Saturday, May 11th, 2002
10:30 am I just spoke to Jim and he said that the x-rays still do not look good. Jim compared his lungs to a "sprained ankle" where "fluid" builds up (not like pneumonia where fluid can be suctioned and/or drained). This is from the trauma his body has suffered. He is now on 100% oxygen; they have changed the medication in an effort to get his blood pressure and heart beat stabilized. He is on an inflatable bed that rocks his body to keep the lungs moving. They did place him in a chemical paralysis state to assist with the problem with his lungs. Jim said he looks so peaceful and relaxed. I know you are all are praying for our "miracle boy." Jim said, "If anyone can pull this one off, Daniel can!" We all send our love, prayers and hope to Daniel and his loving family.
8:30 pm Sorry for the late report (Amy was in the Spring Show at
AHS) but Jim called during the show to report that Daniel's condition was
fairly unchanged from this morning and that the x-ray showed no change. They
feel encouraged by this. They put in a new trach tube since there was a problem
with the older one.
Also note that our doors are always open to anyone wishing to stop by for
hugs, coffee and conversation.
8:45 pm Here is a link to a newpaper article from the local paper regarding the accident.
10:30 pm As this page was getting pretty long, I have split up the first and second weeks reports. Below is a link to the first weeks updates.
Sunday, May 12th, 2002
10:00 am I just spoke to Betsy and she and Jim reported that Daniel
is basically stabilized. The doctors reduced the ventilator from 100% oxygen
to 81% oxygen. They have postponed his surgeries for one week.
I will have my cell phone with me today and Betsy will call with any
significant changes. I do plan to go to brunch at my sister's home. Then,
Jeff and Amy have planned a 'Mother's Day' beach walk.
I told Betsy that I will call her around 6 pm tonight for an update...so you
can watch for the next update then. Daniel's friends Emilie and Casey will
visit today (the limited visitation of last Friday was suspended.)
I also got a link from Daniel's friend in Korea (June Pai) who has loaded
pictures of Daniel. You are all invited to
visit her site
(Click on 'My dedication to Daniel') Sorry we haven't been able to put
pictures on this site yet, I will try to put some of the pictures you have
sent in, soon.
5:30 pm I spoke to Betsy a few minutes ago and she said that there is no change today. Blood pressure and heartbeat are stable. I told her I will check with her tomorrow...she will call if there are any changes in his condition.
Monday, May 13th
8:30 am Daniel's sister Emily reports this morning that Daniel is still stable and that the doctors are considering changing his medications to reduce them. Daniel is suffering now from Adult Respiratory Distress but the family feels optimistic since his condition has not worsened as they had aniticipated. Emily said that he has wonderful nurses that talk with him and read all of your cards and messages during the night when he is awake. Toni is going to begin reading Harry Potter to Daniel (it will be the fourth time)! and so many nurses have remarked how much he looks like Harry! I will call for an update around dinner time.
6:00 pm I spoke to Jim tonight and he reported that today was a calm, low activity day. I wanted to correct my last message when I said "when he is awake." He is still in a coma and has been since he came to the hospital. His early responses (squeezing hands, thumbs up) were all when he was in the coma. Although they read to him, they are not positive that he hears them, but it is commonly thought that patients do hear. He is still heavily sedated. The ex-ray tonight showed a very slight improvement...
Tuesday, May 14th
8:30 am No update this morning on Daniel's condition. I believe Emily and Betsy are flying home today for work and plan to return to New York soon. I will call for an update this evening around 5 pm.
5:00 pm Jim reported that Daniel's x-rays looked a little worse today, but more importantly, his kidneys are beginning to fail. He also has a bacterial infection. This evening they attempted to do a full body Cat-Scan, but because his oxygen dropped to 50%, they decided not to continue. The doctors, Toni and Jim feel very concerned. Betsy and Emily had already left to come home before this was discovered. I will call for an update this evening.
6:10 pm Jim and Toni plan to spend the night at the hospital. The doctors are placing Daniel on dialysis to try to control the kidney failure. They will call if his condition changes.
Wednesday, May 15th
12:10 am FYI, I know the web server has been very unstable today. Especially with regards to the guestbook, I am trying to get that resolved. Sorry Jeff
9:15 am Jim reported this morning that Daniel is tolerating the 24 hour dialysis well. Some people do not tolerate it well so they are pleased. (Jim did not say this, but I understand from other people, that this is reversible, once his body has stabilized again. I am not positive about this but a few of you have asked). Daniel's vital signs are better today; pulse under 100 and blood pressure stabilized as well. They are moving him to an experimental bed that allows greater rotation.
5:30 pm Jim said that the doctors are changing the shunt for the dialysis since there seemed to be a problem with it. His blood pressure and temp are elevated...but he anticipates that both of those will go down again once the shunt is back in place. No other changes today to report.
8:10 p.m. It's 8:10 p.m. (11:10 EST) and Daniel is stable once again. The dialysis catheter (not a permanent shunt) was re-inserted and is working well. Daniel's blood pressure and pulse are not as elevated. This is good. Although he has a slght temperature, the doctor's feel he will be stable through the night. All in all, Jim said this was a good day!
Thursday, May 16th
1 p.m. There is no update at this time. They no longer have cell phone access but will shortly... but it does make it more difficult to connect with them...I will try again a little later...2:00 p.m. My sister Janet has arranged for a cell phone and is Fed-Exing it today, that should make this easier. I just called again and got Jim in the ICU waiting room...no change today and they are very pleased with that. I told him about the cell phone as well. He also said "No news is good news..."
6:00 p.m. This is Emilie's update from Bard at 5:30 pm PST: "Today was a nice quiet healing day for Daniel. The doctors were able to lower the oxygen to 40%, which is good. Some new tubes were put in his lungs this afternoon, but Toni isn't sure what the specific function of them is. His blood pressure was a little elevated, but the doctors are working on getting that down right now. He's still on dialysis and doing well on it."
6:30 p.m. I spoke to Jim and he explained that Daniel now has two additional tubes in his chest (formerly 2) that help with the air that is in the chest cavity. He still has an infection which they are treating aggressively with antbiotics, and his blood pressure is little elevated this evening which they are treating. The doctors said that he is "better than two days ago but not as good as a week ago." They are all very pleased that the oxygen could be reduced to 40%. This is good!
Friday, May 17th
11:20 a.m. Jim reports today that Daniel is stable and the x-ray
showed a little improvement in his lungs. The rocking bed seems to be doing
the job of breaking up the congestion in the lungs. He is still on 40%
oxygen.
Daniel was placed on a different type of dialysis machine that processes his
blood faster, so the dialysis is down to 3 hours. They will watch him
carefully, of course, to see if he can tolerate this well.
7:10 pm Jim called and sounded cautiously positive today. He said that Daniel had the best day of the week. The new dialysis is working well. The heartbeat and blood pressure are within the parameters. He is running a bit of a fever (101.3) but the doctors feel that they can get this under control.
Jeff and Mary Ann Laun
618 Santa Rosa Rd
Arcadia 91007
(626) 447-8492 (h)
(626) 827-8492 (cell)
(626) 585-7833 (work)
Mary Ann's email
Mindy Sherman
at SFSU (415) 406-4834
(415) 420-6841 (cell)
Mindy's email
If you would like to send a message to Daniel, go to the Guestbook.