One step forward, one step back and side to side!

Pete did really well yesterday and was able to rest most of the day, but last night he spiked a fever.  Since this is a repeated occurrence (3 fevers in the past 5 days), his surgeon ordered a CT scan of his abdomen for this morning to see if they could identify the cause.  The CT scan revealed 2 new fluid pockets in his abdomen and they decided to place two new drains to remove the fluid.  The first pocket was just a collection of abdominal fluid but it was putting pressure on his lungs and hindering his breathing.  Draining this should increase his lung capacity and improve his chances of getting off the ventilator.  The second pocket revealed signs of infection, they collected a sample to culture so they can modify his antibiotics accordingly. Once Pete stabilizes from all his procedures today the doctors are talking about doing another SBT (spontaneous breathing trial) to hopefully move closer to removal of the ventilator.

Thanks so much for your continued support and encouragement!

Hazy sunrise

Last night was another difficult one for Pete.  He failed the latest spontaneous breathing trial last night and wasn't able to sleep until early this morning.  As I write this Pete is finally sleeping peacefully, but because of the difficulty last night, we are unsure of whether or not he will be able to be extubated today.  Hopefully today is more restful and we are able to move another step closer to extubation!

Thank you for your continued support!

Pictures from Julie

Please click on the "Pictures from Julie" title to take you to a slideshow.

These are photos from vacations Pete has been on and helping others on their boats. Always willing to lend a hand and drink all your beer.

Just slide

Yesterday was long and tiring, as Pete tried to communicate through a haze of medication, reduced motor skills and without the use of his vocal cords.  I found myself thinking why didn't we take sign language classes together? Over and over again.

Last night Pete successfully completed two spontaneous breathing trials!  Today we will move down another level on the ventilator (O2 35%, Peep 5) and work on further breathing trials. If everything goes well, Pete may be extubated as early as tomorrow morning.  The most difficult thing right now is getting Pete to slow down, relax and be patient.  Even after the extubation, I am told it will take a couple of days for Pete to regain use of his voice.

Everyone is excited to see Pete doing so well, however he is still very ill and highly susceptible to any germs he may encounter, so at this time he is still not able to have visitors.  Once he is extubated and able to communicate better, we can start having visitors as long as their are perfectly healthy (exposing Pete to even a simple cold virus could be detrimental at this stage). Thank you for your continued support and well wishes.

Thank you!

Awake at last!!

Pete is fully awake and refusing any further sedation medication.  After two days of remaining stable and no adjustments to his ventilator settings they are reducing the pressure used to push air into his lungs (Peep 7, down from 10).  Today they plan to start spontaneous breathing trials and if he is successful, he may be able to be off the ventilator by tomorrow.

Thank you for your continued support and extreme generosity!

Evening update

Pete has remained stable throughout the day and his status his substantially unchanged this evening.  So, in the absence of any news, here are some early photos of the sailor we all know and love!

Pete with his dad, Larry, and brother, Eric

Eric informing his little brother about life!

Napping in mom's arms after a long day of sailing

Good night friends!

Lexi's bedtime prayer tonight (Rachelle's littlest sister)

Dear Jesus...Please make Pete all well and help Sissy get all her school work done! I love you Jesus Amen!

Sleeping bear

Today looks like it will be a little more restful for Pete as they have increased the medication that keeps him sedated.  He is fully off of the longer-acting sedative (Versed) and now just on two fast-acting meds that can be easily adjusted and regulated depending on how conscious and responsive they want Pete.  

The plan is to continue dialysis to remove excess fluids from Pete's system and to help give his kidneys a break.  We remain hopeful that once Pete returns to full health, his kidney function will return as well.  But there is a nagging question, given the length and severity of his illness, of whether or not his kidneys will return to full function.

Pete is expected to remain on the ventilator for the better part of this week.  His lungs are showing signs of compression and diminished capacity due to his infection and extended time confined to a bed.  The hope is that with dialysis pulling off excess fluids and the swelling from the infection decreasing he will be able to be off the ventilator soon.

Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for all the love, support and food that has come our way in the past days and weeks!  I could not handle this without all of you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

From Eric, Pete's brother

P & R at Butchart Gardens 2000

Pete, 

I'm very happy to hear that you continue making excellent progress. Since your medical team has started reducing some of your anesthetic - you may appreciate the following. 

The picture below was taken yesterday afternoon at my favorite beach near Tampa - Indian Rocks State Beach. You will notice the absolute lack of any recognizable wave action. In fact, the hotel pool has better waves.

The nearly flat water would be good for some waterskiing and is fairly typical for this beach and Florida's gulf coast, but get this ... I counted at least three folks caring surfboards down to the beach. Must have been optimists! ;-)  

Anyway, keep getting better and pretty soon you can be sitting out getting some sun and fresh air.

Love, E

Horizontal two-step . . . .

So some days are a step forward and some are a step back and then there are the days that are a horizontal two-step . . .

Today was frustrating for me, seeing Pete start to wake up, but not able to communicate; knowing that he wants to be off the ventilator and moving around, but is unable to do so.  The most frustrating aspect is knowing that we are pausing the move away from his ventilator and not fully understanding why.  What I do understand is that it is a delicate balance between weaning him off the ventilator too soon and leaving him on it for too long.  We are hoping that tomorrow brings continued improvements and possibly more answers.

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement!

Photos from Jeremy Fox

Big day . . .

