Saturday, July 23, 2005

Saturday July 23, 2005 Zack has been fever-free for 72 hours and his white count has gone down to 12. Dr Raff (I had his name wrong on previous entry) from ID came with his residents and listened to his lungs. He told him to take a deep breathe and Zack did. Dr Raff was very surprised and asked him to do it again. Zack responded and we made the day for the ID staff. Dr. Densler confirmed that the CAT Scan results showed no change and that he would be moved to Frazier on Monday. Zack’s eyes were wide open and he watched TV intently for several hours (he still is not “awake”). At 11:30 he was moved to his chair and he had many visitors. We got thumbs up and he moved his toes. He was in his chair for wiggle from him. He was in his chair for 4 hours, the longest time since they started getting him out of bed. He was very tired when they moved him back to his bed and slept until he heard the voices of some of his friends in the room. He opened his eyes and seemed interested in who was there. He started getting very purposeful with his hands and gently snuck up to his Trach tube. We had to redirect his fingers but a moment later he had his hands on his feeding tube. Again we removed his fingers but right away he grabbed his respiratory monitor line and yanked it off. Neika (day nurse) decided it would be safer to put his hands back in the braces. These are used to keep the hands in rest position so they don’t curl into fist. She also asked him to move his legs. He responded! It looks like we have finally gotten him back to where he was last week before the pneumonia and MRSA set in. He is so close. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if he woke up on Sunday? What a great story for Bob Russell or Dave Stone to work into a sermon about how not everyone sleeps when they are preaching (sorry guys). We keep hearing about how Zack’s story has touch many people and teenagers are starting to think and talk about the consequences of their actions. God has taken something bad and turned it into Zack’s silent ministry. We have not been transferred to the Critical care unit but it will have to happen tomorrow if we are going to Frazier on Monday. Please pray that as we move from the sanctity of our home in ICU that we will have the opportunity to share the comfort of Christ with other hurting people. Please pray that we will have strength through this next phase which could be much more difficult than what has gone on already.