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Pranav was admitted to Overland Park Hospital on March 4th,
2006. It began as a small sore "pilo" inside his nose, that caused his
nose to swell. Eventually, his entire face started to swell and he
experienced mild fever and vomiting. That was when he was taken to the
hospital, just three days after the initial symptom of a sore. The
doctors found that his sore had gotten infected and that infection had
spread throughout his body including his heart, lungs, and kidneys and
that he was in a very critical condition. They had very little hope for
him when they suspected that the infection had spread to his brain and
that he had meningitis. Results later showed that it was not true and
that he did not have to go through a surgery immediately.
Pranav on TV
Skip To: 9:24
Courtesy of Sagarmatha TV
.....................................................................................................................................................
This is the most amazing/awesome news for all of us - Pranav was released from the ICU a few days ago. Now he resides in a regular ward. He is going to be taken to a rehab center soon where he will undergo intensive physical therapy.
In the past 3 weeks alone, Pranav has shown tremendous improvement - Pranav is now off the ventilator. He is only getting oxygen through his nose (external pipe, not inserted). We get 21% oxygen in the air we breathe, Pranav is only getting 28%. He is doing soooooooo much better now.
The other amazing thing is - Pranav speaks now. Yes his tracheotomy incision has now been closed. I was amazed to see that he has kept up his humor and he made us all laugh. His voice slightly resembles his old voice but is accent is a little "tote". And Pranav told us that his voice sounds like that of Hari Bamsha is Lal Purja (a famous Nepali tele-serial). Despite my dying battery and inadequate diskspace I have captured limited footage of the conversation with Pranav.
Day before yesterday Pranav was given a small chip of ice, a spoon of water and a tiny piece of biscuit to eat through his mouth for the first time in over 5 months.
PRANAV'S BIRTHDAY IS AUGUST 9th.
If you want to send a card or gift for Pranav please mail it to:
PRANAV DHAKAL
10514 Garnett St.
Apt# 21
Overland Park, KS 66214
.....................................................................................................................................................
There are a few good new about Pranav's condition. Pranav's vomiting has
finally come to a stop and his breathing has been much better. A few
days ago Pranav was taken out of his room for the first time in a
wheelchair. Yesterday, they took off Pranav's main ventilator (the one
with a lot of numbers that you saw in the pictures) and replaced it with
an A-pipe. He is still given oxygen but he is breathing entirely on his
own now. Just today they even took away the A-pipe for a brief time and
put a "thing" on the incision for the ventilator so that he could talk.
"Aama Baba" were the words that came out of him.
The hospital is planning to send Pranav to a rehabilitation center soon
where he is going to get physical therapy and breathing practice. We are
all so glad that Pranav is getting better but he still has a long way to
go for a full recovery. This is still not possible without your prayers
and support.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Almost 4 months have passed now and Pranav is still in the hospital.
Unfortunately it is more and more seeming like he is going to be there
for quite a while. The lapse in frequency of the website update is
because of such a slow change (if any) in Pranav’s condition. There
really has not been any drastic change in his condition in the past
month and half or so. His vitals have stabilized (mostly), his muscle
movement is still very limited and he is still on the ventilator. The
doctors have been trying hard to get him off the ventilator and make him
breath on his own but that has not been possible so far. He is very
dependent on the ventilator. For the past month or so his problem has
been that he has been vomiting on a regular basis. When Pranav is given
water and “food” via his tummy tube it causes him to vomit, the mucus
from the vomit causes his ventilator tube to clog up which has to be
cleaned by sucking the mucus out for him to be able to breath but that
process also triggers vomiting. This has been the vicious circle that
gets Pranav really exhausted. Occasionally, his heart rate also plunges
down when the mucus partially blocks his ventilator tube.
Yes, Pranav is doing much better than before and yes we can safely
assume that his life is not in an immediate danger but he is going
through a painstaking recovery and this is going to take a loooong time.
Oh, he recently got a special order glass that is supposed to fix his
double vision problem. He was seeing everything double and that is why
he had a pad on his eye. Pranav says that it makes him dizzy to wear
that glass. He also recently had a slight fever (99) but that is under
control now.
.....................................................................................................................................................
