Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
If you don't already know, Dad was admitted to Tulane on Sept 23, 2018 for a work up of what we originally thought was a stroke. He was found to have a viral meningitis and encephalitis. Doctors are thinking this is likely neuro-invasive West Nile infection. The test for West Nile is not back yet. Since his admission the infection has led to dependence on the ventilator, inability to move his legs, and very weak arms. He goes in and out of consciousness where he is able to answer yes and no questions.
Lots if friends and family have asked about him and I appreciate y'all. Please pray, pray, pray. To make sure everyone is on the same page, I will plan to update Dad's caring bridge page daily around 6pm. If I post a medical word that is unfamiliar, I would encourage you to google it or go to pubmed.gov and look up the literature on it. The internet has so much information, more than I have in my brain most of the time. His disease process is very complex and I, myself, have learned a lot about neurology that I never remember learning in medical school. The doctors, nurse, and ancillary staff at Tulane are taking very good care of him. And I am constantly bugging them to practice the best care possible for Dad.
Please pray for our family as this has been a very hard time for us.
He had a 3rd MRI this am which confirmed he is not having a stroke. Everyday his respiratory status is borderline and very very close to getting the breathing tube out. He very much wants to have it out. But the numbers on the ventilator indicate to us that he would not be strong enough without the ventilator support. We are encouraging rest and nutrition, mostly for Dad but also for us. Please check in around 6pm daily where I will be updating his status.
