04-17-2003 Day 34 (Thursday)

 Well they got the ole’ drill out and put a hole in Robbie’s head. Now he has a drain for that excess brain fluid. He is still off the vent and breathing on his own. His White Blood Cell count is down to 13,000 so it’s looking like he is fighting that infection and winning. Not much else….

I like these short reports….

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

04-18-2003 Day 35 (Friday)

 A while back we put a mouth guard in Robbie’s mouth because he was grinding his teeth and chewing on his cheek. Today we found him chewing on his lower lip so we had to put a 4X4 in his mouth to protect that lip. His White Blood cell count was still 13,000 and he has no fever. They are talking that maybe at the end of next week he will be moved out of the ICU if he continues to progress like he has been doing. Still in a coma opening his eyes and leaving then open for long periods of time. He breathed on his own for all night last night and was finally put back on the vent around 9:00 this morning. He was allowed to breath on his own again at 17:30 this evening. We are going to take a break from these emails tomorrow night so please don’t look for another one until Sunday night.

Happy Easter,

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

04-21-2003 Day 38 (Monday)

  Robbie had a very good weekend. His White Blood Cell count is down to 11,000. They believe he is over the infection and have taken him off the antibiotics. He is also breathing on his own very well. Every now and then they return him back to the vent to give him a break. He is showing more signs of improving by moving his extremities a little more each day. When he got a shot in the right arm he moved his whole arm as to say “Hey leave me alone…. That Hurts”!! (He never did like shots and he is starting to show it again). Looks like he will have his Gall Bladder removed later this week and they are talking about letting him out of the ICU sometime next week. It is a slow battle but everyday he is making progress. 

 John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

04-22-2003 Day 39 (Tuesday)

  Another great day for Robbie…. They took the ventricular tube out of his head today and said he was not draining any brain fluid so there is no reason for the shunt I talked about in previous emails. Also because they are not doing the shunt they can wait on the Gall Bladder Surgery for a few months down the road. He is so stable now that they are talking about getting him out of the ICU quicker than anticipated (like in the next couple of days if arraignments can be made.) They want him to go to a LTAC (Long Term Acute Care) facility. There he will stay until he can wake up and come out of the Coma. He still has a long road but we are happy he is very stable now.

 John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

04-23-2003 Day 40 (Wednesday)

 OK now we are really confused…. Today they took Robbie downstairs for an angiogram on his Gall Bladder to check it out and to see about his drain tube. When the nurse brought him back up to the ICU she told us that his Gall Bladder looked good and was draining into his intestines the way it should, so they removed the drain tube. We think this means that he will not have his Gall Bladder removed after all. We will have to find out from the doctors for sure tomorrow. Everyday we have to work his arms and foot to keep them from getting stiff or locked up into one position. He is doing very well now breathing on his own. They have gotten him to where he can take slower deeper breaths. Also talked to the social worker today about how to move him out of the ICU and to where. Of course this may take days maybe even a week or two. His White Blood Cell count today was 10,100, which is good too (Normal is 2,000 to 10,000). So far it is looking good for Robbie. 

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

 04-24-2003 Day 41 (Thursday)

  Now we are really really confused as to this Gall Bladder issue… Maybe they will maybe they won’t…  only time will tell as to if it is working properly or not and if they will remove it or not… Go to CNN.com to cast your vote as to whether Robbie should keep his Gall Bladder or have it removed. (Only kidding here about the vote)

 Robbie was in a very relaxed state today and slept most of the time we were there. We feel this is good because most of the time they have been agitating him with hourly checks and constantly watching him or taking him here or there. We feel it might be next week that Robbie will be let out of the ICU and transferred to another hospital. We had a nurse from Plano Specialties come in and evaluate Robbie for their facilities today. He does qualify for their level of care so we are waiting to see what will happen there. Well another day has gone by. We are very happy to have him still here and very stable.

 John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell