So, I was supposed to go with my mom to see Jesse yesterday, but I have a very sore throat, and Jesse just got over an ear infection, so I didnt want to risk giving him any kind of illness again. My stepdad, Gordon, went with her instead.
First, I'll share an email from Jesse's doctors from last week. . .
An update on Jesse…….
Jesse’s wound had increased tunneling 2 weeks ago but upon reassessment Wednesday the tunneling was back down to 5cm at the greatest depth. We are continuing with the PRP (prolotherapy) which he will get again next week. We have not been letting him shower for the first 3-4 days after the PRP because we did not want the beads to wash away. Since we pushed the PRP to next week and the beads from last week are absorbed we decided to let him shower for the next few days until the beads are replaced next week. As for the seating schedule we had changed it to every 2 hours getting back into bed because of the potential for shearing while he was seated. We performed a wheelchair seat pressure mapping this week which means we put a pad under Jesse and checked where most of his pressures were when he was sitting. We found that he had the least pressure on his wound when he was at 40-50 deg in the Wheelchair and so we changed his seating to being up for up to 8 hours with every hour 15 minute weight/pressure reliefs. Also we increased his medication that treats his muscle tone/tightness (spasticity) so that he could have better seating while in the chair.
As for the appetite, we had noticed that Jesse over the last two weeks had a decreased appetite. He had a urinary tract infection and ear infection for which we put him on antibiotics and treated completely. Which could make him feel bad and since the treatment he has perked up and has starting eating a little more. Also, we had decreased his Cymbalta (antidepressant) when he came to us because we thought it may be making him sleepy/sedated cause it has that side effect on some people. We increased the Cymbalta as well last week to see if this would affect his mood. He has been more verbal this week and singing with the nurses in the evenings. So we think that his appetite should pick up over the next week.
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And this email is from Gordon. . .he also took the pictures at the top yesterday. . .
6/5/10 Jesse was alert, but just wouldn't talk loud at all. Deaf people like Trudy and I couldn't understand him! Plugged in an ipod and put music on and he sang to the songs, not missing a single word.
It is a heart breaking experience for a veteran to see all the young men up there. Is it really necessary??