It has been more than
two months since Pranav was rushed to the emergency room. He has come a
long way from that point. His vitals are stable and the doctors are now
trying to get him to breathe on his own so that he can be taken off the
ventilator. He undergoes physiotherapy every morning, but he really
hasn't shown any significant muscle movements yet. He is made to breathe
on his own for 2 hours everyday, the ventilator just supplies him the
oxygen but he has to inhale and exhale on his own. The ventilator is set
at 30% oxygen level.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Synopsis of the past
few days:
-
Pranav's lungs are doing much better. Air leaks from
both his lungs have stopped, so the chest tubes were taken out.
-
He is breathing more on his own now, albeit with the
occasional help of the ventilator.
- He has shown more body movements including slightly
dragging his arms, moving his fingers and toes.
-
He is much more alert, mouths words but cannot produce
sound because of the presence of the tracheal tube.
-
He still has a low fever but I was told it is nothing
to worry about.
-
His pressure and heart rate is stable.
-
He is still getting antibiotics and painkiller.
- His legs have
neuropathy, hence he is on painkiller.
-
He is still on tube feeding.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav's lungs are doing much better. The
ventilator is now running at an even lower speed and is pumping only
40% oxygen. Pranav breathes by himself twice between every ventilator
cycle. He still has fever, around 100.6 degrees. He gets put on the
cooling blanket every time it rises to that point. His blood culture is
still not showing any new bacteria so he continues to stay off
antibiotics.
.....................................................................................................................................................
The latest is that the doctors removed the temporary pacemaker from
Pranav. They also changed the intravenous tubes. He still has fever
(100.6 as of this morning) so they are trying to isolate the source of
infection. His lungs are doing much better. The
ventilator is now running at a lower speed (speed is one of the
settings that can be manipulated on the ventilator) and Pranav has been
encouraged to try and breathe on his own. He is taking occasional gasps
between the cycles of the ventilator. The air leak on his right lung is
now completely sealed; his left lung is still showing some leak. That is
expected to get better as the speed and pressure exerted by the
ventilator is reduced and Pranav starts breathing more on his own.
Pranav has been feeling a lot of discomfort lately, his is NOT on pain
medications and he is also NOT on any antibiotics. They are running
tests everyday to find any remnant infection that is causing fever and
increase in his white cell counts.
His blood pressure and heart rates are slightly elevated.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav had CAT scan and ultrasound today.
Although the neurologist has not confirmed it yet, his neurological
condition seems to be fine. The ultrasound showed some deposits on his
gall bladder, which is enlarged due to extra feeding (via his feeding
tube), but I was told that it is very treatable. His liver also seemed
to be affected by the infection but nothing serious. The main problem
they saw is in Pranav's lungs. They saw tissue damage due to the
infection. The doctors are not in a hurry to decide what to do about it
because Pranav is showing slow improvement. I was told that they are
going to have a meeting in a couple of days to decide treatment
possibilities for Pranav.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav had to go through
bronchoscopy yesterday because his ventilator was having some
problems. What happens is, when the air is sucked out of his lungs,
particles from the tissue damage in his lungs get sucked as well and
they get stuck in the pipes causing blockage. His doctor removed 3 large
clots of such tissue yesterday. The pacemaker had to kick in again
because every time he has a problem with his ventilator, his heart rate
dramatically plunges down. Now the problem is, his reports show that his
white cell counts is increasing again, indicating a sign of infection.
The nurse told me that they are suspecting the source of the infection
to be the temporary pacemaker pipes. So now they are considering placing
a permanent pacemaker on Pranav but are holding off on it because of his
critical condition. They took blood, urine and sputum sample last night
to culture it to identify the source of infection.
This morning he complained of pain so he was given pain medication and
is sound asleep now. His heart rate is a little elevated and he has a
temperature of 100 degrees, but he has been put on the cooling blanket.
Yesterday before he had problems with his ventilator, he was enjoying
watching TV, listening to music and most importantly communicating with
his family. I am praying for his speedy recovery.
Oh one more thing, when his neurologist visited him two days ago, he
slightly wiggled his toe when asked to do so.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav's condition has been the same for
the last two days. His lungs are about the same too. His heart rate was
a little elevated, 150s, but has gone down now. He is being given blood.
His temperature is 99 degrees, and he is not not the cooling blanket.
