greg's staying on course, but didn't make any great improvements today. the nurses say he's more comfortable though, which is good.
April 2005 Archives
greg has made some small positive steps. they are definitely working against rejection, but they think greg can beat it.
they're starting to remove some lines from him and are beginning to bring him out of the sedation. they're taking it slow though as he has gotten agitated as they've tried bringing him to the surface.
keep the positive energy flowing!
they're starting to remove some lines from him and are beginning to bring him out of the sedation. they're taking it slow though as he has gotten agitated as they've tried bringing him to the surface.
keep the positive energy flowing!
greg is still sedated in the ICU. it is likely they will keep him this way for about a week so he can heal comfortably and won't jeopardize the process by moving around. he's making minor progress each day. once he is brought out of sedation it's still likely he'll be in the ICU for a few more weeks.
i think everyone should put on their favorite greg mixes tonight and dance around your living rooms (offices, bedrooms, whatever) picturing greg grinning and spinning for you.
i think everyone should put on their favorite greg mixes tonight and dance around your living rooms (offices, bedrooms, whatever) picturing greg grinning and spinning for you.
there has been little change, but the doctors are with him all the time trying to figure out what's going on. they currently have him heavily sedated in the ICU.
keep greg in your prayers. he need all possible positive energy focused his way.
keep greg in your prayers. he need all possible positive energy focused his way.
sorry about the outage. not sure what happened. we speculated that the power went out at greg's house in CT, so the house elves must have rebooted greg's server.
the doctors are still watching greg carefully for signs of infection and/or rejection. he's back in the ICU.
i'll let you know more as soon as i can.
the doctors are still watching greg carefully for signs of infection and/or rejection. he's back in the ICU.
i'll let you know more as soon as i can.
greg had a bit of a setback last night and the doctors are watching him for signs of infection and/or rejection. i don't have more info now, but i will keep you posted as i hear more from his mom.
keep up your prayers for greg.
keep up your prayers for greg.
hi all,
greg continues to do very well. they did a scope on his lung today to see how everything was working. we don't know the results yet, but greg was exhausted afterwards, so i'm not going to see him tonight.
his mom trekked back to connecticut today to get his computer and some comfy clothes. he's plugged in, but not wired to the net yet... at least he has his music now.
he's completely off intravenous pain meds and the epidural spout has been removed. it's all oral pain meds from here.
his mom says they're working him really hard to boost his strength and hopefully get him home soon. healing is hard work, so continue sending your love/light/prayers to gregory!
i'll see him tomorrow and post more for you.
:) emily
greg continues to do very well. they did a scope on his lung today to see how everything was working. we don't know the results yet, but greg was exhausted afterwards, so i'm not going to see him tonight.
his mom trekked back to connecticut today to get his computer and some comfy clothes. he's plugged in, but not wired to the net yet... at least he has his music now.
he's completely off intravenous pain meds and the epidural spout has been removed. it's all oral pain meds from here.
his mom says they're working him really hard to boost his strength and hopefully get him home soon. healing is hard work, so continue sending your love/light/prayers to gregory!
i'll see him tomorrow and post more for you.
:) emily
greg has moved to the step down unit. in fact, he *walked* from the ICU to his new room! it is private, has a nice window view and is actually quite spacious. it even has a private restroom. fancy. :)
i was allowed to accompany greg and his nurse on his after dinner walk. one lap around the unit - 1/24 of a mile - and he did great. we even joked with another patient that greg could easily take him in a race. it would have been quite a sight! they were both piloting to these great walking carts with arm pads and suction tanks and hooks for all the crazy lines and bags and stuff. there are vertical handles with bike grips on them to help steer. greg naturally placed his thumbs on the tops of the posts as though on shooter buttons on a joystick.
solid food is old news now... when i arrived greg had just finished up a steak tips dinner. he'd had eggs and pancakes for breakfast, grill cheez and tuna salad for lunch. he says the food is not too bad. kinda like airplane food, luck of the draw.
yesterday i couldn't get over his complexion, today it was his voice. suddenly his voice seems to be booming! go new lungs! project! project!
