new room

Earlier this week Emil was moved from the ICU at LTAC to a regular room (similar to a hospital room). Physically, he is showing improvement and we are hoping that he may be discharged to a rehab/assisted living facility at the end of this month.

Emil moves to LTAC

Yesterday Emil was moved from Hermann hospital's ICU to Triumph LTAC wich is a Long Term Acute Care facility and functions like an ICU that is not part of a larger hospital and handles patients for longer periods of time than the hospital is equipped to handle. More information about his location can be found here. My mother and I have selected a rehabilitation center and assisted living home for Emil to move into after he is ready to leave LTAC.

Surgery

Emil had surgery on his shoulder on Thursday and seems to be doing well. He does have a slight infection and is in isolation but it is not a major conccern at this time. Today he was able to sit in a chair for the first time since the accident. Emil is making progress and we hope he continues on that path without major complications.

Not much change

Emil was moved into the SIMU area, which is an intermediate care unit, over the weekend. Other than that move, however, Emil's status is about the same. We are currently waiting for him to have surgery for his broken shoulder but we do not know yet when that may take place. My mother has been looking at assisted living homes and their rehab centers this week and I will go visit them while I am in Texas next week.

Patch's visit

The visit between Emil and his dog yesterday went very well. Patch laid on Emil's bed and recieved treats from many of the hospital workers, the people from PAWS, my mother, and most importantly my grandfather. Emil was very excited by the visit and his spirits were lifted. Further visits are expected to take place.

Otherwise, Emil's condition has not changed very much other than a slight improvement in his heart rate and blood pressure. We are hoping to hear from the ortho doctors about his condition and possible surgeries tomorrow. He is still in the ICU at this point but we are hoping that he might be able to move to critical care unit (CCU) in the not-too-distant future.

A bit of good news

Today we heard some great news thanks to PAWS in Houston. PAWS is a non-profit that organizes visits between pets and their owners that are suffering from chronic and/or terminal illness. PAWS has been wonderful enough to contact us and take up Emil's case and is assisting in having Emil be the first patient at Hermann Hospital to be visited by their pet. Patch, Emil's dog, is scheduled to visit Emil in the ICU tomorrow afternoon. However, there is a lot of red tape to go through so please keep your figures crossed that this visit will go smoothly. As many of you know, my grandfather has an incredibly strong tie to his pets and we feel that this visit could do wonders for him.

Click here to make a donation to PAWS.

Also, many of you have contacted us questioning what you can do to help. As we realize the enormity of the cost of his medical care, we have decided to set up a paypal account where you can make donations. I assure you that all donations made will go into an account that my mother and I will be in charge of maintaining (for those that don't know, I am his granddaughter) and will be used soley for his medical expenses.

Click here to make a donation to help with Emil's medical bills.

Surgery Postponed

Since the accident, Emil has had surgery to stop the internal bleeding and was placed in the Shock Trauma Intensive Care Unit. He had the breathing tube removed a few days after the acccident and we have been able to see him and talk with him. He is suffering from delusions and is unable to remeber anything that has happened since the accident. The main problems he is facing at this time are an irregular heart beat and a difficulty with getting him to breathe deeply, which can lead to pneumonia. He is restrained at the moment to keep him from pulling on tubes and injuring himself further. He was scheduled to have a surgery to repair his pelvis and shoulder today but that has been postponed until Thursday due to the risks associated with his irregular heart rate. Emil has undergone muliple cat scans, x-rays, blood tests, and ultra sounds but we still do not have a complete grasp of his injuries or what his recovery may be like. I will update as soon as I know more.

Also, I want thank everyone that has shown so much concern for Emil. The support of friends, family, and the community as a whole has been amazing and a huge help to us during this difficult time.

Early on the morning of May 16th, Emil Nelson was walking his dog, Patch, in Deer Park, Texas. As Emil crossed X St., he was struck by a truck and had to be lifeflighted to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. Emil has suffered from internal bleeding, a lacerated kidney, 12 fractures to his ribs, a broken pelvis, shoulder, arm, back, and hand in addition to multiple cuts and bruises. Patch is doing fine and suffered no major injuries. This blog is being created in order to assist friends and family with keeping up-to-date on Emil's status.