September 4 Update 1

I had to leave Kirk's room immediately after I arrived this morning. They need to look in his lungs and take a sample of the secretions that have developed. His O2 saturation dropped over night and he is still feverish. He has a lot of secretions from his lungs. We have worried since day one that he aspirated vomit before his air way was controlled. His temperature is being controlled with a water blanket. The EEG has been removed so I am guessing they will try to get an MRI sooner today. His ICP or inter cranial pressure was high over night.

So I was told in the ER that he might have had a stroke but that isn't correct based upon what I am hearing now. It is more likely that if there was an event before the crash it was an aneurism. I do not think he just crashed. I could of course be wrong but he has never crashed as an adult and we have ridden many thousands of miles.

The bronchoscopy showed secretions and that the temperature monitor which should be in his esophagus was in his lungs. He has aspirated quite a bit. They are starting him on strong antibiotics to fight the pneumonia he has developed. They have also changed his vent setting and will do another bronchoscopy later today.

Some of Kirk's family and friends are wondering what he looks like right now. I will do my best to describe him. His face is swollen and bruised and he has the worst black eyes ever. He has the ICP catheter in the top of his head. He is wearing a C-collar on his neck because even without broken bones there could still be spinal injuries. He also has a breathing tube and nasal gastric tube into his stomach.

He has a central line in his chest and an arterial line in his right arm along with a standard IV. The arterial line provides blood for blood work and real time blood pressure. His O2 sensor is on his right hand. He is also having his heart rate monitored.

He has compression cuffs on his legs and he is right now covered from neck to toe in blankets and temperature controllers. He does have road rash, mostly on the right side and back. Most of that is healing well.

His blood pressure is much more under control now. They got him on his home medications. Today is the first time someone has said he can recover (assuming we fight the pneumonia) and I want to believe it. I do but I am afraid to.

My day starts with getting Sidney fed and delivered to school. Then I go spend the day with Kirk. I pick her up and we take care of our afternoon and evening commitments. I try to sleep and we start over. Sidney is currently sleeping in our room. Her room is too far away.

I will post again later today. Thank you for your unwavering support. We are not alone. The people around us are stacked so deep we couldn't get out if we tried.

Today's nurse is Jessie. His doctor continues to be Dr. Specific and his coworkers continue to visit and support us also.