greg mentioned that he's been having vivid dreams and flashes since the surgery. he's been inspired to create images of them... on the computer, of course... soon!
they're doing medication alchemy, taking him off the epidural pain meds and putting him onto oxy. they're starting him on prednisolone (is that really how you spell it? should we tell the spammers there's no Z in it?) tomorrow. they've already introduced an anti-rejection med (or maybe two).
i met one of the transplant doctors and a fellow, both young and very nice! the fellow said she was reading along... *waves* the doctor was guardedly enthusiastic about greg's progress. he said there *will* be ups and downs. {his mom told me the other transplant recipient had a set back last night. "it's all so tenuous." she said.}
glad you're all enjoying reading along. don't thank me for writing this, thank GREG for being certain you all stayed up-to-date by asking me to do this (six years ago!)
i was allowed to accompany greg and his nurse on his after dinner walk. one lap around the unit - 1/24 of a mile - and he did great. we even joked with another patient that greg could easily take him in a race. it would have been quite a sight! they were both piloting to these great walking carts with arm pads and suction tanks and hooks for all the crazy lines and bags and stuff. there are vertical handles with bike grips on them to help steer. greg naturally placed his thumbs on the tops of the posts as though on shooter buttons on a joystick.
solid food is old news now... when i arrived greg had just finished up a steak tips dinner. he'd had eggs and pancakes for breakfast, grill cheez and tuna salad for lunch. he says the food is not too bad. kinda like airplane food, luck of the draw.
yesterday i couldn't get over his complexion, today it was his voice. suddenly his voice seems to be booming! go new lungs! project! project!
greg mentioned that he's been having vivid dreams and flashes since the surgery. he's been inspired to create images of them... on the computer, of course... soon!
they're doing medication alchemy, taking him off the epidural pain meds and putting him onto oxy. they're starting him on prednisolone (is that really how you spell it? should we tell the spammers there's no Z in it?) tomorrow. they've already introduced an anti-rejection med (or maybe two).
i met one of the transplant doctors and a fellow, both young and very nice! the fellow said she was reading along... *waves* the doctor was guardedly enthusiastic about greg's progress. he said there *will* be ups and downs. {his mom told me the other transplant recipient had a set back last night. "it's all so tenuous." she said.}
glad you're all enjoying reading along. don't thank me for writing this, thank GREG for being certain you all stayed up-to-date by asking me to do this (six years ago!)
today it looked like a grey shell had peeled away from greg. he looks fresh and new, somehow.
i didn't mention my potential visit to greg before i went, just to be safe, and to not jinx it. but i was very lucky tonight and got to visit greg in the ICU!
greg looks GREAT! his face has a rosy, healthy glow and he was talkative and all smiles. i visited for about 25-30 minutes (the sign says stay only 10) while greg had dinner... mac and cheese... the first 'solid' (but actually classified as 'soft') food he's had since going in.
he's connected to only a few visible tubes and lines, but he's got this great high tech console looming behind him that bleeps and blips and sighs at regular enough intervals that greg seemed unphased by the sounds.
he looked so much like himself that it took me a few minutes to realize... he had no oxygen tube in his nose! he grinned when i noticed and said he'd been on "room air" all day. that is so freakin' cool.
he says he has no memory of wednesday through sunday (makes sense) and the first thing he remembers after the surgery is one of the nurses talking to him. he has some memory of the lines going in and the anesthesiologist (who he said was very nice), but nothing else from the operation.
he's hoping to move to the step-down unit tomorrow, but there may not be a bed available for him, so cross your fingers. i'm not sure if he will be allowed visitors in that unit or not, but i'll let you know. he says he's ready for visitors. :-D
he's already been scheming how to get himself back online. the hospital does not have wifi and he may have to resort to dial-up when the time comes. the horror!
i printed out all of your comments for greg to enjoy and saw that he had already received a few cards at the hospital. i also took an anime catalog for him to flip through.
i may be able to go see him tomorrow night, too. yippee!
greg looks GREAT! his face has a rosy, healthy glow and he was talkative and all smiles. i visited for about 25-30 minutes (the sign says stay only 10) while greg had dinner... mac and cheese... the first 'solid' (but actually classified as 'soft') food he's had since going in.
