Welcome!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to "Mike on the Mend" for all the news on our Bulldog. Kim is very thankful to all of you who have called and expressed your concern and willingness to be of service to the family during this difficult time. To help her manage information and time we have set up this blog to keep everyone informed of Mike's progress.

Many of you have volunteered to come out and keep vigil, run errands, and overall pitch in and she is extremely thankful for that as well. We will be setting up a calendar for those who wish to come out to the hospital. We want to be effective and truly useful to the family and the best way to do so is to get organized! This is going to be a long haul. For the mean time only immediate family is requested. Kim's time in the ICU is very limited and doctors would like stimuli to be kept to a minimum. At this time they are requesting at least 2 weeks before a decision will be made about extended family and friend visits.

So here is the skinny: He is stable and still in ICU. He has had several procedures done since his arrival at the hospital but each outcome is encouraging as he seems to come through them very well and the doctors are pleased with the outcomes. He recently had an angiogram that indicated that all blood vessels look good. His vital organs are in good shape, brain pressure is good, brain swelling is still an issue but moving in the right direction. He is being weaned off sedation as of last night. No sign of infection at this time. He is feeding at the appropriate levels through a feeding tube and although he is able to breathe on his own (lungs are good!), they have performed a tracheotomy to facilitate breathing and feeding tubes and easier access in case the need should arise.

The Corps has been phenomenal in their response and are taking extremely good care of our friends.

I am new to this blogging bit but I believe there is somewhere on here where you can send a message. If not, feel free to email me at jekstrom3@gmail.com. I am a friend of 21 years and fortunate enough to live about an hour away from the hospital so I will be making the back and forths. Feel free to email me, I will pass everything on to Kim. Currently she does not access the internet too often as she is in constant meetings with medical or military personnel when she is not at Mike's bedside so please excuse her if she has not been able to get back to you. Also, currently the phone in her room does not work, so if you have left any voice messages, she has not yet received them. She apologizes.

Lastly, please pray for this family. The power of prayer is huge and Mike would be the first one praying.

I am an army wife, not a Marine wife but I think it is appropriate to say,

Semper Fi!

Jackie