Babalu

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Update: 9/22/2010

Not a whole lot to report. More opening his eyes on his own, more looking at his wife, more yawning and now a bit of what appears to be stretching his legs. They've been adjusting his bed so that he's in a semi-sitting position for periods of time. No signs of seizure lately, cultures they've taken to check for infection have all come back negative, his white blood cell count is good and his blood sugar is normal. The steroids could have caused some problems with this blood sugar, but it appears they didn't. He's now off the steroids.

There's still been some discussion with the medical staff, the LTAC, the rehab and the insurance folks about where and when they'll be moving him. That should hopefully be cleared up shortly.

That's it for now.

Please keep praying and keep the positive thoughts and energy coming.

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Donate to Jeff via PayPal
 
That's great Melana, see the two of you then. Let me know if you can't find a sitter, I might be able to rope Spawn 3 into it for a while. She owes me. And of course, you know that the Ewok is always welcome here anyways. Didn't she come the last time and spend the day running around the fish pond with Yeager's and the_bird's girls?

PTN
 
Heineken said:
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100925/NEWS/9250342

It appears they are moving him to another facility.
Click to expand...

Here's the story, in case you don't want to register on South Coast Today. I'll have and update later.


A Middleboro father is beginning the next phase of his fight against eastern equine encephalitis, at a long-term acute care hospital where he was transferred Friday.

Forty-three-year-old Jeffrey Fuller was transferred from Massachusetts General Hospital in good condition, according to a spokesman for the hospital at which Fuller had stayed since late last month

His sister, Michelle Fitzgerald of Wareham, declined to name the new hospital but described it as a rehabilitation facility that will serve as an intermediary between Mass. General and a more standard rehabilitation center.

"It's good news that he doesn't require hospitalization anymore," she said. "They'll work him until he's awake enough to send him to a regular rehab."

A Rhode Island EEE-victim in his 20s has also been discharged from the hospital where he has been since earlier in August, according to Helen Drew, of the Rhode Island Department of Health, who said she had no additional information on his whereabouts.

Fitzgerald was with Fuller on a family camping trip in Southeastern Massachusetts last month when he began suffering a high fever and severe headache. The night after developing symptoms, he was hospitalized at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, then taken to Mass. General, according to Fitzgerald, who said given EEE's incubation period, her brother would have caught the viral infection prior to the trip.

An avid outdoorsman and home beer brewer, Fuller has a wife and two children.

"It's been hard, but we're all holding it up together and keeping each other strong," Fitzgerald said. Doctors "are cautiously optimistic. .. They think that, in time, he will be able to recover from this."

What that time frame looks like remains to be seen.

"Patience is a virtue, and we are all learning that the hard way," Fitzgerald said.

Although still frequently unconscious, Fuller is showing some positive signs.

"He opened his eyes yesterday when I got there and I talked to him. ... He's definitely listening to me and he's definitely trying to look at me," Fitzgerald said Friday. "That's the hardest part, is knowing that he's in there and he can hear us and he can't tell us that he can. But he will."

In the meantime, Fitzgerald described an overwhelming amount of community support and said she had already sold 51 tickets to a Dec. 3 benefit she is organizing for Fuller at the Middleboro Elks Lodge.

"People we don't even know have stepped up to help," she said, "and it's very, very heartwarming."
 
Update: 9/25/2010

Jeff has been moved to a rehab facility on the North Shore. He will remain there until he is awake and able to follow commands, at which point he'll likely be moved to full Rehab facility in Boston for intensive rehab.

Jeff had a sleepy morning and a pretty responsive afternoon. He opened his eyes a lot today, sometimes on his own and sometimes in response to his wife and her sister talking to him and asking him questions. He opened his eyes to a a question about whether he wanted to see his kids. He opened his eyes to when asked if he wanted a beer, since Sam's Oktoberfest is out. He also opened his eyes to a conversation about the tuna bite being on. He's still not tracking objects when his eyes are open, but he is looking in the direction of familiar voices. His overall healh is good otherwise. We'll find out soon, what they have planned for Jeff while he's at this facility.

As always, keep Jeff and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

------------------------------------------
Donate to Jeff via PayPal

Purchase a Chance for the Masstoberfest Raffle - $20 each
 
I'm pretty new to HBT, have been lurking for a while and don't know Babalu/Jeff personally, but it is really incredible to see all the support from his friends here on the board. I am definitely keeping him and his family in my thoughts and will be donating what I can to help out.
 
Update: 9/29/2010

Jeff's progress is going slowly. He continues to open his eyes on his own but is still not tracking. He's responding to his wife and family by opening his eyes and sometimes looking in their direction. His wife says that today he was squeezing her hand throughout the day. She specifically asked him to squeeze her hand, to show her he loves her and he did. The nurse actually witnessed this little interaction and acknowledged that she saw him squeeze her hand. Yesterday he did have a fever and his white blood cell count was up, so they put him on antibiotics to treat any infection. His temp was back down today.

Keep the faith, keep the positive thoughts and prayers coming. And let's hope that his progress starts to pick up it's pace soon.
 
Update: 9/30/2010

Jeff had a great day today! They had him sitting up in a chair. It's a big mechanical chair that lays flat so they can transfer him easily from his bed. They strap him in and sit him up. He spent a good deal of time in the chair today.

He had his eyes open a lot today and seemed more alert. Best of all, the nurse watched Jeff track his mother as she walked across the room. That's big. Later, Jeff's wife saw him move his hand and she pointed it out to the occupational therapist. The OT got in Jeff's face and asked him to move his hand again and he did. In fact, he moved it 5 out of 5 times she asked him to.