he's connected to only a few visible tubes and lines, but he's got this great high tech console looming behind him that bleeps and blips and sighs at regular enough intervals that greg seemed unphased by the sounds.
he looked so much like himself that it took me a few minutes to realize... he had no oxygen tube in his nose! he grinned when i noticed and said he'd been on "room air" all day. that is so freakin' cool.
he says he has no memory of wednesday through sunday (makes sense) and the first thing he remembers after the surgery is one of the nurses talking to him. he has some memory of the lines going in and the anesthesiologist (who he said was very nice), but nothing else from the operation.
he's hoping to move to the step-down unit tomorrow, but there may not be a bed available for him, so cross your fingers. i'm not sure if he will be allowed visitors in that unit or not, but i'll let you know. he says he's ready for visitors. :-D
he's already been scheming how to get himself back online. the hospital does not have wifi and he may have to resort to dial-up when the time comes. the horror!
i printed out all of your comments for greg to enjoy and saw that he had already received a few cards at the hospital. i also took an anime catalog for him to flip through.
i may be able to go see him tomorrow night, too. yippee!
greg is walking today. when his parents visited, he made a loop around the ICU for the second time. of course, he's tiring quickly so the nurses aren't pushing him too hard!
he's been allowed juice and jello to introduce food back to his system.
for those of you asking, he's not yet allowed visitors who are not his family. i will keep you posted though.
:) emily
he's been allowed juice and jello to introduce food back to his system.
for those of you asking, he's not yet allowed visitors who are not his family. i will keep you posted though.
:) emily
hi everybody, here's the latest on greg from his mom... it's all really good news!
they continue to remove tubes and lines from him and have cut down on the number of times a day they're doing bloodwork, etc. he's not using a lot of oxygen and is breathing pretty much on his own.
the big news of the day is that greg stood up today with the assistance of cool hospital technology! the bed he's in becomes chair-shaped. once they got him into this position, they lowered the bed so his feet touched the floor. then, all he had to do was stand up against another support machine and he was able to lift his legs up and down and stand for about a minute. then, he sat back down... and conked out! :)
they're hoping to start him on physical therapy tomorrow and may move him to the 'step-down' unit (not ICU but not general hospital rooms) by wednesday. great progress!
greg's got his glasses back on and is much less overwhelmed than he was yesterday.
he is allowed receive cards in the mail. following is the address:
gregory blake
c/o brigham & women's hospital
75 francis st
boston, ma 02115
:) emily
they continue to remove tubes and lines from him and have cut down on the number of times a day they're doing bloodwork, etc. he's not using a lot of oxygen and is breathing pretty much on his own.
the big news of the day is that greg stood up today with the assistance of cool hospital technology! the bed he's in becomes chair-shaped. once they got him into this position, they lowered the bed so his feet touched the floor. then, all he had to do was stand up against another support machine and he was able to lift his legs up and down and stand for about a minute. then, he sat back down... and conked out! :)
they're hoping to start him on physical therapy tomorrow and may move him to the 'step-down' unit (not ICU but not general hospital rooms) by wednesday. great progress!
greg's got his glasses back on and is much less overwhelmed than he was yesterday.
he is allowed receive cards in the mail. following is the address:
gregory blake
c/o brigham & women's hospital
75 francis st
boston, ma 02115
:) emily
greg was fully awake by morning and was able to follow directions so the doctors did one more scope into the breathing tube with a camera. it looked fine, so they removed greg's ventilator. greg is now breathing on his own!!
he had to wear an oxygen mask for a few hours, but now they only have him on the nose-tube thing.
when they saw greg through the window of his room, he waved to them from his bed. he is much more alert and understands why he has to hold still. they're moving tubes, changing meds and monitoring his blood pressure, which has been a little high.
despite having a very sore throat from the ventilator, greg was able to say a few syllables this afternoon. he has a 'healthy' cough. he's no longer restrained.
he hasn't yet had additional hydration or nourishment since the organs are not yet ready for food (after all the anesthesia) and could make him sick. they do not want to risk getting liquid into his lungs.
his mom says he *could* be standing up tomorrow. c'mon greg!
