Wednesday Afternoon Update

Dusty has had a very busy day. He’s worked with the Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy teams. The amount of pain he’s dealing with makes all of those extremely taxing sessions. He has been in surprisingly good spirits throughout all of it. I continue to be amazed by his resilience!

Dusty has asked a special request for Jessica to come see him. I think it would mean a lot to him!

God Bless all of you!

Wednesday Morning Update

Dusty is asleep at this time. He had a rough night again but did manage his first PT session this morning. He is working on sitting and standing right now and doing a little walking. It takes two people with him all the time when he’s doing his PT. It’s still going to be long haul as he will be doing rehab for an extended time once he leaves here. The estimates range up to a year plus in extended rehab once he’s released from acute rehab(Cork Street).

They have also asked that we keep in mind, he gets tired easy and, if he looks tired, to say goodbye to him and let him rest.

Tuesday Afternoon Update

Dustin is in Room 3303 at the Old Hospital. The Old Hospital is located at 333 Cork Street and he's on the 3rd floor. I believe the visiting hours hours are evening only. We will post more when we get it.

Tuesday Afternoon URGENT Update

For anyone coming to see Dustin, hold off for now!!! He is being moved to acute rehab at the old Hospital on Cork Street. It will be the third floor but that is all we know at this time. I will let you know the room number as soon as possible. Dusty is still amazing us all with how fast he’s improving!!

Tuesday Morning Update

Dusty had a pretty difficult night. He was unable to fall asleep and every time he finally managed, he would wake up moaning in pain. He is still vomiting a lot as well. Finally, at around 4 a.m., he managed to get to sleep and appears to be sleeping soundly. If any of you come up this morning, please come into the room quietly! He needs all the sleep he can get right now!

Monday Night Update

Dusty continues to improve. He still has the horrible headaches and lots of trouble keeping food down. At this time, he is sound asleep for the first time in a while which I’m sure is a good thing.

Thanks to all of you that have sent emails in. We are printing them out for Dusty and reading them to him. He is still not allowed a phone in the room but as soon as he is, we’ll post for everyone to know.

Monday Noon Update

Well Dusty is having fun joking this is so much better than a week ago. My heart as his mom goes out to all those who have been by our side threw all of the ups and downs and everyone that has prayed for our son it's with the prayer's that our son is here this truly is a miracle. I will always be grateful to everyone.

Love you all,
Dusty's Mom Paula

Monday Morning Update

Who, in their wildest imagination, could have thought Dusty would be out of the ICU this fast? He is doing well but still is extremely weak and has a truly horrific headache. However, his energy level is going up every day thou and should continue to improve. Dusty should be able to walk around some soon but will have to wear a helmet for the time being to protect his head. Please remember that this is still a marathon and not a 100 yard dash. Dustin is way ahead of the pack but there is still a long ways to run.

God bless all of you and thank you once again for being there when Dustin needed you the most!

Sunday Morning Update 2

The news just keeps getting better! The catheter is out and he is going to be moved from the unit to a room today!!! Once I know the room number, we’ll post it for you.

Sunday Morning Update

Dusty says that he has a really bad headache and is very tired. He managed to eat some Jell-O this morning but really doesn’t have much appetite. The nurse says that the catheter is coming out this morning and he is extremely happy about that. If he continues to do well and once he gets fitted for a helmet, they may let him sit on the edge of the bed in the next day or two. It is from the good lord and all of you that he is getting the strength to handle this.

Saturday Afternoon Update

We are still seeing improvement throughout the day. He has settled down a lot and has even managed to try to joke around some. His friends Logan and Ike were in to see him and he asked “How bad?” and wanted the details of the wreck. His next question was “How’s my four wheeler?”, lol. Leave it to Dusty! While his grandparents were saying goodbye, his granddad asked him what his dogs name was. Dusty replied “Stevie” (the dogs name is really Stella), and then he gave a little grin and said “Stella”. I’m just amazed that thru all of this he can still show his sense of humor.

In all seriousness, this has indeed been miraculous. Somehow, thru all he has been thru, he is still the Dustin we all know and love. We now have hopes for a complete and total recovery! Keep praying!!

Saturday Update

Sorry for the late update but I’ve been talking to Dustin!! His tubes are out and he looks really good. He is recognizing people and talking to us. Needless to say, he is very confused and doesn’t understand why we will not take him home from the hospital. He’s tried pleading, demanding and bribery to get us to take home and really isn’t happy that we said no.

The nurses have said that he should be a little clearer and more coherent every day. Now is the time that we need to show patience with him and be there for him. God bless each and every one of you for your prayers and support. Also, a very special thank you for Dawn (Mom) Canfield for being his guardian angel when he need her the most! Dawn is a nurse and lives where the accident happened. She was the first one there and took control of the accident scene within minutes of the accident. If not for her, things may have been much, much worse.

Friday Afternoon Update

Dusty had been awake quite a bit today and has been very responsive to everyone. They have cut the respirator back to pressure only and he is doing very well with it. Earlier today, Dusty gave the thumbs up to a nurse that was asking him a question. Leave it to Dustin to prove all the doctors wrong!!

