Update #45

Sorry for the change of location. Up until this point, we have been using the website for the student ministries at WellSpring Community Church where I work, but Dave really deserves his own page, and we are trying to avoid having you sort through announcements about upcoming youth ministry events in order to see how Dave is doing. The first 44 updates about Dave will remain at http://studentsatthewell.blogspot.com/, but all future posts will appear here, at http://daveheckel.blogspot.com/. Sorry for the confusion, and for the lack of creativity on page design. Just wanted to get it up as soon as possible.

With that out of the way...

In the past three and a half weeks, Dave's doctors and nurses have reminded us repeatedly that there would be ups and there would be downs. We got a small reminder of that roller coaster ride this morning. Before I continue, let me assure you that Dave is fine and seems to be very relaxed. That being said, he did have a "down" this morning when his heart stopped for a few moments. Although we have yet to hear from the cardiologist, the nurses say that it is one of the ways that his body is coping with everything that it has endured thus far. The moment was scary, even for the nurses and doctors who rushed into his room, but everyone recovered quickly when his heart restarted with no drugs, no crash cart, and only a few taps on his chest. Dave's nurse, Prisila, has been a little more doting since this morning and has stayed closer to his room, but otherwise, nobody seems overly concerned. Please do be praying for Dave's heart and for whatever caused the issue with it this morning. There have been some talks about drugs to regulate his heart rate, but we will know more once we have a chance to speak to the cardiologist.

In addition to whatever is going on with his heart, Dave also has a small hole where the doctors reattached his colon to his small intestine. We have known about the hole, a "controlled fistula," for a little while (I'm not sure if I mentioned it in an earlier post or not), and the doctors decided as soon as they discovered it to allow it to heal on its own as opposed to doing another surgery, which would risk undoing everything that they had already done in previous surgeries. While it heals, however, it is leaking large amounts of drainage, which is being fed through one of many tubes coming out of his body. The doctors are watching the drainage carefully, but they do seem concerned about how it would affect Dave's health if it ever gets to the point where it is not "controlled" and begins leaking into other parts of his abdomen. Please be praying that the hole would heal quickly without undermining his overall recovery.

With the downs out of the way, Dave was smiling more yesterday evening and slept five uninterrupted hours last night. He is gaining more strength and mobility in his arms, hands and feet and is getting more comfortable signaling his needs with his hands whenever he is unable to talk because of the ventilator. He seems tired but fairly relaxed, and he continues to improve in his lung PT, including breathing on his own with his lowest pressure support yet for over six hours yesterday.

Visiting hours are coming up soon, so hopefully I'll have more positive news then. While you are praying today, please lift up Dave's mom who has a bad cold and decided not to come to the hospital this morning in order to avoid passing it on to Dave. Pray that she will heal quickly so she can be back by his side very soon.