His ventilator is still working at 50%. He is making good urine now, and
he is back on diuretics
since his body is still a little puffed. The doctors were considering to
perform a
bronchoscopy on him and use
bioglue to patch the holes in one of his lungs so that they can
perform surgery on the other. But I was told that they have decided
against it. The doctors has said that considering that Pranav does get
better, full recover is going to take over a year.
Uncle-Aunti have finally moved to their
new apartment. The apartment is at a walking distance from the hospital
so now they can go back and forth at their own convenience.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav is doing okay. His bp is 110/60,
heart rate is 110, temperature is 99 degrees without the cooling
blanket. A physiotherapist visited him and felt contractions in his
muscles, that is to say that he still has some muscle strength. His
ventilator is at 60% but his chest tubes are still leaking. I was told
that he is making less urine now, since he is not on
diuretics.
.....................................................................................................................................................
There was a slight complication today on
Pranav's condition. Our main worry for now is his lungs. When he was
initially brought in the ER he had gone into a septic shock. That had
caused his lungs to nearly collapse. So he was put on the ventilator
immediately. The ventilator exerts pressure in the lungs while thrusting
air and oxygen into the chambers. The lung is much like a balloon, if
the pressure is too high the balloon ruptures. The same thing happened
to Pranav's lungs, it has holes in them. I was told that the holes may
have been caused due to the infection or due to the pressure exerted by
the ventilator. The air given by the ventilator hence leaks outside the
lungs into the "bad area". Accumulation of air in this area takes up its
own space and inhibits the lungs to expand in its entire volume. The
chest tubes are responsible for getting this air out of that "bad space"
so that the lungs does not endure pressure from the air pockets. In
Pranav's case, the chest tubes are leaking and his lungs are losing
volume. So the ventilator needs to work harder to keep his breathing
comfortable, but when the ventilator works harder, the holes in his
lungs don't get the chance to heal creating this problem cycle. When he
breathes harder, it affects his heart. Today some sort of "organic
waste" had gotten into his ventilator pipe causing difficulty in his
breathing, there by causing his heart rate to dive down. So the
pacemaker had to kick in. They had to work on his for about an hour to
get that fixed. That exhausted Pranav and caused him pain. So they gave
him pain medication and he is asleep now.
.....................................................................................................................................................
BREAKING NEWS!! Today Pranav asked the
nurse for his Mom and Dad. When his mom touched his legs he said he has
sensation. I will update more on this. I am about to leave for KC...I am at Kansas City now, Just got home at Uncle-Aunti's place after visiting Pranav. Pranav looks much better. I asked him if he knows the date and he nodded yes. He makes vertical head movement (implying yes) and horizontal head movement (implying no). He also blinks his eyes and even followed me across the room by moving his eyes. I asked him if he is hungry and thirsty and he nodded and he also "said" that he is in pain (throat). I am going to go see him again early tomorrow morning and try and meet his doctors. His blood pressure is normal, his heart rate ranged between 102-120 while I was there. His ventilator is now working at 50%.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav has been stable for the past two
days now. His pressure is good and his heart rate has come down to 110s.
He is still on the cooling blanket because he still has a fever. His ventilator is
still at 65%. His heart is working good but he is not stable enough to
go for a CAT scan, which would reveal his neurological condition more. I
was told that he was able to open his mouth and stick his tongue out on
the nurse's command. I was also told that he whispered (without sound)
Aama-Buwa as well. Sadly for us, Pranav is still critically ill. His
vitals become erratic even with simple movements like turning him
slightly to, let's say, put a sheet under him. That is the reason why he
cannot go for a CAT scan yet. The neurologist did say that Pranav's
movements may return, but it is just a, somewhat intelligent and more
optimistic, speculation at this point.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav is doing okay. He still has a
temperature of 99.9 degrees. The nurse just turned off the cooling
blanket. His ventilator is now working at 65% but I was told that it
could easily be dropped down to 60%. His pressure is okay but his heart
rate is elevated at 140s. The blood culture done a few days ago came out
negative but they found a new bacteria in his
sputum.
It is called
acinetobacter
baumannii. He has just (2:45am) been started on a new
antibiotic called
Fortaz.
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|
Bijulee:
Nurse:
Bijulee:
Nurse:
Bijulee:
Nurse:
|
How are Pranav's vitals?
Heart Rate 120 (pacemaker will kick in if it goes below 80);
Blood Pressure 120/57; Temperature 99.7 degrees (was 101 before
cooling blanket was used); Ventilator
running at 80% oxygen.