:) emily
he had to wear an oxygen mask for a few hours, but now they only have him on the nose-tube thing.
when they saw greg through the window of his room, he waved to them from his bed. he is much more alert and understands why he has to hold still. they're moving tubes, changing meds and monitoring his blood pressure, which has been a little high.
despite having a very sore throat from the ventilator, greg was able to say a few syllables this afternoon. he has a 'healthy' cough. he's no longer restrained.
he hasn't yet had additional hydration or nourishment since the organs are not yet ready for food (after all the anesthesia) and could make him sick. they do not want to risk getting liquid into his lungs.
his mom says he *could* be standing up tomorrow. c'mon greg!
:) emily
greg's new (re)birth day is April 14, 1:00am, 2005! huzzah! that's the official word from his mom... the surgeons who noted this as the time said it when the clamps were removed from the new lung in greg's body. very cool.
today, greg is still on the ventilator. the doctors *were* hoping to remove it today AND are hoping to remove it tomorrow. greg is breathing more and more on his own. he's starting to come out of the sedation. they need to wait until he's a little further 'to the surface' before they remove it so that he doesn't thrash about in disorientation and do any damage. they want to be sure greg comes out in a safe manner.
his mom also commented that they feel very lucky for the fantastic nursing care greg is receiving. they keep it light, they take time to explain and work very well with greg. the nurses are wonderful with him.
send your vibes/prayers/light/energy to greg as he comes back to the real world and also to his family for strengh and patience.
today, greg is still on the ventilator. the doctors *were* hoping to remove it today AND are hoping to remove it tomorrow. greg is breathing more and more on his own. he's starting to come out of the sedation. they need to wait until he's a little further 'to the surface' before they remove it so that he doesn't thrash about in disorientation and do any damage. they want to be sure greg comes out in a safe manner.
his mom also commented that they feel very lucky for the fantastic nursing care greg is receiving. they keep it light, they take time to explain and work very well with greg. the nurses are wonderful with him.
send your vibes/prayers/light/energy to greg as he comes back to the real world and also to his family for strengh and patience.
just heard from greg's mom. the doctor says that greg is stable, and the new lung is working! they are not going to remove him from the ventilator today, they want to wait until tomorrow to be sure it's safe to do so.
they have cut back on some of the blood pressure medication and such, but will keep him heavily sedated (and totally "out of it") until they remove the ventilator. then they can start bringing him back into consciousness.
his parents have been able to spend time with him in the ICU, holding his hand and talking to him.
more to come... keep the good vibes rolling for gregory!
:) emily
they have cut back on some of the blood pressure medication and such, but will keep him heavily sedated (and totally "out of it") until they remove the ventilator. then they can start bringing him back into consciousness.
his parents have been able to spend time with him in the ICU, holding his hand and talking to him.
more to come... keep the good vibes rolling for gregory!
:) emily
via voicemail tonight...
greg's parents spent the day at the hospital today, seeing greg a few times. he is *very* heavily sedated. not even conscious, but the nurses indicated they thought he knew his parents were there. he even opened his eyes once. if all goes well tonight, they will remove him from the ventilator tomorrow. he is stable. everything is going well.
yay! more tomorrow after she and i actually get to speak to eachother on the telephone.
:) emily
greg's parents spent the day at the hospital today, seeing greg a few times. he is *very* heavily sedated. not even conscious, but the nurses indicated they thought he knew his parents were there. he even opened his eyes once. if all goes well tonight, they will remove him from the ventilator tomorrow. he is stable. everything is going well.
yay! more tomorrow after she and i actually get to speak to eachother on the telephone.
