The nurse described Archie as puny this morning. He just didn't feel good this morning but when you ask him what is wrong he couldn't tell you anything specific. Archie was not interested in eating breakfast this morning. The nurse convinced him to drink some Ensure to get some protein since he had not eaten dinner the night before or breakfast, I think he had two or three sips. He was mostly sleepy and napped most of the morning.
The critical care doctor's RN came in and was concerned so she called the doctor to have her come see him. When the critical care doctor came in and asked him how he was feeling he said "fine". The doctor of course said "I have heard otherwise". She asked Archie if he was depressed and Archie said he didn't think so. The doctor said it is totally understandable for him to be depressed after being in the hospital this long. She also said she is going to run some tests like blood samples, EKG, and some of his brain fluid just to check. She also talked to him about his hunger strike and she said if he did not eat soon they were going to have to put a feeding tube in because once he becomes malnourished is just makes the situation worse and the time spent in the hospital longer. Archie of course asked if he was malnourished. The doctor said not yet but she was not going to let him get that way. Then the neurosurgeon came to visit and he said he wasn't looking right and that he was really sleepy this morning. I mentioned that he had not eaten anything and that he had taken a benadryl but the doctor said he thought he wanted Archie to get a head MRI to check and make sure everything was alright, he said most likely everything was fine but wanted to be safe. Then neurosurgeon said to put a feeding tube in if he is not hungry, thankfully the nurse was able to ask for a day reprieve before it was put in. After the discussion about the feeding tube Archie ate a couple of bites of turkey, a few green beans and a couple bites of soup for lunch.
So the afternoon was full of tests. When trying to schedule the MRI there was an issue with the clip that was used in the craniotomy. They wanted confirmation of the type to ensure that they clip is MRI friendly. So that took about 30 minutes of looking at his records to confirm that it is made of titanium and the MRI was finally scheduled for 5 pm. The MRI took 1 hour to complete. Afterwards, the nurse was telling us how the MRI went she said they were not able to complete the whole MRI because the last 10 minutes which is the dye part Archie said he needed to get out. Let me preface this with the fact that Archie is claustrophobic. The nurse said he was done and that he needed to get out, she said she was begging him to keep going but it didn't work. He was talking some crazy stuff as well saying we were at someone's house and not at Baylor. This was because he was laying down flat and that they had the drain clamped. When she released the clamp he because lucid pretty quickly afterwards. I went to dinner with my dad, sisters and brother in law while Archie hungout with his mother. I brought some dinner for him and he ate about 6 bites of pasta, a few bites of calzone, and a few bites of chocolate ice cream. We watched the Rangers until about 9 pm when Archie took off his glasses and was going to sleep. I could definitely tell a huge difference in his behavior from this morning, he was more energetic and talkative tonight.
I decided to go try to donate blood at a blood drive at the hospital since I had not donated in 3 months and was overdue. I generally donate every 8 weeks at Carter Bloodcare plus, I feel like I need to help replace the 3 units that Archie got. So went upstairs at 3:45 to the blood drive. An hour and a half later I was getting screened and got declined because we went to Cozumel last year on our cruise in December. Apparently American Red Cross and Carter Bloodcare have different rules. I was SO grouchy that I spent an hour away from Archie before the MRI to try to donate blood. Oh well, I will go down to Carter Bloodcare next week. My sister did donate blood tonight so someone was successful.
Sidenote: I guess I have not been very clear, Archie is back in the ICU because he got the external drain back in. He is not in the same room but on the same area as before.
Please pray that Archie feels better tomorrow and that the results are good. Thank you!
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