Kirk Update - 2.6.09, DefCon2

Friends,

After tonight I feel confident moving us to DefCon2. Yes, a higher DefCon is better: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEFCON. I'll go ahead and admit that I really only know that from the movie War Games.

SO...here's what went down this afternoon. Kirk was at home and sustained a series of fairly traumatic seizures. During which he bit/gashed his tongue pretty severely. I know he didn't bite anything off, but the word 'hemorrhaging' was being tossed around. The damage was enough to inhale a fair bit of blood into his lungs. At the hospital they drained his lungs as best they could, but their main concern seemed to be to stabilize and sedate him. Kirk is in the E.R. and unconscious at this point. We were told that unconscious is good because it means he is less likely to trigger any further seizures.

(Oh, speaking of E.R., one of the nurses was wearing a vest. On the back it read "E.R. You watch it. We live it." I didn't know exactly how to take that.)

Kristina and I sat through an hour of Atlanta traffic (5:00 on a Friday and leaving the city) before meeting the Lawrences in the ICU waiting room. Deborah was understandably upset. However I knew that the more people she had around her to be strong in front of, the easier she might be able to take things. Tiffany, even 8 months pregnant, is solid as a rock. She has been ever since the beginning. She sat with Rafael and we traded ridiculous stories about Kirk with various family members in the waiting room. We didn't see Tim for a while. I was concerned he might handcuff himself to Kirk's bed. He's less outwardly emotional, but it's plain to see how much Kirk's suffering hurts him. Nikki was there from Athens. She's very soft emotionally, but you can tell that as much as she's concerned for Kirk, she's the first to react with strength for Tim and Deborah and attend to them when they need support.

Kirk was moved from the ER to ICU shortly after we arrived. Everyone paired up and took turns seeing him for a few minutes. He was nothing short of ZONKED OUT when we went in. To look at him you might guess he was sleeping. He was laid up in the bed and breathing loudly with an oxygen mask over his mouth. No breathing tube or anything, but he has to wear a rubber mouthpiece to protect his mouth in the event of another seizure. His breathing was a little shallow and wet from the remaining fluids in his lungs. They told us they didn't want to touch/move him too much risking a new seizure and that tomorrow, should he wake up, they'll finish pumping his lungs.

Kristina and I stood by him for a few moments and relayed messages of love from people. We watched his vitals on the screen and noticed an elevated heart rate. I assume that the seizures took a toll on his heart and it might be beating more to get the job done. I'll let you know for sure when my PHD comes in the mail. We didn't stay very long on the off chance that Kirk knew we were there and we were keeping him from sleeping.

~The Good News~
The nurses noted that though he was "mostly unconscious" when they cleaned the blood from his mouth/nose he winced and resisted slightly. This was likely volluntary. While in ICU, he moved his legs, attempted to reposition his blankets and faintly squeezed Nikki's hand. He also motioned to his mouth and tried to get the mask/mouthpiece away. All good things. They also commented how Kirk's body was so well cared for. Clean, groomed, healthy skin, no bed sores, etc. Tim and Deborah were proud from the commendation.

~The Plan~
Tonight a neurologist is going to inspect his brain activity and tomorrow morning they've scheduled an MRI. I think the results of these exams and his condition in the next 12 hours will tell us a lot. I'm going back over to the hospital tomorrow morning. Hopefully we'll have results from the exams and have a better of idea of Kirk's condition.

Kirk and his family (and me too) know you all are thinking of them. Please don't "feel silly" (Miss Morgan) doing the regular things you need to do in your lives while you know someone is sick. Tiffany and Deborah both noticed how often my phone went off tonight with calls and texts. They know Kirk's got an army of friends behind him that love him. It definitely helps. It helps me too because I get to have a job to do instead of 'hurry up and wait'.

More intel from the front as it's received, troops. xoxo

-John