miss them terribly. I have to deal with this on my own and I will. As long as the prayers continue, I will endure. Thank you for your concern,
Paula x Hello all. The latest on Steve. They have determined that it is not his immune system; he does not have swine flu so not masks are not longer needed and his door is open to allow fresh air, his white blood cells count is just started to curve downward. He may infection and possibly more than one. He still has the ventilator in to feed oxygen in but now the breathes taken are his own. They are trying to bring him around slowly but if he shows any sign of panic or if his breathing becomes laboured again, he goes back under. His body needs him distracted to work as hard as it is. The doctors are very careful to advise that he is still in very very critical condition and it could still go bad. Doctors have to say this. I am grasping for any bright spot in this situation. They have taken a biopsy of the skin on his legs to test as they do not have any idea what he has. Hopefully the tests will be complete tomorrow and the will tell them something or they go back to more testing. They have taken him off some of the blood pressure meds, but his heart still requires help. He is getting some nutrition directly into the stomach through a tube going in his nose and down to there. He is not going to be happy to wake up to stuff like that. I have been talking to him about all the people out there who are praying for him and loving him in there wishes to get well. On behalf of myself and his children and grandchildren and all the rest of his extended family, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I will update you as and when there is something to report. Update - Spoke to the doctor today (20/2/2014) with Louise (his daughter) there. His room door was closed as he had a watery stool and they are checking that nothing has entered his intestine, so we wait for more test results. The liquid nutrition continues. The skin biopsy may take a week to come back with a result. It could be viral or a bacterial infection. The circumstances of him getting whatever this is is a chance all of us take everyday and it just happened that he came into something where, as the doctor said, there was a gap in his system that made it possible to it to get into his system and run rampant. If it is viral all they can do is let his body handle it, with them keeping him stable, and hope his heart keeps going. If it is bacteria, they should have something in the antibiotic arsenal to help him. They are bringing him out of the coma to fine out if what he has is affecting his brain and any other function. If he panics or becomes "unhelpful" to the point they have trouble doing what they need to do for him, then they will put him under. His liver, and lungs are okay. His kidneys are not particularly okay and his heart goes into mad rhythms sometimes. They say he is stable so we will hang on to that. He could go either way, but I am putting my hopes on him beating this. At least they are weeding out what it isn't and right now that list is bigger. When he turns the right corner and starts to come back to the world of the living instead of the half life that he now exists in, our lives will start heading in the normal direction and I will be able to function knowing he is beating this. Until them, I pray and I live in a fog but keep going. I tell him everyone is out there praying for him on both sides of the pond. If prayers and love can heal, he will be on his way to coming back to us. Thank you for all you are doing. xx _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org John 'Grampa' Sykes Rest In Peace old lad 28th Oct 1938 - 12 Nov 2013 MARCHING ON TOGETHER
