Katie Update #10

All,

This whole process really has been a roller coaster ride (think Mind
Bender, not Scream Machine). There have been hours and days of bleak
thoughts and fears that we might actually lose our Katie. But these have
been intertwined with many hours and days of much better thoughts of
recovery and the joy of seeing her smiling face and basking in her love
once again. Fortunately, the past day has been much more positive for us
emotionally.

Katie continues to show positive progress on her EEG scans. Her seizure
activity has diminished greatly. While the EEG was disconnected for a
couple of hours this morning, as far as we know she hasn't had any true
seizures since 7:00 AM this morning, and that one was extremely mild.
Physically she has remained stable since her complications Saturday
night. Her lungs haven't shown any additional signs of leakage and her
blood pressure remains strong. Her dosage of Pentobarbitol, the drug
that has been at the root of most of her most serious physical stress,
has been reduced significantly. This is positive in two ways. First,
obviously it relieves quite a bit of the physical stress that she has
been experiencing. Second, as this is the drug that we believe has been
most responsible for controlling her seizures, her continued lack of
seizures on reduced levels of Pentobarbitol indicates that she may be
starting to control the seizure activity on her own. Her body
temperature has remained somewhat high, but not so high as to cause us
too much worry.

So while we are still far from out of the woods, we are very much more
optimistic right now of her impending recovery. Certainly we cannot yet
know whether she has sustained any long-term brain damage. Nor can we
know what effects this now two-week coma and the plethora of drugs have
had on her body. We can only take this one step at a time and address
any future issues if and when they become apparent.

Our friend Davis Parker has returned to MCG for observation. He has been
experiencing some nausea as well as a sustained fever, which the doctors
believe is associated with the antibiotics that he has been taking.
However, to be certain, he is staying overnight. Davis has a long and
trying road ahead of him as he recovers from his illness. Please don't
forget him and his family in your ongoing prayers.

I am returning to the hospital to keep Katie company again tonight along
with her ever vigilant uncle Dave, so I will stop for now. Please join
us in praying for a quiet and uneventful night so that we can continue
the slow process of bringing Katie back to consciousness.

Thanks as always,
Paul