This Evening

I just spent a good hour with Allan. He was receiving a unit of blood as we were there. His arm was being splinted (right elbow fracture) it will require surgery once he is more stable. His right clavicle (collar bone) is broken in two places and may require surgery.

Is he brain dead?
Answer: No. He can maintain his own blood pressure and temperature. Brain dead people don't do that.

When the sedation was allowed to wear off and Allan was pinched very very hard, he did move his right arm a few inches in response. It is not at all as much as they want to see, but it is something.

This morning his pupils would not dilate. This evening they are showing some response to bright light, and dilating.

His oxygen started at 60% and is down in the high thirties. (we are aiming for room air)

He has several fractures in the thoracic vertebrae and one in the C2 vertebrae-directly under the skull. They do NOT affect his spinal cord. The biggest injury is his brain.

In the next few days we want him to begin to be ticked off when that sedation wears off. He needs to show that he can feel pain and go from being sedated, to being on pain meds. We want him to be more there than just maintaining his blood pressure and temperature. But right now he needs rest.

His cranial pressure is under 20. Which is good. They explained you can make your own pressure in your brain rise to 10 by standing on your head. At level 20 they have to take other measures-medications, position changes etc to lower that pressure, and it often does other damage to the body that is not good. Allans current pressures were between 17 and 19 during our visit. It has been just over 24 hours from his accident. The swelling very well could get worse in the next 24-48 hours. We don't want that cranial pressure to rise. Please pray specifically for that issue.

We were given his clothes from the accident. Allan was in full leather. Chaps, vest and jacket. Tee shirt and jeans underneath. ALL of his clothing was cut from him. His snaps are scratched very deep. His helmet is cracked and scratched very badly and did have blood on it. There was little...very little padding inside his helmet. Over a thousand dollars worth of leather and a piece of crap 20 year old helmet with a visor duck taped on it. He and I are gonna have a talk about this some day...

About Visiting...
There are two issues that need to be VERY CLEAR. Just touching Allan causes his body to do extra work to process being touched. He is working hard right now just to maintain. He truly needs a couple days of straight out resting. Rest is good for your body. He NEEDS it.

Secondly-there is a horrible SWINE FLU that is CONFIRMED in Sacramento and Placer county...these are the counties where Allan is. Schools are being shut down due to this flu. We had to fully scrub down with alcohol and wear gowns and gloves just to stand at his bedside.

Allan is stripped down to a sheet covering his boy parts. He has a gauze helmet. There are tubes and wires and nurses everywhere. As much as I know it is hard to not be able to see him with your own eyes and that you wouldn't care about his body exposure, please understand that he needs his privacy, he needs his rest, his nurses need to be concerned with his health first and foremost and not screening people and calls. We HAVE to keep that flu out of his room.

I told Allan myself how much he is loved by all of you out there. I cried when I did because it is such big love from so many people...but please know that he is being told every time we talk to him just how much he is loved. He has small pictures of his Dog and his Grandsons by his bedside should he open his eyes. Should he not (which is more likely) at least his nurses can talk to him about those people.

Please please do your best to check here for updates. I can be emailed at RandiFayPayton@gmail.com but I cannot guarantee a quick response. Big Al is damn near a celebrity!

I told him I would come back tomorrow. We will be meeting with his doctor sometime on Wednesday for some question and answer sessions and where the heck we go from at that point.

I promise I will update within minutes of getting new information. I will talk to his nurse in the morning after shift change and after he gets a chance to get some new vitals and such on Al. KEEP PRAYING! Much love
Randi Fay (and Corky)