Keep the prayers an thoughts coming, he's getting closer.
 
I didn't know Babalu well, but I've been following his progress. Thanks for the updates, Frank. This latest news is great and my thoughts are with Babalu and you guys.
 
I have never met Babalu, nor have I even ever really seen any posts by him, at least that I can recall, but I have been following this thread with intense hope that he beats this with minimal permanent impact on his life.

As for todays "progress", it seems like its about the biggest change that one could hope for in a single day. I don't know the details, but it sounds like he's kind of broken through some sort of neurological barrier in being able to track people and obey commands by his OT. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I sincerely hope that he pulls through. With as many people around here who seem to think he's a great guy, I find it hard to believe otherwise. Godspeed, Jeff.
 
That seems like a big improvement!

It sounds like he is understanding what is going on around him. Anybody know if they explain to patients in his condition what happened? I think I would be going crazy not knowing how I ended up there.
 
buffalobrewer said:
That seems like a big improvement!

It sounds like he is understanding what is going on around him. Anybody know if they explain to patients in his condition what happened? I think I would be going crazy not knowing how I ended up there.
Click to expand...

I would take this with a grain of salt... but... what I had heard second or third hand was that the guy from Rhode Island that was diagnosed with EEE a couple of weeks before Jeff was "awake" just about the entire time. He apparently said he could hear and understand everything that was being said around him but couldn't react. It is almost like he's trapped in his body without the ability to control anything. If that is the case, my guess would be that Jeff knows what has happened.

I am pretty sure the doctors are also asking his wife to continuously talk to him because "he could hear her". When I went and visited him, we just sat there threatening to go to his house, drink all of his beer and start stealing parts to his rig if he didn't get outta the bed soon.... really anything to get him to react.

... again... take that with a huge grain of salt since I'm not a doctor and given how rare EEE is, I'm not sure even the doctors would be able to give anyone a definitive answer.
 
I'm not going to come right out and say that there is a direct cause and effect relationship between my driving up and visiting Jeff on Wednesday and his improving mental status on Thursday.

I'm certainly going to imply it but I'm not going to come right out and say it. :ban:

PTN
 
jmendez29 said:
I have never met Babalu, nor have I even ever really seen any posts by him, at least that I can recall, but I have been following this thread with intense hope that he beats this with minimal permanent impact on his life.

As for todays "progress", it seems like its about the biggest change that one could hope for in a single day. I don't know the details, but it sounds like he's kind of broken through some sort of neurological barrier in being able to track people and obey commands by his OT. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I sincerely hope that he pulls through. With as many people around here who seem to think he's a great guy, I find it hard to believe otherwise. Godspeed, Jeff.
Click to expand...

Ditto here, I've been following intently. Really glad to hear that he's taking steps in the right direction almost everyday.
 
I am glad to hear that progress is being made! remind him that Masstoberfest is coming and tell him PTN will be a dunktank clown, that might do the trick ;)

I hope that things are going well on the homefront, and while I am in no position to contribute into the recovery fund, I am more than willing to come down and help out with anything that needs doing, from yard work to winter prep, or any other handyman gig.
-Hippie
 
there hasn't been one in a few days. We are letting Frank be the one contact into Jeff's wife so that we're not giving her yet another headache. Hopefully we'll get another update soon since he was making some great progress and hopefully that is continuing.
 
Quick Update: 10/6/2010

Sorry it took so long for this update, there hadn't been anything new to report. Jeff had a good morning today. Seems that he had his eyes open this morning for a while and was tracking the Occupational Therapist all around the room. He also moved his hand 10 out of 10 times when asked to do so by the OT.

I'm heading up to visit him tomorrow after work, I will give another update then.

Please keep up the positive thoughts and prayers.

Frank
 
Don't give him TOO big of a head... I'm still waitin' on a freakin ladder he was gonna let me borrow!!!

Nah... Jeff's a great guy and has a lot of people that care about him, Frank obviously being one of them.

I think Frank was going to see Jeff tonight so hopefully there will be some more good news.

I think I am going to so see Jeff on Monday so if Frank doesn't beat me to it, I'll try to update folks as well... or at least bounce one to Frank and he can bounce it out to the 40 places he's updating constantly.
 
Dont know yet. I have that club thing Sunday night and I'll prob crash there. I was planning on shooting home whenever I wake up Monday, showering up and going.
 
Update: 10/7/2010

I went up to visit Jeff today. According to his wife and parents he had his best day yet. He was awake for over a half hour today. That's the longest period of time so far. He was looking all around his room, tracking his parents, his wife and a couple friends that were visiting. He even watched a little Sports Center. Everyone talked to him and just enjoyed the moment, they didn't bother to call in the doctors or nurses. Unfortunately by the time I showed up, the show was over and he was sleeping pretty heavily. Apparently being awake like that really wears him out.

A bit later on, Jeff's father was moving Jeff's feet and he opened his eyes again, we all started talking to him and his Mom told us to do it one at a time. I was standing next to him on his left and I began talking to him, he looked right at me. He also looked at some of the other people in the room when they talked to him. This only lasted a few minutes, but this time you could tell he was really looking at you, that there was some real comprehension going on. A couple weeks ago I visited him, he opened his eyes briefly but it was just a blank stare.

So that's two days in a row, where he was awake for an extended period. Maybe it's really happening now!

Keep up the thoughts and prayers!

Frank
 

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