#1-9 Updates Feb 28th

Hello,Paulette created a blog page for updates so that you can keep up to date at your leisure. http://pkknott.blogspot.com/
Sean was moved to Triumph Hospital late on Thursday evening. He still has pneumonia; he started coughing a lot with some blood involved so he is semi-sedated so he won't cough and also has MRSA (a super bug) so we need to take precautions around him. BUT he is doing a lot better and stable.
The move last weekend went amazingly well thanks to a lot of people. There were about 20 of us between cousins, aunts, uncle and friends that packed & loaded into the truck Sean's apartment on Saturday. Then on Sunday 12 agents from the office came to unload and it took a mere hour and a half. Thank you everyone that helped. Words are simply not enough for what it meant. When this is over and done we will have a HUGE party to celebrate Sean's victory and survival.
Friday, Nina, Delaney and I finished finalizing Sean's apartment. Delaney and I spent some time with him then headed home.
When Paul and I went up today he woke up several times, looked around for a few minutes then he'd fall back asleep. He is getting some needed rest.

#8 Feb 20th
This has been a very long day, we got a call at 2:00am from Triumph hospital saying Sean had spiked a fever and they were sending him to the Emergency room at The Medical Center of Aurora again. Paul and I left at 2:30am got there pretty fast with no traffic. They had already put a breathing tube in him, had him sedated and ready to go back upstairs to the Critical Care Unit. When the ER nurse called upstairs for a room; Dr Forrester the head ICU doctor said they only had one bed and couldn't take another patient. When they told him it was Sean they moved someone out of ICU that was going to move later in the day anyway. See we were right, he needed to be in Aurora and have the ability to go back to his previous doctors and nurses to take excellent care of him if needed. They ran a million tests and still don't have complete answers because some of the cultures take a few days. To make a very long day short he has pneumonia (we knew this could be a possibility), still has the blood infection, his kidneys are compromised again and his cardiac doctors performed another surgery taking a liter of fluid off the back of his heart. When we left him at 8:45pm he was holding his own, critical but stable. He will be in the ICU until they can get a handle on the pneumonia and make sure the fluid is drained off his heart.Remember when I told you the doctor at Triumph Hospital said not to get too excited on the good days or the bad days because there would be a lot of both in the days to come, I didn't think this was what he meant. Yesterday when I left Sean-I told him I was going home, I'd see him tomorrow and I loved him; he told me I love you back. Words are not enough for how I felt last night.
Again, thank you for keeping him in your prayers, being his friend and ours too. Life is way too short and days like today prove it over and over again.
We are still packing up his apartment tomorrow and moving his belongs to storage in the Springs.

#7 Feb 17th
Today was OUTSTANDING! The doctor told us last week not to get too excited for good days or bad ones because Sean would have a lot of both in the process BUT today seemed to be HUGE! He told his speech therapist "yes" and "ok". His nurse said he was talking a lot today. I am not sure but I thought I heard him say "mom" when I walked into his room this afternoon; it was very soft so I'm not positive. He is coming back inch by inch. They almost had him standing up today, with help of course. His therapist expect to have him standing for a few minutes tomorrow in a special standing type chair. They are pushing him and it is working. We are thrilled for windows of hope and progress.Saturday we will be packing up his apartment and putting his belongings in storage. It has been difficult going through his things but I know he will have them again in the future.Thank you again for all of your support and prayers.

#6 Feb 13th
Hello Everyone,Thank you for praying for us and Sean; it has made all the difference; his recovery has a greater purpose which will give God the glory.
We have met a milestone. Yesterday (Thursday 2-12-09) we moved Sean to the interim hospital. He is at Triumph Hospital at 700 Potomac St. in Aurora. It is 3 miles north of The Medical Center of Aurora where he has been for nearly a month (his surgery was the 14th of January). Delaney got to see him for the first time yesterday and it was very touching to see them react to one another. He held his left hand out and tracked her and she held his hand, patted him then talked a blue streak. He is aware of his surroundings and beginning to respond to people more and more. He doesn't talk currently but I can hardly wait for him to do so.
He has a blood infection currently but is stable; we found that out today. We had hoped to have been able to move him to Colorado Springs but it wasn't the best fit for Sean. He will have some of his Critical Care Unit doctors, the continuity is a huge plus and if he has an emergency he will be with taken back to the Medical Center of Aurora and have doctors that know his history. He will have Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy, and some Neurology therapy 6 days a week. His primary doctor told us yesterday that in 6 weeks we will know what part of Sean we will have for the future; for us we will take whatever that means. The amount of brain damage he has is still unknown and probably due to being on the heart by-pass machine for 10 hours. Even though they monitored it closely that is a long time, his age is on his side.
When I went up today he responded to me and held out his hand for me to hold. It is a GREAT feeling to know he wants you to touch his hand even if he can't speak. He is awakening slowly and I know he will amaze us all when everything is said and done.

