FEBRUARY 5, 2020
The Hard Fight.
Jon continues to fight, and he’s fighting HARD but he is in uncharted waters here. Yes, he is at the #1 hospital in California (#6 in the nation) but even the best hospitals in the world pass through the threshold of the unknown occasionally. Jon’s case is one of those occasions. Why? Because no one as sick as Jon with the conditions he has, has ever made it this far. He is the current “sickest patient at UCLA Medical” and continues to rock that bullsh*t badge better than anyone in the history of that hospital with his ailments.
His team’s Hard Fight...
Each obstacle, each triumph, each setback is a step further into the unknown. What we do know is that Jon has the best doctors anyone could ask for fighting for him. Despite most common practice, these doctors clearly have a personal investment in Jon’s recovery. Daily 9AM rounds (gatherings where all of Jon’s doctors meet at his bedside, weigh in on each of their particular expertises and brainstorm) run high with emotion. Each doctor fighting their hardest for Jon, each applying their wealth of knowledge to the best of their ability and throwing it at this disease. Each taking every setback as their own personal blow. Yes, emotions run very high during this time. Megan has graciously agreed to take part in a research study by UCLA on how to better communicate with their patients. With this study, they realized that allowing Megan and family to attend these daily 9AM rounds and get the best, most complete update on Jon’s health was the best way to communicate with her. What did we find out today?
Jon’s Ecmo (doing the heart’s job so Jon’s heart can take a much-needed vacation) was turned up to allow his heart to cope while they pulled more fluids from his body. Prior to doing so, they noted that Jon’s heart is actually outperforming the Ecmo! This is great news. Not so great news though, his lungs are still fairly compromised but this is why they are continuing to pull fluids. They plan to wane the Ecmo again tomorrow; all vacations must come to an end at some point!
In order to better understand what is going on in that unfairly brilliant brain of his, Jon‘s team had an EEG or Electroencephalography placed on his scalp for several days. This tool monitors and records electrical activity of his brain which gives them a better idea of any possible brain damage along with alerting them if he’s seizing. Although they can’t be 100% sure without an MRI (which he can’t receive because of all of his machines), the EEG has given his team no cause for concern and was removed today.
Another good note, Jon’s blood pressure is holding steady despite them waning his medication.
Right now the main concern for his team is the fact that Jon isn’t waking up. He was off sedation medication for two days prior to his amputation surgery and yet he remained unconscious (which is why they began monitoring his brain with the EEG). Today, they saw very small indications that he is waking up; he grimaced and gaged when they cleaned his throat, and his eyes move around; which is most likely involuntary but a good sign regardless. He is not currently on sedation medication and hasn’t been since Monday, so now we wait.
We wait for Jon to come back to us because he is not done with his Hard Fight, not by a long shot. Over Thanksgiving Jon was asked what he is thankful for, his response:
“I’m thankful that I get to shape and mold my sons into the men they are going to become”.
We are confident that Jon’s Hard Fight has just begun because inside him somewhere he knows exactly what he’s fighting for.
#EffSTSS #WatsonNation