From Margo: Update Nov. 17

Dear concerned relatives and close friends,

Dave is in serious condition after having seizures on Friday evening. Dave didn't have any contact info on him (though he did have ID) or close friends who knew who to contact near by, so I didn't learn about it until his building manager checked his emergency contact info this morning and called me.

Here is a summary of what the doctors told me on evening rounds tonight.

Dave is in intensive care at St. Vincent Hospital. He had a seizure outside his apartment building some time on Friday evening. Apparently neighbors saw him having the seizure and called an ambulance. The doctor says he was talking in the ambulance, but then had more seizure activity. St. Vincents is only about four blocks from his house. At the hospital, he was sedated and given anti-seizure medication, and had appropriate tests including blood screening, CAT scans and EEGs. At some later point he developed pneumonia symptoms and a fever. He is being given broad spectrum antibiotics to counter any bug that could have caused the seizures as well as the pneumonia, and is on a ventilator to allow him to rest instead of struggling to breathe. He has been unconscious since entering the hospital as far as I know, so I'm pretty sure he is not even aware that he is in the hospital or that three days have gone by, and as long as they keep the sedation going he is not uncomfortable. He was unresponsive as long as I was there today. This evening his fever is down below 99.

After rounds, the chief doctor who spoke to me, said that his brain is not showing the signs they'd like to see in a person who is recovering from a seizure. He is not certain, and says we need to wait and see how Dave does, but there is a possibility that enough time went by between having the seizure and getting care that he might have suffered some brain damage. When they try to take him off the ventilator his breathing gets out of sync and they have to put him back on. He's in a coma, the doctor said, but it is too early to predict anything. EEGs show no seizure centers, so that seems to be abating, but he is still on anti-seizure medication.


They still don't know what caused the seizures.

Mike is spending some more time there this evening while I've come home to recharge for tomorrow. The doctors all agreed that Dave seems stable enough that going home to get some sleep is a good idea, and Mike will be doing that too. I was impressed with the care and attention Dave is getting from the plentiful staff. I am planning to be back tomorrow mid-morning unless something changes and they call me before that.

Yvonne is arriving at 3pm tomorrow, and it seems that Pete and Pam are planning to come and may even be getting on a plane tonight. Wiley also called and said he is planning to come Friday afternoon.

Love,
margo