July 20, 2009

Gene had to return to Erlanger tonight in order to have a minor surgical procedure on that pressure sore on his lower back. It has grown and become a concern. The surgeon who has privileges at Kindred is on vacation, and his doctor felt like he needed to have a procedure called debridement. So while this is not an emergency, it seems that it might not have been wise for it to wait until the doctor returned.

Because Gene is still on a ventilator he has to go to an ICU unit for evaluation before anything else can happen. He is in the surgical ICU and has gotten settled in very nicely. Alan and Emily went down to see him at the 8:30 visitation and he seems to be doing OK. Right now they are not sure how soon the surgery will take place. We will post an update as soon as we know.

Dr. Bolt was on duty and remembered Dad very well. Dad moved his feet for him, and Dr. Bolt said, "we need to tell Shepherd about this!" Someone from the neurosurgeon's office will see him while he is there at Erlanger.

Alan's comment after seeing Gene was "He is an incredible fellow. He has such a great spirit."

Prayer requests:
Please pray for Gene's surgical procedure to go well and for him to return to Kindred much stronger and in a better place to begin again the hard, hard work of vent weaning and physical therapy. Pray for Emily to have peace about Gene's return to Erlanger and for her to have strength for this next stretch.