Monday AM 8/24

Dad has been fully transferred to the MICU and now has a bed on McClure 409. This is kind of unfortunate as his last room was on a corner and had a great view, but it will be good to have him on the same floor as the doctors who are in charge of his care. I'm hoping this will allow more contact with his physicians.

Update 12:20pm: I just spoke with one of the medical students following dad's case closely. He will be having an MRI done this afternoon, and is also having a workup done for a Pheochromocytoma. The theory is that dad may have had this tumor which is releasing massive spikes of adrenaline leading to the lability of his blood pressure. Speaking of his bloodpressure, he is back on Esmolol and his BP is now about 150/60, but last night his systolic pressure exceeded 200 for a short while. Early this morning it was down around 120/50.

Dad's condition still remains critical and he's unresponsive, but I've seen a couple new things today. For one, he picked up and drew his left arm to his chest. While I'm not sure what this means (good or bad), it still strikes me as encouraging to see him move it. He has been asleep for the bulk of the time I have been here, but his neurologic responses are perhaps a bit better regarding withdrawal from pain.

Update 2:20pm: Dad is having a PICC line placed. Not a big deal really, but one more little procedure for him.