#5 Feb 2nd & 3rd
We had a scare last night and today as Sean was bleeding out but we didn't know from where his blood count was 24. His white count was elevated as well. They gave him back 30% oxygen, 2 pts of blood, took him off the Heparin and stopped his stomach tube feeding because the area was distended on the opposite side of the stomach tube. They waited until today for his blood count and pressure to stabilize to do a total ct scan. They found his diaphragm is bleeding possibly from all the coughing and being on the Heparin(a blood thinner). They are hoping it will stop on it's own because in this area the tissue usually does. His kidneys took a hit for lack of blood and low blood pressure so they are hoping they don't have to put dye in the veins to find the bleed and repair it as the dye is extremely harsh for the kidneys. He has better color today and we are praying that he maintains his blood count and pressure through the night.

#4 Feb 1st
Today has been Sean's 37th birthday, yesterday was Paulette's 32nd. The weekend was a mixture of emotions, celebrating life and being thankful for small changes. Paulette didn't feel like she could celebrate without her big brother being able to celebrate too so we did things quietly as a family. Sean no longer needs oxygen; they say he is breathing room air and holding his own. He has a feeding tube now and getting the nutrition he needs to heal. He is also taking almost all of his medications through the feeding tube as well. When he is able to eat on his own they will remove the feeding tube. His lungs and heart are showing some improvements, his upper heart still needs some meds to keep it in rhythm. He is moving & bending his left leg and sometimes moves his left arm. He isn't talking to us but he does make noises like he wants to talk at times. He is being evaluated by several hospitals; he hasn't advanced enough to go to a rehab center. They need him to do things on command and he doesn't yet so 2-3 hours of rehab would be out of the question. A hospital in-between the critical care unit and a rehab facility is the next step. We had requested if possible, he go to an interim hospital in the Springs. We should know this week. If they can only place him in Denver we will continue to keep the oil companies in business with daily trips up I-25, whatever it takes. Thanks for your continued prayers, we know they are helping. The doctor said 99 out of 100 people would have died. Sean is an anomaly. He has come a long way from being thankful for each minute for the 2 days after surgery till today -- he just needs more time to heal.
God Bless you and yours, all our warmth, love and prayers.

#3 Jan 25th
Thank you everyone that has been praying for Sean and us throughout these past two weeks. He is in God's hands! A parent's 2nd worse fear is happening, please continue to pray for him. The first fear being their death. They consider him to be in a coma even though he opens his eyes a lot now, can track you, look at you and make eye contact for short periods of time but he doesn't do it on command. He doesn't talk yet and has moments of tremors. The various tests, MRIs, EEGs, Spinal Tap & Cat Scans continue to be normal. The doctor says he has some brain damage called defused slowing so after his 37th birthday next Sunday he'll need to go to a neurological rehab center and then possibly to 24 hour long term care for awhile. We aren't giving up hope and want the very best rehab. The doctors says he may come back with more time because he does more and more each day but he won't necessarily be the same. From our viewpoint he and we will fight through this and doctors have been wrong before and we are up to the challenge. We go to see the social worker tomorrow, and get started on paperwork to get his affairs in order, pack up his apartment etc. Paul, Paulette and I are numb this it is going to take more time than we expected but we'll do whatever it takes. Again thank you for all your warm wishes and prayers we feel them we just need some more for awhile. All our love, warmth and prayers, Andrea, Paul, Sean, Paulette and Delaney

#2 Jan 21st
Some of you didn't get the first email so I included it with this one. Sean is still critical but stable and in a coma. They don't know why he isn't waking up other than it took massive amounts of medication to put and keep him under for the long surgery. He is not responding on command so one possibility may be "global brain damage" which doesn't show up on the EEG and Cat scan which were normal. Personally I don't like the word coma, I'd prefer him to be in a deep sleep and just needs to wake up. The rest of us have the crud and are unable to be with him due to running fevers among other bodily functions. Thank goodness for my Aunts, Uncles and cousins that live in the Denver area that have been wonderful and staying with him these last two days. I came home tonight, I was staying in Sean's apartment in Denver, I figured if I couldn't see him the least I could do was help with Delaney and Paul who are still sick. Paulette is doing better and works 5am to 1:30pm. If any of us are better tomorrow and not running a fever we will go be with him in the Critical Care unit. Thank you for your phone calls, prayers and warm thoughts please keep it up, he needs all he can get. I keep telling him he has visited with his Grandparents long enough he needs to come back to us. Thanks again.

#1 Jan 18th
Sean our son needs your prayers to recover from a very traumatic open heartsurgery. I took him to the ER Wednesday night for possibly pneumonia. Whatthey found was massive blood clots on his lungs, in his heart and one stillin his leg. They did open heart surgery Thursday to find out that the oneblood clot in his heart that they wanted to remove was 15cm and there weremore. They finally got him off the by pass machine after the 3rd try, 10hours later. He is in critical but stable condition fighting for every inchof progress. He hasn't been awake since surgery, they are cautiouslyoptimistic, it is now hour by hour-Thursday and Friday it was minute byminute. They won't be able to begin to figure out the blood clots and whatcaused them until he is out of critical care and stable. He will be 37 Feb.1st.