Friday, March 27

10.57am report: Last night was a quiet night and after the round of tests this morning, it seems that all is stable with dad at this point. Although under mild sedation, he did stir today and get a bit agitated by the tube, as anyone would, so they had to adjust his oxygen levels again, but that is constantly changing and under control. His kidney functions are moving in the right direction as it seems they have achieved the appropriate balance of fluids to keep his kidneys wet and his lungs dry. After X-ray, it appears that his chest pneumonia has slightly improved - the x-ray is a slow indicator so it means that this improvement may have actually started a day or two ago… His plateau pressure which is the pressure applied to small airways during ventilation is at 20 - this is a good sign as it is ideal to be under 30. All in all a good report. As we know, with this COVID-19 the symptoms can change direction on the drop of a dime so🤞🏻and keep the positive thoughts going!!!

from family friend and Dr. Warren:

Hi Hillary - your dad is tough and hopefully he can keep going and this will settle down. Happy to be of any help I can be to you and your family - just let me know if there is anything you would like me to do. Be strong.

from family friend and MD George:

I think that you are doing a great job and the information that they are providing is very detailed. I would be very happy to call his dr

If you would like, however at this point it would not be beneficial

5.45pm report: spoke to Dr Mazzo as he is the pulmonologist in the ICU. He stated that today was bout the same, possibly a bit better than yesterday. He did remind me that it takes many days to et a clear picture of how he is really doing. Staying steady on the ventilator indicates that he is not worsening at this time. They are altering and adjusting levels as needed. They are finding that most patients are spending about 7 - 10 days on intubation. He is off his blood pressure meds which is a good thing.. They are extending his COVID-19 medicine concoction from 5 - 10 days. The kidney functions are stable and it is a good thing that it is not getting worse. Also, he continues to have no fevers, which is always better than having them. SO no red flags today. At this time there are not seeing any trends in COVID-19 treatment yet and they are learning how this virus acts from day to day - every case is all over the map and can change on the drop of a dime. HE also did let me know at this time, that in case of heart failure - they are not able to pound on the chest for resuscitation. This will release COVID-19 into the air at a fierce rate and put all members of staff at risk. He did confirm that we are not at all in that situation - but had to update us.

11.00pm report: Maria, the straight shooter nurse from last night gave me tonights update as well. His oxygen is holding steady at 40% while his PEEP number is an 8. PEEP is a pressure applied by the ventilator at the end of each breath to ensure that the tiny air sacs at the end of the lungs are not prone to collapse. We typically breathe at 5 so 8 is a stable number fo the current oxygen levels. Again, the blood pressure is stable and he is doing well on 1 sedation med as opposed to two of the last few days. Hoping for another restful night - Keep him in your thoughts and prayers… steady is good…… dads a fighter.

Family hockey game today - weather was great... It was a moment of normalcy.