04-09-2003 Day 26 (Wednesday) is it really Wednesday?

 Today found Robbie in much of the same condition as yesterday. They changed his antibiotics to fight the pneumonia in his lungs and they are going to wait on the head shunt until his lungs are better. He also had a visit from the dentist who looked at his teeth and he said they look good… no visible cracks. 

 Just wanted to share an email from Christina Samples one of Robbie’s classmates with you… She wrote:

Tell Robbie that Farrah Ray is doing her homework! He used to yell at her. Imagine that from Robbie........ she remembers now - his voice and what he said to her. It has encouraged her to carry on. She wants him to be proud of her. This one is for Robbie! that is what we all say when we get our awards.......or pass a test......

We also want to thank everyone for the support you are giving us… your emails, visits and help have made this a little easier to handle.

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

04-10-2003 Day 27 (Thursday) I have to put the day here because they all run together now and it will help me to remember what day it is.

  Robbie keeps showing more signs of improvement. Today they took him off of some of his antibiotics and started him on synthetic penicillin to help clear his lungs. His fever was down to 99 degrees and he wasn’t coughing as much. He rested more comfortably without tensing his muscles in his neck, arms and leg as much. This evening he even yawned a couple of times, which we haven’t seen before. His brain fluid is still an issue and they are taking a wait and see, day by day approach to determine when to put in the shunt.

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

04-11-2003 Day 28 (Friday)

Well it’s been 4 weeks now since the accident…… Seems like so long ago…… 

 Robbie had another very relaxing day. He showed he could close and open his eyes on command and wiggle some fingers lightly. He is responding to our voices but still remains in a coma. We are going to make this a short one today and get some more rest.

Hanging in There,

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

04-12-2003 Day 29 (Saturday)

 Robbie is starting to breath on his own. They are weaning him off the vent and had him breathing on his own for 4 hours today. It sounds like it might take a few days to get him completely off of it. His white blood cell count is down to 15,500 from 36,000 (Normal for a body is 2,000 to 10,000)….. This means the infection fight is almost over. Other than that he still is very stable and hanging in there.

  We want to thank all the visitors that have been by to see Robbie. Everyone is still encouraged to come by and see him. The visiting hours are from 10:30am to 12:00 noon…. 1:00pm to 3:00pm…. 4:30pm to 6:30pm…. And 7:15pm to 8:00….  If you don’t see us outside please come inside to section D room to D5 to see Robbie.

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell