There will be days...

...that test you, that push you, that make you ask "Why?". Today was one of those days.

It actually started off in a very lovely way. The Eastside Fire & Rescue crew that helped extricate Tristan from beneath the car has been not only thinking of Tristan, but calling the ICU to check up on him. They happened to call while I was there last night, and when the nurse mentioned I was there, they left their number in case I'd like to call. I called early this morning and was greeted by Ryan, who happened to be the one who called the ICU. Our conversation was such a gift. I gave him a rundown of the injuries Tristan suffered during the collision, his current status, and did my best to express how grateful our family is for their part in saving Tristan's life.

Ryan shared with me that he is a father, which obviously makes these types of situations hit closer to home. He said the entire crew has been wondering about Tristan because they were all hit especially hard by the situation. Knowing that he was just an 18 year old kid out riding around with friends and enjoying life, when suddenly it all changed. I told Ryan that they are all a permanent part of our lives and we agreed to meet in person once Tristan is out of the hospital and ready for company. I look forward to the day I can hug them all.

The next two calls were not as enjoyable. It turns out Tristan did not sign up for health coverage through his employer and unfortunately he hadn't added the motorcycle to his policy yet (the bike was new to him and he had just taken it in to do the title and registration transfer). To clarify: thankfully Jon had the foresight to keep Tristan on our health coverage despite Tristan telling us he didn't need it anymore. His medical expenses will be covered under our insurance until the cap is met (if it is).

Added to that, I received a call from the responsible party's medical adjuster who informed me they didn't have sufficient insurance to cover Tristan's injuries. Not necessarily surprising, but still disappointing. Jon obtained legal representation today and we'll meet with them tomorrow. Into the legal battlefield we go.

On to the daily status report - which I promise to have posted by 8:00 each evening. We generally aren't back from the hospital until 6:30 - 6:45, so you can all count on hearing from me between 7:00 and 8:00.

Unfortunately we didn't see any progress today, but he didn't regress either. He was taken off the Dilaudid drip this morning, which was the next step in his path to Acute Care. The difficulty is that he won't take his pain pills because swallowing them makes him cough, which makes him hurt worse, and he's doing anything to avoid that (understandably). The bigger issue is that because he's in so much pain, he won't take deep breaths, which means he can't keep his blood oxygen levels in the acceptable range, so he isn't passing their PIC Score test. You have to be at an 8 to move out of ICU and he's at a 5. He spent most of the time I was there dozing and would say "no thank you" each time the nurse tried to get him to take his pain pills. After 5 1/2 hours of this, I went into mom-mode, woke him up and told him to take the damn pill. He got the first one down, which immediately made him start coughing, which resulted in him telling me to stop being so effing pushy with him all the time, and then he promptly went back to sleep. The second pill went nowhere, and that was the end of our time together.

For tomorrow - we pray for a PIC Score of 8, deep breathing, and Acute Care. We hope when we meet the attorney we've retained, he'll be empathetic and fight hard for Tristan. And we wish you and your loved ones good health and happiness.