Den Dempsey Update for May 28

Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 7:28:12 PM
Subject: Den, Tuesday May 28

Where to begin?!  I was at Swedish from Thursday until tonight. On Thursday they removed a maze of capillaries, and a hemorrhage followed on the base of the right side near the brain stem, which controls basic functions. His left side is affected. At that time speech, breathing, swallowing, and sight were also affected.

By Saturday morning he was able to breathe on his own and they took out the breathing tube, but not the feeding tube. By Saturday night he was talking to some extent. Sunday was a good day. He was more alert, trying to talk and swallow. But the swallowing didn't work and he pulled out the feeding tube and it had to be replaced.( Now his hands are in restraints.) He had to have the feeding tube put back in. 

Sunday night he suffered a hematoma and relapsed into an unresponsive state.

On Monday morning he was having trouble breathing and they put the breathing tube back in. Later he was x-rayed and it showed the right lung had collapsed. So then --- they punched a hole his right side for yet another tube to pump air out of the cavity so the breathing machine could push air in, and today, the lung looks pretty good.  They say there is a small puncture that will heal itself.

Then the ultra sound guy came by with his machine to check a small blood clot that has been in the left leg since last week.  What he found was that one AND another one in the right leg. So. . . they went in again and put a little strainer into his large vein in the stomach through which the lower veins pass, to prevent the clots from reaching his heart or head.  Has this poor guy had enough !!???  

Tonight when I left he was resting peacefully, but not responding to commands. He has so many people rooting for him and praying for him that he is sure to recover, but what a rough road he is traveling. The left side will be impaired, but there's no way to know to what extent. The recovery will be long and slow - months at least.

Tomorrow begins his third week at Swedish.  He doesn't need visitors for awhile, but I'll keep you posted and let you know when he is able to talk and recognizes friends.

Love and thanks. Irene

 

 

Den Dempsey Update

This is an email I received from Irene Dempsey:

Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2013 8:31:31 PM
Subject: Den

The news is bad today.  There was a hemorrhage on the right side of his brain. The surgeon talked a long time with me and said that the brain will probably swell in reaction to the hemorrhage and he will seem worse for the next couple of days.  Right now he is on a breathing machine and a feeding tube. His left side is unresponsive. He will have some impairment, the degree cannot be known now. 

The part of the brain that is affected is very strategic - controls breathing, communication and body movement. I sat and held his right hand and when asked to squeeze my hand he did so with strength. He opens his eyes on command but it seems that he hears only on the right side and responds only on the right. When his left leg is pinched or scratched he does not feel it and does not move any part of his left side.

I will spend all the weekend with him, but I think he will not know I'm there. It's more for me than for him.  It's a pretty dismal site to see - and very upsetting. They are doing another MRI tonight to see how things look and I'll get the results later.  I am, of course, very upset, and can't really talk about it right now.  Thanks for your love and concern.

Den Dempsey in Hospital

Kathy and I visited Den at Swedish Hospital Neurological ICU room 208 at the Cherry Hill Campus on Tuesday, May 21. 

On May 7 he experienced what he believed from his firefighter training was an aneurism.  He was admitted to a hospital near his home then transferred to Swedish Hospital.  Surgery to contain the aneurism was done by placing a reinforcing coil in the weakened blood vessel in his brain.   

Some bleeding has continued and Den will have surgery Thursday, May 23, to remove a cluster of blood vessels which are complicating his recovery.  This condition is congenital and has chosen now to become a problem. 

Den is puzzled that his years of stressful working conditions as a firefighter did not reveal his condition sooner.

He expects to be released to go home early next week. 

Den’s address is:
15916 Westwick Road
Snohomish, WA 98290