Friday Morning Update

Dusty had a good night and I had an opportunity to speak to his Neurosurgeon this morning. He warned me this will seem like a slow period of time. It’s not just a cast of “pulling the tubes” as I thought. Rather, it’s a matter of weaning him off all of it a step at a time. At this time, they have the respirator set for pressure only. This is a great! It means he is breathing on his own and that it is just supplying enough pressure to make sure he gets enough air. I was also warned to expect him to develop pneumonia or bronchitis. It almost always happens and they have started antibiotics to be safe.

When I look at Dustin, I see that beautiful young boy that he was and feel pride in the strong young man that he had become. This will take time and patience from all! Keep the faith!

Thursday Night Update

Dusty appears to be resting well. His tubes are still in but we are hopeful that they will remove them tomorrow and I will update when they do. We are so thankful for all of you!!!

Thursday Afternoon Update

Dustin is still doing great! They have put white mittens on his hands and tied his arms down so he can’t pull out all the tubes that are in him. The great news is that they may pull out all those tubes out tonight if he continues to do well! They have also said that he shows no signs of pneumonia. He wants out of that bed so bad that I’m betting he’ll be up faster than anyone thinks possible!!

Wonderful News!

Dusty is awake and responding. He opened his eyes and looked at us. He’s not very happy about all the tubes though!!

Thursday Urgent Update!

All of you know how much of a fighter Dusty is. Well, it looks like Dusty is giving his all. We are witnessing a miracle! Last night at 12:30 they came and got Dustin’s mom and asked her to come back. When she got there, he was responding to questions. She asked if he could hear her and he nodded. He squeezed her finger and nodded yes again when she asked him if he was in pain. The doctors had said that it would be days at best before he woke and maybe never, but Dusty is proving that he is stronger and more of a fighter then anyone could have possibly imagined! The power of prayer and the love of friends can indeed move mountains!

They sedated him after to allow him to rest but we are looking forward to seeing more nods and feeling more squeezes today!

We will be able to allow people back some starting this morning. Once he is awake, I’m sure that hearing and see all of his wonderful friends and family will motivate him into fighting even more!

Wednesday Afternoon Update

They have started to cut back on the meds and we remain very hopeful. I was in the room earlier and the nurse told me that he has been responding to voice stimulus. She went around Dustin and “Dustin, Dustin your dad is here” in his ear. His eyes flickered about half open and you could see that he wanted to open his eyes all the way but just don’t couldn’t do it. For the first time, I really felt hope! Keep the prayers coming!!!!!

Wednesday Morning Update #2

I just spoke to Doctor Fargus and he informed me that Dustin’s ICP is still looking great and that he went ahead and removed the sensor! Hooray!! The process of reducing his meds will begin this evening and hopefully Dustin will be awake soon. He said that if he wakes up, it will be at the very least a couple of days.

Doctor Stanford has also just dropped in to let me know that his numbers look really good. He also said that if Dusty is still out 14 days plus, that there is a 50% chance that they will have to do a tracheotomy and insert a feeding tube.

Wednesday Morning Update

The improvements continue. His ICP is now holding constant at 7 and 8, even when they shifting him to wash him. The nurse told me that the doctor said they may remove the sensor late TODAY! Keep up the prayers!

Tuesday Night Update

Dustin’s ICP numbers are continuing to improve. They are now in the normal range of 1 to 10, averaging around 8. Doctor Fargus has told us that if the numbers continue to look good that they would remove the sensor implant from his brain in a couple of days and start the process of ending the drug induced coma. Once they do that it is time to wait for him to wake up. That can take anywhere from hours to months. The sooner he wakes, the less damage to his brain. So we are continuing to hope and pray that he wakes quickly!

Please go to http://www.tbiguide.com/familymembers.html and read this article. It’s a guide written by a doctor to explain to the family and friends what to expect when they wake up and will be good information for us all.

Tuesday Afternoon Update

Dusty looks much better. His ICP is staying mostly steady between 10-11 with occasional with variance from 8 to 14. His color is good and he appears to be doing well.

Tuesday Early Update

We spoke to Dr. Fargus who relayed to us that he was “a little upset” with Dustin’s ICP (Inter Cranium Pressure) last night. It had been bouncing from 8 to 34 and 34 is in the critical range.  It is now ranging between 11 and 14 which is a little high but not too bad.  He said that he “felt a lot better” about Dusty today.  If the pressure stays stable, they will start to reduce his medications in a couple of days.  Once, they are reduced, the waiting game starts.  He said sometimes they come out fast, sometimes it takes a long while and sometimes not at all.  Knowing Dusty, I’m betting he will be out of it pretty quickly!

The Beginning

Details are still somewhat sketchy, but the short of it was Dusty and friends were riding their ATV's Sunday morning. Around 11am, Dusty was thrown off the ATV and hit a mailbox somewhere around the base of his skull. He was then flown to WMC in critical condition. Over the next couple of hours, the pressure inside his skull was at very dangerous levels, so they decided to do an emergency surgery to relieve the pressure. The surgery was successful, and the pressure peaked yesterday they believe and has now settled back down to elevated but safer levels.

So that is where we stand as of Tuesday morning. He is in a medically induced coma to and try and reduce all stress, pressure and brain activity. The next major hump will be around Friday morning, when the secondary pressure will hopefully have hit its peak and begin to fall.

After that event happens, the plan is to start removing the medications to keep him in a coma and wait and see what happens.

What can you do? Well honestly the family is asking for prayer most of all. Keep Dusty and everyone around him in your prayers and thoughts as much as you can.