What is the major concern for Pranav as of
now?
The condition of his lungs and his neurological status. If the
ventilator does not function then his lungs collapse. There is
also a leak in the chest tubes and the doctors do not know what
is causing it. He is not stable enough to go into surgery to
figure out and fix the problem. Neurologically, he is
quadriplegic
(having paralysis from neck down)
If someone asks me what is wrong with
Pranav, what should I say?
Initially when Pranav was brought in, a CAT scan was done that
revealed
cavernous sinus thrombosis. Due to this every organ in his
body has been affected. His lungs have suffered the most. |
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav's
operation was successful. He is unconscious as of now but
stable. He has an external pacemaker on him. Details soon!
Today's date marks exactly a month
since Pranav was first admitted to the hospital and the news I have to
divulge is not entirely good. The past few days had been quite stable
for Pranav and he had shown slow but gradual progress. We started to see
a new complication yesterday. When the nurse is cleaning Pranav's mouth
and throat, they apparently have to clean the ventilator tube that is
attached to his throat as well and to do so they take it out. I believe
that is a normal procedure. When they did that, Pranav's heart rate
plunged down to 40s several times yesterday and when the tube was placed
back in, the rate picked up slowly into the normal range. It happened
today too, at least twice already (as far as I know) but today his heart
rate plunged down to zero without
without anyone even touching the ventilator tube.
They are preparing to do surgery on Pranav right now as I type
this. They are going to install a temporary pacemaker to support his
heart. Let's pray that everything goes well. I will keep you
updated as I get more information.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Jaya and Sarita are visiting Pranav
right now. I am listening to their conversation with each other and with
the nurse live via cell phone. Pranav is on the cooling blanket again to
control his temperature. His blood sample has been taken again to
culture and identify the bacteria in his stream. He had just under 101
degrees today but now its down to 98 degrees. His heart rate is slightly
elevated (130s) and his blood pressure is normal. The nurse is saying
the Pranav still has the infection but it is under control. He is still
on antibiotics and some pain killers. Jaya says that Pranav did open his
eyes and moved them from left to right, probably scanning his field of
view. When asked to blink his eyes if he recognized Jaya and Sarita he
blinked. The pulmonologist has asked to wait on the CAT scan until there
is no risk for Pranav's lungs to collapse. Hope that this wait is not
too long.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav is out of coma. This morning he
opened his eyes and looked all around. He also shut his eyes upon the
nurse's request and moved his lips. He also recognized Uncle-Aunti and
Mama. They talked to him and he cried (shed tears). I was told that it
looked like he was trying to talk but he could not...yet. To assess him
better neurologically, he is taken off painkillers as well. His heart rate and
pressure is slightly up from yesterday. He is still on antibiotics for
the bacteria that showed up again in his blood stream. He is not on the
cooling blanket anymore, and he has a temperature of 100 degrees.
Today has been the best day for Pranav since his admittance on March 4th
and it is an optimistic day for his family and friends and for all those
who have been praying for him. I guess this calls for a toast. Now
that we are little less worried about Pranav's uncertainty, we need to focus on
fundraising to help his recover from this horrible mishap/infection.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav had a
really good day today. His oxygen level has been reduced to 60% and he
is tolerating that fine. His heart rate and blood pressure is normal. He
is still on a cooling blanket because he is still a little warm. He was
also moved to bed 7 from bed 9 and he tolerated that well too.
Pranav was only fluttering his eyes before, today he
actually blinked and moved his eyes. He even tried to move his head. I
was told that it seemed like he was responding to his parents talking to
him with his eye movements. The neuromuscular device too picked up
response from his face. The neurologist came to see him late last night.
He said that the EEG shows that Pranav is in some sort of a coma and it
was not conclusive which way he would go from this point from the
report. Importantly, the neurologist said that he wasn't convinced that
all the paralytic and sedation drugs were out of his system yet. So they
are giving Pranav 48 hours before they run more neurological tests on
him. It is to be noted that since the time the neurologist gave the
interpretation of the EEG, Pranav has already shown movements in his
eyes in response to his parents' voice. This is a very positive note
that I am willing to hang on with for now. He has not shown arm or feet
movements yet but I am hopeful that it is going to happen in the next 48
hours. So let us all pray for Pranav.
