Update on Dave and post op complications

It's been quite a while since I've posted on this site about Dave. It will be 6 weeks on Monday since his THE, using the colon as the stomach could not be used, and then the subsequent sepsis he developed necessitating that the whole thing needed to come down. We are left with no esophagus, no stomach! and the knowledge that he'll need reconstruction once he heals from this and regains his strength. If you can believe it he is still in ICU, out of those almost 6 weeks he has only spent 3 nights on the floor. While reading tbis on its face one would think that he is still desperately ill, but thankfully he is staring to turn the corner in many aspects. He is back in ICU only because he developed some cardiac issues late last week and they want to keep a close eye on him and ICU is the place to do that. He drops his heart rate while sleeping, and trying to figure out why. He also acquired a wicked, wicked bacterial infection while intubated, call psuedomonas, which is highly resistant to many antibiotics. So between coding during an endoscopy to look for a leak 8 days after surgery, then developing sepsis 3 days later and emergency surgery to take down the new esophagus at 4:30 in the morning; he also became very ill with this infection. It has been a roller coaster to say the least. He was extubated (off the ventilator) 2 weeks ago today, and is slowly regaining his strength. He took a lap around the ICU unit today, and has remarkable strength for a man whose been in bed almost 6 months!

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