John Hancock Breakthrough

(note that this message posted 11:50 a.m. Monday morning, not 11:50 p.m. Sunday night....Blogger seems to be having some issues)


A big development this weekend! Three messages this morning, the first of which was from Michael McElroy, summarizing John's state on Friday:

When we saw John on Friday night, he was wonderfully responsive to various external stimuli, although he still looked rather drugged up. One of his eyelids was drooping, and his pupils were contracted, but there were some times we were talking to him and he opened his eyes nice and wide and sometimes wiggled his eyebrows. He still can't talk because of the respirator, but he can apparently communicate and understand people. Noemi, SM for "Take Me Out" apparently saw him earlier and, while putting her hand on his forehead, asked if that felt okay. He nodded yes. She asked if he wanted to get some rest. He shook his head no. She asked if he wanted his iPod from home. He nodded yes. Reportedly, he has already rolled his eyes at his mother.

He is not scheduled for surgeries for a while (until, at my best knowledge, Wednesday or Thursday). He will be resting the next few days and is on some painkillers, but nothing heavy. If his demeanor Friday is any indication, he will be more and more lucid as the week goes on. He gets better and better each day. His breathing is much stronger. It seems like his lungs are initiating each breath very strongly, whereas about a week ago, every now and then the machine would have to force a breath. We're not sure if the kidneys are working completely yet, but the indicators are very positive. His liver activity numbers were also inconclusive, as it seemed the liver was working very hard, which could indicate damage, or (more likely and hopefully) a response to the trauma and shock of the accident and subsequent drug treatments.

Keep both Juan and John in your thoughts!

The second message came from Juan Ramos:

This weekend was a breakthrough. John was able to come out of sedation enough to recognize and react to faces of family and loved ones. He of course could not talk, but that did not stop him from moving his mouth and trying. He did a lot of smiling, raising his eyebrows, shrugging his shoulders and even raising his left arm and slightly moving his left leg. I took the opportunity after Friday evening's performance of "Take Me Out" to closely explain to John every detail I could remember about the accident, all the facts regarding his injuries, the operations he has had, the operations ahead, that he will be facing a long and difficult recovery period, but that he will indeed recover and the fact that family and loved ones have stepped up to plate to see that his work, home and financial responsibilities are being addressed. And of course that I will be by his side every step of the way. He listened intently to every word and he fell asleep shortly afterward.

He is scheduled for an operation of sorts to insert a filter that will keep blood from clotting during pre-dialysis before his upcoming operations and an operation on Thursday to address his right hip and pelvis which is still being aligned with weights at his bed. So visits before and after Thursday are encouraged. I also received very good news this morning that his respirator tube has been removed today, possibly until his scheduled surgery on Thursday. I wish to express my appreciation and gratefulness to all those who have taken the time to visit him. I know you were and will continue to be a very important part of his healing. Thank you.

And the last message came from Julie Kaplan:

All of our prayers have been answered! John was removed from the ventilator this morning and is talking!! The doctors are giving him a well earned rest prior his surgery which is scheduled for this Thursday. The pelvis surgery will take approximately 12 hours to complete. He will have one more surgery, a very minor one, which has not been scheduled as of yet.

Thank you for your caring!