Dad (Gail) is in the University of Washington hospital in Room 762. He came back to Seattle last Tuesday after almost two months in Nebraska. As of 10 PM last night his condition was stable. He is resting comfortably for the most part now. He is under sedation but is having occasional bouts of back pain. He has dealt with back pain since May but has been able to manage better before yesterday as he is having some memory problems. He is confused regarding things in his short term memory. He knows who he is, who we are, and most of the time where he is. He knows what year it is but not the month. He is confused about how he got to the hospital and what he should be doing instead of laying in a hospital bed. Dad responds correctly to all commands to move his left hand, right hand etc. They believe that he may have pneumonia as he has a fever and some congestion in his lungs. He complains of a dry mouth but dehydration has been ruled out. His oxygen level was at 84% when he came in but is now hovering around 94% with the help of an oxygen machine. An initial CAT scan indicated that there may be bleeding on his brain. A second CAT scan ruled that out but revealed a mass in the middle of his brain. He will get an MRI at 7 AM this morning to help determine what the mass is. At this point the neurologist believes that this finding is unrelated to his symptoms. We have asked that they also perform an MRI on his back as he was scheduled for one next week. His platelet count has actually gone up to 84 K. It was 73 K on Wednesday at his oncology appointment. His white blood cell count is a little high as would be expected with the fever. Right now they are attributing his lose of memory to the pneumonia or oxygen level.
We would appreciate your prayers.
Thanks,
David