Pete is starting to wake up! Marcus and I just came from the hospital where we saw Pete. When I say we saw him, we SAW him, the real him. In deep pain, in a deeply medicated state but the big guy saw us and moved his head, moved his hands, reacted to us. It was miraculous. I'll admit to doubting at times this past week that I would ever have that pleasure again... We were at a wedding when Rachelle called us and we left immediately. Nothing seemed more important to us than seeing him and looking him in the eyes. We were shaking with excitement. There is a long, long road to recovery yet for him but it seems, really seems, that he is on the path to wellness. They are talking about trying to extubate him on Monday or Tuesday if all is well. It was painfully obvious that the breathing tube is annoying him and he was, at times, a bit agitated as he tried to communicate with us between the waves of pain medication. It was hard to witness this but to be able to see him with open eyes and responding... Marcus thinks he even got him to laugh a little but it could have been a broncho-spasm... His vitals are stable without the aid of medicines and the medical staff (including his ultra cool nurse Ever!) seem really positive about his situation. To all you out there far away (or close!) who are reading this, thank you for everything... keep sending your positive waves - they are reaching Pete's shores. Let the healing begin!!

Pete's Mom said...

I am at home now and so I am leaving all you good friends in Seattle to be there for Pete(r) and Rachelle. I have enjoyed so much meeting and talking to you, sharing a sandwich and other treats and goodie bags. I am really impressed with you all as people and friends. Thank you for who you are. I have learned from you. 

It is really hard for me to be so far away. The Psalms will continue to be a source of strength to me. Check out 62,41,121, 73 and 74 in the order I have read them this past week. I especially like this part "two things have I heard that you O God are strong and that you O Lord are loving". 

 

-Joanne

The sun is out today

Throughout the night Pete's vital signs continued to improve.  As of this morning he is completely off of blood pressure medications that help maintain a stable blood pressure.  He is off one of the two drugs that are being used to control pain and keep him sedated.  This morning he was given a bronchoscopy to help clear his airway and allow continued independence from the ventilator.  Yesterday they started Pete on a feeding tube and have been trickle feeding him, so far his digestive system has been responding positively. 

All signs point to Pete heading firmly down the path to recovery.  We are still looking at a very long road to full recovery, however, if he continues to improve at this rate I may be able to have a conversation with my best friend sometime in the next week or two!

Thank you for all your love and support, it is greatly appreciated!

Photo from Elizabeth Snodgrass

This is a picture that I took before our nursing party last summer. Pete and I hooked up this Hello Kitty pinata (not without some amazing "sailor boy" knot work) and then decided that it was probably time to see if the keg was working.

The Pathfinders

Yay!! There aren't any photos from Pathfinders posted yet! I get to be
the first one!! :-) This is the best photo of Pete that I've been able
to find so far.

Most, if not all, of my time with Pete was spent in Pathfinders. :-)
My first impression of him was as our drill master. :-) (Is that what
he was called? It was years ago. :-) ) I was hoping to find photos of
him with the drill team, but I haven't found any yet. Anyway, I
remember my first Pathfinder Jamboree at Sunset Lake. I'd only been in
the club for a short time since I joined late in the year. We all
assembled in formation outside our cabins and Pete marched us all the
way through the camp to the cafeteria and then INTO the cafeteria for
breakfast. I was a little embarrassed (and I don't think I was the
only one!!) because the other Pathfinder clubs who were already in the
cafeteria all looked at us as we came in, of course. :-) Pete had to
run ahead of us (and I think Rachelle did too) to hold the doors open
for us. Even though it was slightly embarrassing (you have to remember
I was only 10 at the time :-) ) it was also a proud moment to be there
with "MY" club and feel like Pete was proud of us. :-) Also, I
remember that on our way through the camp we had a chant. I don't know
if we ever used it other than that one time. Maybe Pete just made it
up. But I remember thinking that it was really great and I meant to
remember it, but obviously I didn't. I should have written it
down. :-) It started out something like "We are the Bellevue
Sojourners . . . " Does Pete or Rachelle or anyone else reading this
remember it? :-)

Pete, looking forward to your recovery! My prayers are with both you
and Rachelle.

Love, Amanda

Just talked with Rachelle. Pete is doing OK. Nice and stable right now. He is totally off the Levophed and just on the one BP med. His vent settings are much better also. PEEP of 10 and O2 at 50%. So far so good. I am off for the next 5 days and will visit him. I'll write a more complete blog tomorrow.

Looking for stability today . . .

While still not out of the woods, Pete's vital signs are stable and looking better then they have since this all began.  Today we are looking for continued stabilization of his vital signs and to slowly begin weaning him off his multiple life-support systems.  The only procedure ordered for today is placement of a feeding tube so that Pete can start receiving nutrients through his digestive system again.  Until now Pete has been receiving nutrients via IV directly into the bloodstream and while this does provide necessary nutrition, it does not have the added benefits provided by a fully functioning digestive system.

Good news!

Pete just came back from his surgery this morning and everything looks really good!  His vitals remained stable throughout the surgery which allowed his surgeon to complete what we thought would take 2-4 more operations!!  We still have to wait for signs of infection and swelling to go down before they can close Pete's abdomen, but today we moved much further down the road towards recovery then we could have hoped.

We really appreciate the excellent medical professionals that have gotten Pete this far along in his recovery and have faith that they will continue to go above and beyond until Pete is safely home.  Thank you to everyone for your support and encouragement, we could not have done it without you!

Get Well Pete!

Thanks Eric and Ali!