04-03-2003 Day 20

 I don’t believe it….. I finally got my Inspector Gadget Car in my Happy Meal…. It was fun playing with it in the hall. Oh about Robbie….  Today was the same as yesterday again…. Except for he was grinding his teeth and it sounded awful. We got a football mouthpiece for him so now he has something to chew on. It sounds better than that crunching noise….. Also he has a nice smile now. We are just happy it is another day.

Love,

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

04-04-2003 Day 21

 It has been 3 weeks now. It sure seems longer than that. Robbie had a very busy day today. He received an ultrasound for blood clots in his legs and also to look at his Gall Bladder. Then he took a road trip down to nuclear medicine where they looked at the Gall Bladder again. It seems he has an obstruction, which they might believe is Gall Stones so he will probably have another operation soon for that. He then went to have another Chest X-ray to look at his left lung witch is not fully functioning. Still fighting an infection of some sorts there. He has been running a slight fever of 101 for the last week. He is hanging in there and still on the road to recovery. Well going to get some sleep for tomorrow will be a long day with Robbie and respects to Allanah.

Good Night,

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

04-05-2003 Day 22

 What a day…. Robbie has an infection in his Gall Bladder. Tonight at 18:30 they put a drain in it to drain the bile out. We found out that at a later date they will remove it. It is a good thing the body can do without one. We were also told that he has an inflammation in his right lung with might be a source of infection. He has been running a fever for a few weeks and his white blood cell count has been very high. In the next few days they are going to look inside his lungs with a scope. His left lung still has pnumonia with a slight air leak. His Aorta is still in question too. So needless to say it is still an uphill battle for him.

 Marleen and Karen went to Allanah’s Celebration of Life as I had to stay in the hospital with Robbie waiting to see about the Gall Bladder thing. They said it was a very nice service with a crowd of family members and friends. Allanah must have made a great impression on everyone that knew her. Only wish we would have known her under better circumstances. We know she grew up in a good home after meeting her parents and going through this hardship together.  

Respectfully,

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

04-06-2003 Day 23

 Robbie had a very restful day today so I am dedicating this email to Allanah and her Celebration of Life Service from Yesterday. I scanned in her program for all you to see.

Respectfully,

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

04-07-2003 Day 24

 Robbie had his lungs checked out today. They ran a camera down into his lungs to look at them and take samples. We were also informed he has water on the brain and will need an operation sometime at the end of this week to put in a pressure relief valve in his head (which is ran by a tube for the fluid to drain into his stomach). To understand what is going on we are including some links that might help.

For his Lungs:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/1077.htm

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/9137.htm

For Water on the Brain:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001571.htm - visualContent

 He is still in a coma with involuntary movement of his eyes, face, extremities and most of his body. He definitely responds to pain and will open his eyes real wide when he has to cough or they suction out his lungs. Also he will open his eyes half way as he is waking up from a sleep. Although his eyes are open he still doesn’t focus on anything but they will move from side to side.  It seems everyday something else is getting a little more connected. We also know there will be plenty more operations and his outcome is still uncertain. Right now he is hanging in there and showing signs of improvement.

Another Long Day,

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

04-08-2003 Day 25

 Robbie is still coming along slowly which is good. His left lung air leak has healed and the abscess from his left lung doesn’t seem to be a problem. He still is fighting the pneumonia and coughing a lot which really gets a reaction from him. He doesn’t seem to be focusing with his eyes but they do move to movement in the room. We got to see his Left Leg today without the bandage and it looks very good for a stump. He should have no problems with an artificial leg being attached to it.

Moving along slowly,

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell