Sunday, August 17

The procedure yesterday went well. The fluid they were able to take out looked bloody and of course was sent to the lab. Nothing has cultured out of any of the fluid samples or from the catheters with the exception of a swab from around Dave's JP tube. They expected this to culture out bacteria as this is one of his drain tubes. Dave's white blood count is up again, 31,900. The lack of nutrition continues to be a problem for Dave. He has lost 36 pounds since the accident. The tube feedings through the gastric tube were started again on Saturday night. Dave also got the hiccups again after a week without them. He had 2 breathing episodes due to the hiccups. Diane is wondering if the tube feedings and hiccups aren't directly related. She has been taking notes since the accident and it seems the only time he has hiccups is when he is on the tube feedings. They requested no tube feeding for tonight and Dave hasn't had the hiccups!