About Me

My photo
As many of you already know, Zach fell off his skateboard on Saturday Sept. 6th. As a result of the fall, Zach suffered a traumatic, closed head injury and is listed in critical condition in the ICU at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. Zach is currently under sedation and being kept in a paralytic state to help keep his intra cranial pressure as low as possible, which will help decrease the swelling in his brain. He has been placed in a RotoProne bed, which will help his lungs combat pneumonia which recently set in. Everyone is hopeful and optimistic regarding Zach’s long-term prognosis. The Monday after the accident, Zach was able to move his legs, arms, toes and even squeezed his mother’s hand on command. He has a long journey to recovery ahead of him, but he has his youth, great caretakers and a large group of friends and loved ones rooting for him. His family will be keeping this blog in an attempt to keep all of Zach’s friends and loved ones up to date on his condition. Please check back often as we will try to provide daily updates. You may also post your own comments and please know that Zach will read them soon.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Days 28 & 29 (4 weeks today)

What a day...week...month! We celebrated Zach's 4th week in TICU today with coffee and Dunkin Donuts. A Saturday of football...Carolina beat UConn, BC beat NC State, and Georgia Tech beat Duke!

Yesterday and Today have been days of weaning. Zach is gradually being lowered from both his Morphine and Lorazepam. His respirator setting was on "pressure support" all day....this is when the respirator follows his pattern of breathing and supports him. Slowly, Zach is waking up...this is exhibited by a great cough reflex, pain reflex, and response to commands such as "open your eyes Zach!" Today Zach squeezed Angela's hand, then when asked to "move your fingers Zach", Zach lifted his index finger...to which we vigorously applauded!!!! Later today, when mom moved from the right side of the bed to the left....Zach with eyes half opened, turned his head to follow his mom...very very cool Zach.
Posted by at 8 comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)