:) emily
greg has a new lung! hiphip! hooray!!
his mom called and said they have taken him to intensive care and will keep him pretty heavily sedated for the next 24-48 hours since the lung was outside the donor for a while and they want to reduce any risk from swelling.
she said she and his dad were allowed to peek at him as they wheeled him into the ICU room and he still looks like greg! :)
the donor's other lung was given to another patient at the hospital... a very interesting new connection for greg to another person.
fantastic news, really! i will post more on his progress as i hear it. yay for greg!!
his mom called and said they have taken him to intensive care and will keep him pretty heavily sedated for the next 24-48 hours since the lung was outside the donor for a while and they want to reduce any risk from swelling.
she said she and his dad were allowed to peek at him as they wheeled him into the ICU room and he still looks like greg! :)
the donor's other lung was given to another patient at the hospital... a very interesting new connection for greg to another person.
fantastic news, really! i will post more on his progress as i hear it. yay for greg!!
greg's mom just called to let me know that greg is currently in the operating room, getting ready to receive one lung from the donor. greg was still in the emergency room finishing up the tests when the OR called to say "come now." the operation should take 6-7 hours.
she said greg was in good spirits and ready! everyone please send your prayers/light/positive energy to greg for a successful transplant and a speedy recovery.
i will post as soon as i hear any update.
:) emily
she said greg was in good spirits and ready! everyone please send your prayers/light/positive energy to greg for a successful transplant and a speedy recovery.
i will post as soon as i hear any update.
:) emily
I'm in the car right now. Dad's driving and we're speeding up 84 to Boston, and I'm bored. At this point I'm just ready for this to all be over and done with. So I figured I'd see if I could get my computer set up to use my cell phone for connectivity and it's working just dandy. Pretty damn slick.
So the next step in all of this lung stuff is to get to the ER at Brigham & Women's Hospital (where I'll be having the surgery and recovering). Once there they'll take some blood, stick an IV in me and we wait for the lung to be ready. Beyond that we'll see. My guess is I'll be fully offline for at least the first few days. Though I'm sure they'll have me up and shuffling along at least a little even by tomorrow.
As far as visitors I don't think I get to have any right at first. My immune system will be fairly suppressed at first and they want to eliminate any chance of infection. Check back here for more details.
I still can't believe it has only been a week since I was last called. And they called during the day! That was the last thing I expected!
Hopefully this one won't be a false alarm. I just got a call to go to the emergency room for a lung. I'll try and do an update from the road. Wish me luck!
So once again my parents are going away for a week and I'll have the house to myself the weekend of the 22nd. I'm still trying to figure out what to do. I'm not sure that it will be warm enough to BBQ, but I'm thinking of having some kind of gathering. Maybe a movie/anime festival of some kind I can talk a few folks into coming down to visit. At least something to keep me from going stir crazy in his big house.
And the world has turned around again.
Friedrich Nietzsche
"In heaven all the interesting people are missing." [via Quotes of the Day]
Tom Stoppard
"Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end?" [via Quotes of the Day]
A few years ago I remember a story going around about someone trying to use a $2 bill at a Taco Hell. Snopes doesn't have any indication as to if it is true or false, but it seems that there are some people out there who still aren't familiar with $2 bills.
Best Buy Has Customer Arrested For Using $2 Bills
A Baltimore man tried to pay for a Best Buy car stereo installation with $2 bills—and was arrested. Apparently the man was already upset with the Best Buy's service, so thought he'd stage a minor protest by using the uncommon currency:
"I'm just here to pay the bill," Bolesta says he told a cashier. "She looked at the $2 bills and told me, 'I don't have to take these if I don't want to.' I said, 'If you don't, I'm leaving. I've tried to pay my bill twice. You don't want these bills, you can sue me.' So she took the money. Like she's doing me a favor."(Thanks, C0bra!)He remembers the cashier marking each bill with a pen. Then other store personnel began to gather, a few of them asking, "Are these real?"
More proof that Best Buy is actually "Worst Buy": Man arrested for paying in $2 bills [Anandtech]
[via Gizmodo]
I've seen Gloomy Bear comics, but never an actual one. I want one!
Gloomy bears
It's a little mean, don't you think, to give little kids cute stuffed bears to hug while they sleep, dreaming of the day when they will befriend a real bear, not yet knowing that it will never ever happen. I am still not over it. Gloomy bears, designed by Mori Chak are adorable and pink, but the blood stained claws will let your children know that bears are wild animals, not to be hugged if encountered in the woods.
