january 30

wednesday pm:
that damn fever is still persisting, but the docs,nurses, and his parents are working hard to figure it out. everything but that was stable today, spencer's color has come back,his pressure is good also. we saw the surgeon late tonight and he hopes to do an evaluation tomorrow that would allow him to start removing some of the bandages. he had no piss off finger gesture's tonight but we did get a new one. his mother and i are not exactly sure but it was a closed fist with a raised index finger and raised pinkie only. kind of like looking at owls ears. i thought it was rock on?? maybe you guys can help me.

i will leave you with a bit of a tear jerker. (at least it was for his mother and i). spencer's arm is restrained because of all the IV's, beathing tubes,etc that he could/would pull out. anyway before leaving tonight i asked the nurse if we could unhook the restraint for 2 minutes if i held his arm. she agreed and donna and i got the hugs of our lives. maybe 10 seconds each of his fingers going thru our hair. PRICELESS!! Once again ,him getting us the message that everything is going to be OK.

keep the prayers and good thoughts going,again its working

ooops i forgot something. someone remind me to tell him he's grounded for flipping me the bird when he gets home

1/29. an update to update from spencers dad. I will give you a bit on how he is doing and then a little chuckle of spence being spence.
medically everything is stable, he is still pretty much sedated all day except when they wake him to test his brain functions. this is when he will give us a thumbs up or for the first time it was a wave. He has been running a fever,which is not good in those with a brain injury because it causes the brain to do things to try to compensate. the docs have tried a bunch of different things to try to find the source (infection being the most likely) but nothing pinpointed yet. i am sure they will get it soon.

now for my little tidbit: last night i was there when it was time for the nurse to test his brain function. she tried to get him to raise his thumb,or put 2 fingers up but he was not cooperating. (he hates this). but anyway i started in about him having to do this so the nurse would stop and leave him alone. i was in ear telling him to give me a thumbs up but he had a better idea, he flipped me the bird!!!!! i cracked up, i had to tell him i was not laughing at him. i ended it with an " i love you" and got a raised fist in return. i know he was telling me he was staying STRONG!!

please keep the prayers and good thoughts going. I KNOW they are working

1/29- Tonight, when Spencer's nurse came in and said hello to Spence, he waved to her and gave her a thumbs up. Keep praying for Spence!

1/29 This morning Spencer gave another thumbs up but he is still fighting a fever. Keep praying for Spencer!

1/28-Today, Spencer just rested and slept. He gave a thumbs up when he heard from my mom how great everyone has been. He is still in ICU and can't have visitors, but we will let everyone know when he can. Keep Spencer in your prayers.

1/27 on sunday spencer was dealt a setback in regards to the swelling. he had an additional surgery,the doctors when in with a plan and everything went accordingly as they had planned (a good thing). It is now Monday AM and spence is still in ICU but stable. He was able to give his mother a thumbs up again today. Thank you to all,your emails,phone calls ,visits,food and everything else mean the world to donna and I. Again keep spencer in your prayers and good thoughts. (this is a continuation of the last post)

What's Up With Spence Now?

Sunday 1/27- Spencer was able to write notes to my mother. He wrote several times that he wanted to keep his CT scans, so we know he's the same old Spence. Later in the day, he went through another surgery to relieve the swelling and pressure in his brain. The surgery went exactly as planned. January 27th was day 1 of stroke so we still have 4 more days left of the danger period.

Again, please keep Spencer in your prayers.

What's Up With Spence

Saturday 1/26: Spencer was med flighted to Mass General Hospital. He had a stroke, a blood clot had travelled to his carotid artery and blocked the supply of blood to his brain. He underwent a 6 hour procedure where most of the clot was removed. There is now a 5 day danger period where brain swelling and bleeding are of utmost concern.

Sunday 1/27: Spence was awake and made hand signals to his mother. he has feeling on his right side but not his left side. We are now awaiting the results of the next CAT scan.

Please keep Spencer in your prayers.