Update #72

Kendahl is on her way back to Knoxville after spending this weekend on a youth retreat. So she has asked me (her dad--I still haven't met Dave...) to update the blog for everything that has happened since last Thursday. Of course, since she hasn't been in Knoxville, this information is from Dave's parents....



On Thursday, there was some concern that Dave might have another infection because his heart rate was in the 130s, he had a fever of 100+ degrees, and they had to give him two units of blood. Overall, he was very tired.



But, on Friday, Dave was on the trac collar for four hours in the morning and an additional nine hours in the afternoon/evening. That's great progress...thirteen hours in one day.



Yesterday, Dave was on the the trac collar for ten or eleven hours straight. His heart rate was back in the 80s, so it doesn't look like he had an infection. And his recovery seems to be back on track.



Tomorrow they anticipate meeting with both the plastic and orthopedic surgeons. The plastic surgeon is expected to schedule Dave's last skin graft to finish closing the wound. The ortho will have results from xrays taken last week, after he had them take Dave out without using the back brace (Kendahl wasn't too crazy about this experiment...). The doctor wanted to see if going without the back brace would have any effect on the cracked vertebrae. Tomorrow they find out.



Overall, Dave is doing well ("well" in an ICU is a relative term). He is sleeping more. And his nurses are pushing him to get him out of ICU.



Thank you all again for continuing to pray for Dave. I know that Kendahl has mentioned several times that there is no way that she and Dave's parents will never be able to thank everyone who has supported Dave and them through this, but they are very grateful for everyone's faithfulness.



As Kendahl says...His Spirit, His will, His peace, His glory.