Dusty B update - He is headed home!

[Barnyard]

I recieved the following from Dusty's wife, Janas, today and thought I would share with everyone.

"Greetings to all, there are many mails to Dusty that i have not opened yet. If he is feeling better today i will read them to him.

Yesterday started out very good. Dusty was awake most of the day and sat up in a recliner chair many hours, in an effort to prevent pneumonia. He fought low blood pressure all day and was nauseous and dizzy every time he tried to stand up. He reported pain levels at 8 or 9 out of 10 and was having hot flashes and shakes from the pain. Dr. Mueller talked to the nurses about the problems and developed a plan of treatment. By evening Dusty was feeling pretty bad.

The good news is that his other vital signs are very good, he is getting stronger and he is oriented. As you all may know Dusty has his own schedule of when he will go home and he is a very determined man and will make every effort to meet his goal.

Thank you Pastor Anet, for you visit and prayer, it was much appreciated and just the right length of time.

I cannot send email from the hospital for some reason, the TV cable is linked to the internet server there, and Dusty's and most of the other TV's aren"t working. I will try to send a message when Dusty is able to take more visitors or when there is a change in his condition.

Thanks to all of you for the much needed prayer and good wishes.

Janas"

[Bill Hudson]

Thanks, Bill

Bill

[Mr E]

Thanks, Bill. If you have any communication with Janas, tell them they are in our thoughts & prayers.

[Mike in Louisiana]

Y'all are in our thoughts and prayers

[Barnyard]

Here is the latest from Janas on Dusty's condition:

Hello to all, I'm sorry to not be able to respond to all of your individual e-mails but really appreciate them. Dusty is not yet able to read them but hopefully will begin improving soon.

Yesterday was a very hard day for him. Right after I send out the information on his status I got a call that his status had declined. I can't go into all of the detail but he was in critical condition and had a chest full of blood and had to have a tube placed in both his side and his back. He was unable to get enough oxygen so they had to re-intubate him. They kept him sedated all day so he could rest. Today they will be taking another chest X-ray and will decide the next step in treating him. He was stable last night when I left and the Dr. is doing everything he can to avoid re-opening his chest. All prayers are greatly appreciated.

Thank you Steve for arriving at the exact right moment to support me while they were placing the Tubes. You cannot know how much that helped me. My Aunt Nan came at 10 am and has stayed with me throughout the night and this has been a big help. Brian will be arriving @ around 7:30 and Nan will be here today so I won't be alone. Debbie has been a wonderful support through all of this and I feel very blessed. There are so many others who are giving me support and I want you to know how much I appreciate it.

I still can't seem to send e-mail from the hospital so I will do my best to keep you all posted on what is happening. I must leave now to see if they have taken an X-ray. No phone calls so things must be about the same as when I left last night.

Love and blessings to all of you,

Janas

[Bill Hudson]

Prayer has been lifted up.

Bill

[Rudi]

Dusty:

You, Janas and the family are in our prayers (+).

[John(videodoc)]

Prayers from Paris are sent.

[beaconlight]

Dusty:

You, Janas and the family are in our prayers

[John C]

Here's a brief Wednesday update from Janas:

They did not have to re-open Dusty to stop the internal bleeding as we were thinking would happen. He is not awake from the heavy sedation he has been under, so don't really know how things will go from here. He currently has 2 chest drain tubes, a breathing tube and an nasa-gastric tube, but is stable and they are trying to get him to wake up.

[Barnyard]

Janas has set up a Caring Bridge" site so everyone can track Dusty's progress. I have signed up for an account and will keep everyone up-to-date as best as possible.

Here are two of the latest postings;

Hi everyone, I am at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, IL.
I have been here 6 Days. I arrived June 29th for open heart surgery to repair the aortic artery and replace the aortic valve. My surgery went well but I've had complications with bleeding and breathing. My chest filled up with blood a few hours after my surgery and they had to put in additional drain tubes, re-insert the breathing tube, and re-sedate me. I have had to have many blood transfusions and platelets. Attempts to wean me off of the breathing tube have failed so they just will keep on trying to do do it. Right now I am stable but fully sedated and can't breath on my own. Janas and I would appreciate your prayers.

I'm sure Janas posted this for Dusty.

This was posted just a couple of hours ago.

Dusty had a quiet night and the plan is to keep him quiet so he can heal until the middle of next week. Dr. Mueller described his condition as critical but stable. He is being treated for pneumonia, but tolerates 70% of oxygen, down from 100%.

Dusty is a true Cub fanatic. Many of the members here have met him at the Cub Tug, DSCF, and the Bash. If you have never met him you are missing out. I always enjoy seeing him at events along with his email and phone calls. Rosie and I send our prayers for a successful outcome.

If anyone is interested in following Dusty's progress you can go to http://www.caringbridge.org/ and put dustyburton in the "visit a site" box. You will be asked to register. Once you are registered you will be able to leave messages for Janas and Dusty there.

[Barnyard]

Here is the latest from the Caring Bridge website.

Written 3 hours ago

Things are pretty much the same for Dusty. He has been more active today and his numbers have jumped around more. The staff has been working hard to keep his vital signs stable, and I am so grateful we made the decision to use St. Francis for our healthcare. These past 10 days would have been so much harder on me otherwise.

Dusty is still critical and not quite out of the woods yet, but with all of the prayers and the excellent care he is getting, I am very optimistic that it won't be long before he planning a trip with Jason to a tractor fest.

Please keep the encouraging comments coming, they are so helpful to me, and Dusty will be reading them soon.

Blessings to all of you ,

Janas

[Rudi]

I am glad that Dusty is making progress. Any of us who have been through similar procedures know how difficult a process this is and it takes a great deal of courage, patience and simply hard work from both the patient and the loved ones. I am glad that they have sufficient support to get through this. Dusty, Janas and their loved ones continue to be in our prayers (+).

[Barnyard]

It looks like Dusty is getting there!

Written Jul 10, 2012 6:04pm

After a long hard day Dusty finally was able to get weaned off of all of the respiratory support and was awake enough and stable enough without drug support that they were able to remove the breathing tube.

Most of his communication since he has been able to talk is to ask everyone who comes in his room, when can he go home? It's going to be a long week, LOL.

He still has quite a ways to go before he can go home but we are over the worst hump. Thanks for all your prayers. I have lots of cards to read to him in the meantime, and appreciate the thoughtfulness of the many who sent them.

Dusty is already asking for many things, so I have a pretty good idea of what my life will be like when we get home, LOL.

Please know how grateful I am for all of your kindnesses and support,

Janas

[Gary Dotson]

That's great news! Glad to see Dusty making some good progress.