October 17

      Today Shane was tragically involved in a car explosion, he was driving about 2 miles from home at the time of accident, his car shortly engulfed in flames. Most of his body is covered in 5th and 6th degree burns. As  his left side of his face and neck is covered in 3rd and 4th. He is currently in a drug induced coma, we will see what tomorrow brings...

October 18-- 7:30pm

     Shane is no longer constantly sedated, but still on heavy does of morphine. There are times that he is awake and able to communicate, usually through blinks or slight nods.  Today, he was tested and fitted for a PMV, or a Passy-Muir Valve on his tracheostomy tube.  This pretty much means that he is able to talk, and more importantly, we are able to hear him.  It takes a lot out of him to do so, so it is only used for a few minutes at a time, the only thing he said today was turn it to spongebob lol .  His doctors were impressed with his ability to swallow (it's difficult with a trachea tube) so they cleared him to drink and eat Jell-O. As usual hes asking for tea, not picky one which type.

    Shane will undergo his 2nd surgery tomorrow to replace the temporary skin grafts on his chest stomach arms and legs. Shane is still considered "critical" as he will be for the next few months, his main battle now is to fight off the infections as his immune system is low.

I keep telling him about the site as he gives brief smile.

Bright and Early

   First off i want to give a shout out to Lando and Britt, happy 2 months guys. Now to Shane news..he is once again heavily sedated for now. The doctors are hunting down an infection in his blood. We knew that this was more a matter of when, not if, so "when" is now.  Shane is not yet sick from the bacterium they discovered, so the plan is to kick it with some antibiotics and see what happens.

Rollercoasters are never fun..

   The infection has led to some complications with Shane's heart, the solution to which is a heart valve replacement operation within the next week to 10 days. This is a major event with significant risks. In order to operate on his  heart, the doctors will first need to complete skin grafts on the area of his chest that would be affected during heart surgery. Shane's progress over the next several days will be critical to his overall recovery.

In addition, we sadly learned today that Shane has struggled through a series of small strokes over the past few days - another complication of the infection in his heart. MRI results give us hope that these events may not have a permanent effect on his brain functions. He is unresponsive now though, and there's no way of knowing when or if his current state of consciousness will change. The doctors surgically placed a shunt in his head to relieve pressure on his brain and drain excess fluid. This seems to have helped stabilize his condition, and he's resting peacefully.

Another Day

       Shane's heart surgery was a success even so to do some skin grafts afterwards. Now the only concern is him making it through the night, with a 10% survival rate we are having high hopes.

And as always with good news there is bad, we sadly learned that are youngest brother trevor, currently serving in Afghanistan was badly injured with an IED, his condition is still uncertain, more soon. God Bless.

Keep fighting Trev! 

More Progress and High Hopes

     Shane had a good day today, his vital signs indicate that he is getting better, and we hope, winning the fight against his infection. His surgeons told us yesterday that the heart valve they removed during his operation was very badly infected, in fact destroyed, so with the operation a success it has given Shane a second chance to beat the infection. Shane has also started  showing slight increases in his overall responsiveness and was even able to move his legs during dressing change, which is a reflex movement but hopes are still high.

Shane is receiving excellent care and is being very closely monitored by highly conscientious doctors and nurses.  His heart and lungs remain very strong, and all signs indicate that he is recovering rapidly from his valve replacement surgery. We are hopeful that this will help him overcome his infection and regain his strength.  Sadly, Shane remains almost entirely unresponsive, and we are anxiously awaiting information about the effects his strokes may have had on his brain functions.