The bacteria that was initially present when he was
brought in the ICU is showing up on his blood again. I was told that
this type of bacteria is resistant to some types of antibiotics but not
all. He is already receiving treatment for this.
.....................................................................................................................................................
There was a worry this morning, his
chest tubes accidentally got under him causing them to be kinked. The
ventilator gives him air + oxygen that goes to his lungs but part of it
also goes to the space around the lungs (bad space) that needs to be
sucked out so that the lungs have enough space to expand and contract
with ease. The chest tube is responsible for sucking this air out of the
bad space. When it got kinked this morning, it put a lot of pressure on
his lungs and his oxygen absorption went down. I was told at 3pm today
that he has recovered from that incident but is still on 100% oxygen
levels from his ventilator (likely to be reduced down soon). He was also
given some blood today because his hemoglobin was low. His heart rate
and blood pressure are under normal range.
He is still off sedation and paralytic drugs but still has not shown any
sort of movement. This could either mean that his body has still traces
of the sedation/paralytic drugs which can be expected to be filtered out
soon, or this could be a sign of a more complex neurological condition.
The doctors ordered a brain wave test (EEG) but the results are not
available yet.
He is also having periodic fever. Yesterday it was 103.2 degrees and
today it was again climbing up over 100 degrees. He is put on a cooling
blanket to get his fever down. When asked why is he having periodic
fever, the nurse told me that even though he is on antibiotics to
contain and treat his infection does not necessarily mean that his
infection is all gone, so he still might have traces of infection left
in his body. She also said that getting periodic fever could be a sign
that he has suffered brain injury. Please note that these are just
speculations as of now and more tests need to be run to determine his
neurological condition. But he has shown no movements (other than eyelid
and lip movement) and no response to the neuromuscular device yet. The
doctors has expected that he would and hence they are concerned.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Today's major concern is that Pranav
has a very high fever of 103.2 degrees. He is being put on a cooling
blanket to get his temperature down. His infection doctor has been
called to check up on him. He is still off sedation but still has shown
no movements or response to neuromuscular device. His heart rate is
still elevated. He is still getting 65% oxygen from the ventilator and
his pressure is normal. This morning, the doctors went ahead and
installed a peg-tube on him. He is not having any bleeding problems.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav's sedation
medication has been turned off as of 1pm this afternoon. The
nurse told me that he hasn't made any drastic movements yet (could be
because he's been under sedation for over two weeks) but his eyelids
have flipped, and his pupils are showing sensitivity to light. He still
has not shown reaction to the neuromuscular device. His ventilator is
now giving him 65% oxygen. His bleeding has also slowed down a lot. His
doctors had discussed about inserting a peg-tube in his abdomen (a tube
that goes directly into his stomach through his abdomen so that he can
be given food instead of a tube through his mouth) but they decided
against it to prevent possible bleeding problems. His heart rate is
still at 130s but I was told that it was manageable. His blood pressure
is now normal. His temperature is now fluctuating between 99 and 100
degrees. I was told that he is making a slow progress. Since he is
off sedation, a neurologist is going run some refined tests on him
sometime tonight or tomorrow. I will keep you posted on that.
(I forgot to ask about his
temperature but someone was nice enuff to provide me with the
information!)
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav is still irresponsive to the neuromuscular device.
His heart rate is elevated and his pressure is fluctuating from low to
moderate. He still has a fever of 100.4 degrees. He is on blood thinner
to prevent blood clots but that is causing him to bleed from the points
where the needle is inserted and also from his mouth. I was told that
the bleeding is under control. His vent is still pushing 70% oxygen.
.....................................................................................................................................................
A little more on Pranav's condition has
come into light and it is not pretty. Pranav is critically ill. On the
24th his blood pressure was fluctuating and they gave him medication for
it. He was also running a slight fever. He was also taken off paralytic
drugs. Today, his heart rate is at 130, his blood pressure is okay but
he runs a temperature of 100.6 degrees. That is not the major concern of
the day. After being taken off the paralytic drugs, the doctors were
expecting to see voluntary and involuntary movements, and they tried to
record twitching using a neuromuscular device. They tried to get
readings on both his wrists (ulnar and radial nerve) and on his
eyebrows. He has NO movements. They were very unhappy about this result
and so am I.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav's surgery to give him oxygen/air
directly through his trachea was done successfully yesterday. All his
vitals still remain the same. His blood pressure is under control. The vent is
now
running at 70% capacity.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav's blood pressure was a little
high this morning, so a cardiologist came by to access his condition. He
is going to be treated for that. He has not had a fever for a while now
so that is a good sign. All his other vitals have remained the same for
the past two days. Pranav is going to go through a surgery sometime
tomorrow so that his ventilator pipe can be directly connected to his
trachea instead of going through inside his mouth. This is done when the
patient needs to be on the ventilator for a while. The vent is still
running at 90% capacity. This new procedure is going to prevent possible
new infections and damage to his vocal chord. I will let you all know
the time of the surgery later today.