Gloomy bears are $20-$40 at unica. [via Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women]
I've been meaning to do a lung update for ages. Since everyone keeps asking how things are going. For those of you just joining us, I have something called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation has a pretty decent web site on it if you want more details. But in general it means this:
Pulmonary Fibrosis involves scarring of the lung. Gradually, the air sacs of the lungs become replaced by fibrotic tissue. When the scar forms, the tissue becomes thicker causing an irreversible loss of the tissue’s ability to transfer oxygen into the bloodstream.
I'm not sure how I got it or even when exactly I started feeling the effects of it. In hindsight it was quite a bit before I saw a doctor about it. To put it bluntly, it sucks. I'm the kind of person who used to walk everywhere, go out dancing till the wee hours of the morning, and just be active all the time. These days I take things much more slowly.
I've tried various treatments and none of them seem to have done much, except maybe stabilize my condition. I haven't gotten any better or worse in a few years. So, the current step is waiting for a new lung. So, not much has changed. I'm definitely towards the 'top of the list', but that is all due to change when some new regulations go into effect that will make them order the list by 'need' in another month. Bah.
So I'm now opening this up for any questions you may have about it all. Ask away, I'll do my best to answer.
Well, the one thing they were waiting to hear back on came back with a result that made the lung not a good one. So no late night trips for Gregory tonight. Of course after that I'm not going to be able to sleep at all the rest of the night. I'm already feeling myself start to come down off that little adrenalin rush I got.
I've been meaning to post a bit about how things have been going with this for a while, but just haven't had a chance. I guess I should do that later today.
Well, it's around 2:20 am and my phone just rang. It was the doctor at the transplant clinic and she was calling to say that they had a potential lung for me. They had one thing they were waiting to hear on, but if that was okay it was a go. They wanted me to start getting ready to come up to the hospital.
So I'm freaking out just a tiny bit now. Even if I go up tonight it still isn't 100%, but it's pretty damn close. I'm not sure how long this means I'll be offline for. I would like to have access again fairly soon, but that isn't anything definite. I'm surprisingly calm about the whole thing right now. Though we'll see how things as I get closer to the hospital.
I'll try and post again as I hear more (I'm going to try and do one from the road). Otherwise it may be a week or so before you hear anything. Wish me luck!
I'm still a bit speechless on this one. The images are kind of funky looking. I still can't decide if this will be a good thing or a bad thing.
Powerpuff Girls Anime Announced
Plans for a Powerpuff Girls anime were announced at the Tokyo Animation Fair. A joint venture between Toei Animation, Aniplex, and Cartoon Network, the new project will be tentatively titled "Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z." Posters from the booth can be seen on AV Watch here and here. [via Anime News Network]
Last night everyone was supposed to have set their clocks ahead an hour. But here's the strange thing. With the exception of my phone, everything else I have that keeps time changes its time automatically. No need for me to do a thing. I had a moment this morning where I was looking around trying to figure out how I could tell that the time change happened. If my phone wasn't stupid and not able to do it on its own I'd still be clueless.
Now I have to figure out if there is anything else that I need to change by hand.
So I just realized that the drive-in theatre that is semi-close to me opens this weekend. And Sin City is showing. Now I just need to find someone to go with.
Google has announced their latest project: Google gulp! (with auto-drink(tm)).
Think fruity. Think refreshing. Think a DNA scanner embedded in the lip of your bottle reading all 3 gigabytes of your base pair genetic data in a fraction of a second, fine-tuning your individual hormonal cocktail in real time using our patented Auto-Drinkâ„¢ technology, and slamming a truckload of electrolytic neurotransmitter smart-drug stimulants past the blood-brain barrier to achieve maximum optimization of your soon-to-be-grateful cerebral cortex. Plus, it's low in carbs! And with flavors ranging from Beta Carroty to Glutamate Grape, you'll never run out of ways to quench your thirst for knowledge.
I'm still unsure about the bottles reporting information about me to Google, but the Sero-Tonic Water sounds tasty. They are also rolling this out slowly, as they did with Gmail. You can only get some if a friend of yours gives you a bottle cap for it. Hopefully I'm cool enough that I can get one.
