Hey Chip! I hope to meet with you and your mom on Friday. She has my cell phone number. You're welcome to call ANYTIME, 24-7. I'm about 15 min. away from the hospital.
I've been posting updates in this thread:
http://www.vtcoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2588
I'll copy/paste my latest post here....
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UPDATE
I'm back from visiting with Phil at the hospital. I think things went very well.
I arrived a little after 8PM as the nurses were doing their 'check-up' on Phil. It was kind of good timing, because I could see/hear what was going on. Of course, when they start with their lingo...."medial distal" and all that, I'm totally lost.
There were good, solid reactions in his feet when they checked them. He's in "booties" so his feet won't droop down as he's in the bed. There are also mini-g-force suits on his legs, to keep the blood flowing to the right areas. And, he's still got those sweet hospital PJ's on.
High fashion, baby!
The abrasions on his forehead are starting to heal nicely. He might have a few scars to show off later (chicks dig scars). As Phil's brother said in the other thread, the pressure monitor has been removed from his head. This is a good thing. For some reason, I thought his head would be shaved, but they only trimmed a small spot for the pressure monitor. There are a few stitches there now.
He's in a bed that keeps him moving. It rolls him left to right, and inflates and deflates. I guess it's to prevent bed sores and blood from pooling in areas. It's a pretty kickass bed. It has more adjustments than the Patriot's defense.
You want machines? They got machines. Not a lot of horsepower, but there's some seriously tech gear there. Phil's numbers didn't change drastically while we were there, but I did notice some breathing and heart fluctuations while Rachel and I were talking with him. Nothing major, but enough for me to sense Phil was having some type of reaction to my voice or presence. For me, a non-medical person, it was encouraging to see the slight changes on the monitor.
The nurse told me, "Just speak to him as if he's a really good listener."
I told him a few of the basics of what went on at the Nats, and the latest from the forum, and that everything was being taken care of so he shouldn't worry at all. Even if I had a laptop (which I don't), I'm not sure they'd allow it in there with all the other machines they have running. It is the ICU after all. I'm going to re-read some of the threads tonight and refresh my memory for tomorrow.
Visiting hours were over, so we told Phil that I'd be back tomorrow afternoon and let him rest. On our way past the desk, I asked the nurse if she could turn on the TV for a little while. She said she'd watch a little with him. That made me feel a little better as we left.
Expect an update tomorrow PM.
NBT- feel free to call me anytime.