.....................................................................................................................................................
I just called the hospital and the
nurse told me that today has the most stable day for Pranav since his
admittance. His blood pressure has
stabilized, he is breathing good, making good urine and his liver is
doing good. She told me, "he is still very sick, but today has been a
good day for him". I don't know about you but I can't help being
optimistic, very optimistic.
.....................................................................................................................................................
I went to the hospital last night to
see Pranav. His condition is almost the same as before. The ventilator
is now working at 90% capacity (reduced from 100%). His blood is still
retaining good amount of oxygen, but it is a little high on carbon
dioxide levels. His liver condition has improved and so has his muscle
deterioration. His blood pressure has been erratic for the last two
days, ranging from 130 to 200. His temperature is normal and his kidneys
are making good urine.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Its 6am
in the morning and we just got back from Kansas City. If I go to bed now
I know I will never wake up on time to give this update to everyone by
the early hours today. So considering the overwhelming concern everyone
has shown in Pranav's condition I am opening up one more can of Red
Bull!
We picked up Pranav's Aama, Buwa and Mama from
the airport at around 7:50pm yesterday evening. To my surprise they were
holding up very very well. We were mostly in communication with Mama
giving him updates over the phone so initially we did not really know
how well Aama-Buwa knew about Pranav's condition. From KCI airport, we
drove directly to the hospital (45 min drive). There were a few of our
fellow Nepali friends already waiting for us at the hospital. Soon the
crowd grew with more people arriving.
Me and Jaya went in the ICU to check on Pranav's
condition while others waited in the visitor's room. Appearance wise,
now he looks much better than he did a week ago. His face swelling has
reduced noticeably (comparatively speaking) and we did not find
ourselves in intolerable pain to look at him. This wasn't the case a
week ago. We talked to the nurse and she said that his condition has
improved slightly. Compared to a week ago:
- his swelling has reduced
- his temperature is normal
- his heart rate has gone down (from 160s to 100s)
- his infection has come under control
- his kidneys are functioning
- his blood is retaining good oxygen levels
Despite all these improvements, it is not to be forgotten that Pranav is
STILL IN A VERY CRITICAL CONDITION. She
also said that their main worry as of now is his lungs. He is using 100%
capacity of the ventilator and is still having difficulties breathing.
They are also starting to see some complications with his liver. His
swelling is reduced but it is still VERY bad. I particularly felt
uncontrollably terrible when I saw that his tongue was sticking out of
his mouth. I do not think I am going to forget that scene for a long
time.
We went back to the visiting room after getting
these updates. For the next 30 minutes or so me and Jaya talked to
Aama-Buwa and Mama and slowly explained Pranav's health condition. We
thought it was especially important for them to be prepared for what
they were going to see inside the ICU. It was very hard for me to do so
because I was trying to, in some way, minimize the severity of the scene
they were soon going to be exposed to. Besides, I was hardly convinced
of my own arguments. No parents can get their heart ready to see their
critically ill son especially when they are meeting after four long
years and we gave them just 30 minutes. I feel terrible about it. But
what we did convince them of is that Pranav is getting the best possible
care and that Pranav is NOT in any kind of pain because he is sedated.
So we did try our very best to prepare them of the overwhelmingly
gruesome scene - with numerous pipes and needles going inside him, CRT
screens overhead displaying "un-meaningful numbers and graphs" beeping
occasionally, wires hanging around him, and the ventilator making that
scarily monotonous sound of his "respiration".
