Friday Musings

As I reflect back on the events of the past 10 days, I am struck with how rapidly things can change. One week ago, we were gathered around Ben, wondering if he would survive. On Thursday, July 24th, the CCU doctor told the family that Ben's chances for survival were going down and after the first 72 hours, his recovery chances would be less than 5%. As we sat there, looking at the graph the doctor had drawn on the back of a kleenex box, my immediate thought was, "We are just 24 hours into the battle, so we have got a long way to go before we hit the bottom of the curve". Now, one week later even though we went past the 72 hour window on the graph, we have seen Ben wake up and have had the pleasure of talking to him, loving him and having him respond. I noted earlier that today was not one of Ben's best days. A big part of this is because we witnessed the exponential improvements on Wednesday and Thursday, we just hoped he would continue to improve at the same rate. He is still the same Ben, but he is a very ill young man. He continues to exhibit a fever and his heart rate continues to hang around 120 beats per minute. His heart, which we found out today is not healthy has been beating at this elevated rate for over 10 days now.

All of the doctors who attend to him tell us the same thing. After reading the reports from when Ben was admitted to the hospital they comment that it is truly a miracle that he is here. The also comment that he is a very alert and intelligent person and very aware of what is going on. His cardiologist, a native of India, said that after visiting with Ben, Ben's parting words to him were in the doctor's native language. . . he was impressed.

Again, thanks to all of you who care about Ben and have expressed your love and support. You have made a difference in our lives and Ben's.

Ben's Dad