Brian Edward Carroll

1:50 PM: Brian started therapy today. He is battling a severe headache. He is given medicine regularly, but it does not help much. His evaluations from the therapists will be finished later today. He is having trouble eating because he is nauseated. Besides the headache he is doing great and progressing quickly.

5:45 PM: Brian is going to get a CT Scan in a little while. His headache has continued and they want to make sure there is nothing wrong that is causing the pain. His physical therapy was very brief today due to his headache. As soon as his headache eases, his therapy will continue. 

5:30 PM: Brian was awake when i went in to see him. Doctors removed his Trach today, and also the drain from his brain. He is able to talk now. Communication is much better, and he seems a lot less frustrated. He seems to be himself, constantly making those "Brian" gestures and flirting with all of the nurses! Other than complaining about the food, Brian has had a great day! He should be leaving the icu in a few days, and moved into a more extended stay room to start rehab. One of the nurses told us that they have never seen a patient with his injuries recover this fast!! Praise God for his amazing Power.

 10:20 PM: Brian had a good visit tonight. His voice was stronger than ever and was able to articulate during conversation.  He was nauseous from the lack of whole food and the amount of morphine in his system. He complained of a headache and was given medication for it shortly before we left. His souchers were removed today, so this could be the cause. He was very tired, and he started to drift into a deep sleep as visiting hours ended. 

3:00 PM: Brian is still doing good. The doctor says he is progressing normally. The stage he is in now is agitation and confusion. He was given something to calm him down a little this afternoon. The dietician told us that he is receiving the equivalent of 2,000 calories per day through his feeding tube. He is taking this very well which is a good sign since some patients cannot tolerate this.

10:00 PM: Brian is still coughing and getting the hiccups a lot, so they have given him some medicine to knock both of these out. He is still being given the medicine to keep him calmed down. He is also still on three antibiotics. His respiratory rate is 20 breaths per minute. The machine is set to breathe at 8 breaths per minute and he is doing the other 12 on his own. His temperature spiked to 103.7 degrees today. They have moved his IVs from his chest, where they have been since the beginning,  to his hands. This was done just in case the IVs were causing any infection at those spots. They have put the cooling blanket back on, and his temperature is back down to 100 degrees. He is resting well now.

6:30 AM: Brian had a good night. He is still responding well. The nurse had to put loose restraints on him during the night so that he would not try to pull on his trach and feeding tube. This is very normal since he wants to get rid of the things that are bothering him. He is moving his entire body frequently. He is given pain medication to make him a little more comfortable. His temperature is 101 this morning. He is still in the early stages of coming out of his comatose state. 

10:00 PM: They tried to take him off of the ventilator for a small time today just to see how he would react. He did not do very well so they will keep him on it for awhile. He is still trying to breathe on his own though. He is continuing to be very responsive. He is transitioning into the 4th stage of coming out of his comatose state. There are 8 total stages.

1:00 PM: Brian had a CT scan and chest x-ray this morning. They are going to keep the drain in because there is still some fluid. The CT scan showed improvement. There is still some swelling but it has gone down a lot from what it was. The chest x-ray shows that his pneumonia looks much better. The antibiotics he is on now are working well. The allergic reaction has stopped and his white blood cell count is down. His sedation medication has been completely cut off. He is really trying to breathe on his own. They expect for him to wake in a few days.

10:05 PM: Brian has opened his eyes. He is following some commands like squeezing a hand and moving his feet which is far beyond what was expected at this point. The nurse said there are several levels of coming out of the comatose state, and Brian is in the beginning stages.They are only allowing immediate family to see him at this time due to any confusion that he may have in this fragile state. He is continuing to try to breathe on his own. His temperature is still at 100 degrees. He is also yawning and coughing.

12:30 PM: Brian's temperature is currently 99.5 degrees. They have taken him off of all of the antibiotics due to the allergic reaction. They are going to put him back on each of the antibiotics one by one to see which caused the reaction. Since he is off of the antibiotics his white blood cell count is back up which may delay the doctor cutting back his sedation medication. He is definitely responding to pain. The nurses pinch him every hour to make sure he is still responsive. He does not like this at all! He moves his whole body in response to the pain. When he hears voices, he moves his eyes (while closed) and moves his head some. We're still not sure when they plan to completely cut off his sedation medication, but we hope in the next couple of days.

5:45 PM: Brian is back on three antibiotics. One has remained the same, two have changed, and they have cut one out completely. They have clamped the drain that has been draining fluid from his brain. They will leave it like this for 24 hours and then do a CT scan. If there has been no build-up of fluid, they will probably remove the drain. Temperature is still at 99 degrees and they would like it to be around 97 degrees.

5:30 PM: Brian is doing good today. His temperature has fallen from 102 degrees this morning to 99 degrees. He is continuing to move some. His sedation medication is still at 20%. For the most part, he has had a steady and uneventful day.

9:30 PM: Brian had a slight allergic reaction (small rash) to one of the antibiotics. They're running tests to find which antibiotic is causing it. His temperature is at 100.7 degrees now.

8:00 AM: Brian is looking good this morning. His sedation medication has been reduced to 20%. His white blood cell count is down so the antibiotic is working well. His temperature is at 100 degrees. 

4:15 PM: Brian is still getting intense respiratory therapy to fight the pnuemonia. His temperature is around 98 degrees. There are slight signs that he is making attempts to breathe on his own.

3:00 PM: Brian has a bacterial infection in his lungs that was also caused from aspirating. They are working hard to fight this and have put him on an additional antibiotic. They will continue to monitor this and the pneumonia. His temperature is now around 99 degrees. He is looking good and responding slightly to voices during visitation.

8:30 PM: The bacteria that is causing the infection is very common and the antibiotic being administered is specific to fight this bacteria. He has had continued respiratory therapy including being placed on a bed that vibrates to break up the mucus. His pain medication had been cut back to 30% of what it once was. He also had the hiccups today (for 5 1/2 hrs)!

Throughout the night Brian had respiratory therapy to break up the mucus in his lungs. His chest xray shows that his pneumonia has stayed about the same but his lungs sound clear. His cranial pressure is back down to normal. His temperature is where it needs to be, but they are continuing to keep the cooling blanket on him. He has responded well to being taken off of the paralysis and he shivers and twitches some. The tracheotomy went well.

Later in the evening his temperature began to rise again. They will monitor it overnight. His pain medication is beginning to be cut back and they expect him to be awake in a couple of days.