Me and Jaya accompanied the three of them, those
few steps were one of the most difficult walks of my entire life. I
could see the suppressed outbursts of tears and hear the silent moans of
helplessness in their faces. I hope they did not see the same in mine,
my sense of responsibility helped me mask it. They were allowed to touch
and feel him and to talk to him. At that point, they lost a little bit
of grip on their suppression of tears and that's when we left them in
their, to share their own alone time with their only son. Before we left
the room, Aama said, "Babu if something happens to Pranav then my whole
world is GONE". I was responseless, NOT just speechless but responseless.
Things looked settled, at least on the outside,
when we went in again. Purna Ji had invited all of us for dinner
and that's where we went next. There were a LOT of us at the hospital,
they all expressed their immense sorrow to Aama-Buwa and Mama and
offered their help and support. We roughly talked about forming a team
of volunteers to take Aama-Buwa and Mama to and fro from the hospital. I
am sure Purna Ji, Amar Dai and Tuk Dai will ensure their comfort and
coordinate friends for their transportation.
At Purna Ji's place Aama-Buwa and Mama said that
they had not expected to see such whole-heartedly dedicated and unified
friends willing to help Pranav as they saw today. They were very proud
of all of us. I also mentioned that we have been receiving prayers and
funds for Pranav from FRIENDS all over the US. They have personally
asked me to THANK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU for your altruistic love and
support for Pranav. I find it my immense pleasure and honor to thank
ALL THE DONORS. Thank you so so much. They said they could eat full
stomach after so long, seeing this coordinated effort from all over.
Thank you again. And thank you Purna Ji and Bhauju for the delicious
dinner.
Now, I urge ALL of you to pass on
Pranav's appeal to everyone you know and personally ask them to help
this wonderful person. As donors, you are now fighting along with
Pranav, to beat this infection, you are now obligated to pass on his
appeal, YOU ARE HIS HOPE. You are my hope too.
Please keep checking this site for more
updates. I have a lot more to report but very tired set of eyes.
Forgive me for typos and grammar, if any. I will
proofread later today!
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav's condition remains the same
today as well. The nurses say that there is no significant change in his
condition. I will update more on this later today after I visit him. I
will post some of his pictures too, considering I am allowed to take
some.
There has been a flight delay so Pranav's Mom, Dad and Uncle are arriving in Kansas
City at 7:49pm.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav's condition is exactly the same
as yesterday and there has been no significant changes in any of his
vital organs/signs.
Pranav's Mom, Dad and Uncle are arriving in Kansas
City tomorrow at around 5pm.
I intend to go pick them up from the airport and I will post some
pictures.
.....................................................................................................................................................
LATEST UPDATE
DIRECTLY FROM PRANAV'S DOCTORS!
Blood Pressure is Normal / Stable.
Heart Rate has increased, but he is getting medications for it.
Kidneys not doing too good but it is functioning for now. It is
expected to deteriorate further in the next couple of days because of his muscle damage, which
supposedly puts the kidneys in immense pressure.
Every organ is affected by the infection.
Breathing problems persist but his blood is retaining enough
oxygen levels.
Liver function is still bad but has improved since yesterday.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav is still having breathing
difficulties, and the nurse said, "his infection is out of control". His
liver is still bad and the rest of his organs have not shown any
significant improvement. The nurse reported that he was awake for a
little bit between his schedule of the sedation medication. He nodded
his head and pressed the nurse's finger when asked to do so. However,
they are not entirely confident to report his neurological condition
yet.
Pranav's parents got their
visas today and they will arrive in Kansas City on Wednesday.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav's condition has improved since
last night. His lungs are functioning better and he does not have fever
anymore. However, doctors say that their major concern right now is the
condition his liver. I don't know what the exact nature of the concern
is but I will update the information as soon as I know. He is still
under heavy sedation so his neurological condition has not yet been
assessed.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Pranav's condition has worsened in the
past few days. Doctors have not been able to contain his infection and
it has further spread to his liver. His fever has returned as well. His kidneys have gotten worse and
his lungs are starting to stiffen. The breathing machine he is on is
working on its maximum capacity giving him oxygen and he is still having
breathing problems. The only good news as of today is that his brain
scans showed no infection in the brain. Everyone please keep him in your
prayers.
.....................................................................................................................................................
_____________________________________________________
Pranav's Associations:
Park University
(Kansas City)
Butler County
Community College
(Wichita)
Wichita
State University
(Wichita)
Little Angels College
(Hattiban)
St. Xavier's School - 1997 batch
(Kathmandu)
Pranav
was also a resident of Boston, MA. |
