Two-Way Communication

When we walked into Clark's room today he had a remote in his hand and was flipping through the channels on the TV! Wuuu Huuu! He looked like he had more strength and energy than yesterday. We also had some successful two way communication which was wonderful! He let us know that he could read the marker board on the wall in front of him. I offered to put up the pictures of the family that Fletcher brought from Clark's room at home. He shook his head no, got teary eyed, and traced his finger down his cheek letting us know that it would make him sad. He could also write with pen and paper. He pointed to his nurse, giving her a thumbs up, then wrote that he didn't like his nurse yesterday. He said he isn't in pain which is comforting for us to hear. The nurse explained all the beeps and alarms of the machines so we don't get nervous when they go off and can feel more comfortable being in the room.

The doctors have been watching the hepatic artery very closely since they suspected it was blocked. Right now it's working fine and they are very hopeful that it will stay open but there's still a risk that the it could clot off. The blood is slow to flow but does fill the right side of the liver up completely. They will run labs everyday and an ultrasound every couple days to compare and will know if it clots off. The left side is wide open and has a great blood supply going to it. As swelling goes down and the blood can flow more freely, they can take him off the blood pressure meds. He will return to the operating room tomorrow to clean things out, remove more fluid, and close the area up a little more. He will not be sewn completely shut as there is still a lot of swelling and they don't want to put pressure on the artery. The extra fluid is from the blood and saline received during the transplant. Clark received 50 units of blood. Average is 8 units!

The respiratory techs will run tests to see if Clark is strong enough to remove the ventilator. If so, they will remove that tube when he returns to the operating room tomorrow. We were very excited to hear that because it is one of the most disturbing parts of Clark's condition right now. He gags and gasps which is hard to watch. It also prevents him from being able to talk, even though he tries hard to communicate with us to help him. Everyone assures us that one of his meds (the same one Michael Jackson over dosed on) also gives him amnesia so he won't remember how awful this time in Intensive Care is. Although that is slightly comforting, it still pulls at our heart strings to watch him struggle. Even if the breathing tube is removed the feeding tube will stay in place. This line runs through his nose so it's not nearly as invasive.
Clark had a terrible episode of vomiting in the night. He threw up three times and his hands were tied down so he couldn't call the nurse for help right away. The CT scan showed no evidence of any blockage in the bowels. The vomiting could be from his pain meds or from swelling of the bowels. Hopefully he won't go through this again.

During transplant, there was a time when blood flow was cut off to a small wedge in the back part of Clark's liver causing that area to die. This explains the fever and there's no source of infection, although he stays on antibiotics as a precaution. This portion of the liver will go away and regrow over time. The rest of the liver is function well.

Bobby Konrady flew in from California on Saturday.

He visited Clark in the hospital, once while he was still under, and once when he was asleep so Clark doesn't remember him coming.
He drew this shirt to show his support.