10/30/09

The results of the brain scan were normal. I'm not quite sure exactly what that entails other than that normal sounds good. My parents are on their way over to the hospital now as it is morning in Melbourne. I don't have any other news a this time, but I will update everyone as soon as I do.

Tara

Update 10/29/09

My mom said it's a bleak and rainy Friday afternoon in Melbourne. Everyone is a little down because Paul has had a few setbacks today. His response to stimuli is variable and therefore not consistent enough to move ahead at this time. He is not as alert and responsive as they would like him to be aftering removing a lot of the sedatives. The doctors are also concerned with his eyes because he is not responding appropriately when they examine them. He will be having a brain scan today and we will know the results in a few hours.

The medical team has instructed us that setbacks will happen and that we need to be patient at this time. I know this is a disappointment to all of us who love Paul and want to see him pull through this quickly, especially after all of the progress that he has made.

Have hope for a better day and send prayers, thoughts, and love his way today.

Love,

Tara

Update 10/28/09

Friends and Family:

The medical team began to gradually remove both the sedation and the respirator recently. These weaning processes are both going well.

Currently, Paul is still on the respirator, but he is doing alot of the breathing on his own. They cannot remove the breathing tube completely until he is less sedated because sedation can reduce his respiratory drive. They also have to monitor the pressure in his head during the weaning process.

He continues to look better everyday and the swelling is coming down after all the reparative surgeries.

I should speak with my parents today and post more information this evening or tomorrow.

Thank you all for your love and support,

Tara

Update 10/27/09

Friends and Family:

On behalf of my parents, I want to express their sincere gratitute for all of the heart-warming letters they have recieved at the hospital. They are very touched by the love and concern they have recieved from everyone. My mom reads the letters daily for hope and encouragement. Being so far away, it means so much to know that so many people are thinking of them at home. The hospital staff said Paul broke a record for the most letters recieved by a patient there. Keep them coming, they need all of your positive, uplifting thoughts and prayers!

Right now, they are on their way over to the hospital as it is early in the morning on Wednesday in Australia. They expect to recieve a lot of news today. The facial surgery reportedly went well yesterday; however, his blood pressure and the pressure in his head have increased as a result which was expected. They plan to remove the ventilator soon and start weaning him off sedatives. I will get more information hopefully later this evening.

Much love,

Tara

Update 10/26/09

Friends and Family of Paul:

I spoke with my Dad and cousin Kirsten tonight, both reported that Paul is looking better everyday and making small positive signs of improvement. Last night, while friends and family were visiting, the physical therapist began calling his name and asked him to push her hand away as she had it placed against his foot. Paul is still in a very heavily sedated state, but was able to respond to this command by moving a bit and pushing her hand with his foot. My Dad reported that Paul's friend, Yael, told him she was going to make him a big breakfast and asked if he wanted bacon and eggs, to which he nodded his head slightly to say, "No." My mom also asked him if he knew she was there and he nodded slightly, "Yes."

Despite these signs of improvement, the medical team is still emphasizing that we do not know what Paul will be facing when he comes out of the induced coma. He is still in the very early stages and although these responses are considered very positive, they are minor. He is having a major surgery today to repair facial fractures. This may be completed today, but there is a possibility that it will require two surgeries. When he is stable after surgery, they plan to start weaning the sedatives. This will probably be at the end of this week and is a very slow process. They will have to monitor his pressures and if the pressure increases they may have to increase the sedatives.

I will continue to update this daily as I recieve information from my parents.

Thank you for your continued love and support,

Tara

Update 10/24/09

Paul had surgery to repair his wrists yesterday. The surgeon said he had never seen wrists in such bad shape; the bones, like pieces of a broken mirror, were completely shattered into many small bits by the impact. The surgeon worked until 11pm to complete the surgery because he had to piece many tiny fragments back together again and reset the pieces with plates and pins. He remarked that Paul's wrists were a small sacrifice to his brain. If he had not covered his face with them, he probably would not be alive today.

Post surgery Paul has acquired a low-grade fever (99-100) which is most likely due to an infection in one of his wounds. This is still being evaluated. The pressure in his head was also up for a while, but has been brought back down to about 10. The doctor said this is not abnormal and could have been a result of all of the shifting around. The Orthopedic surgeon feels Paul will have a positive result and should have good mobility in his wrists again; however, he will require six months to a year of therapy. Paul is scheduled to also have surgery to repair bones in and around his face because the compression of the hit fractured many of them. This has to be done soon before they start to heal improperly; however, the medical team is waiting for him to stabilize first. He is still in the induced coma, which I believe he will not be weaned out of until he is stable and his surgeries are completed. My family has been very impressed by the medical team at Alfred Hospital where they have been providing world-class care, support and kindness. My family is more than grateful for the time that they spend explaining everything and for their overall dedication to providing top-notch care.

--Tara

News Article about Paul

Here is the Link:

http://www.araratadvertiser.com.au/news/local/news/general/rock-climber-injured/1657345.aspx

Rock climber injured
23/10/2009 8:43:00 AM
ARARAT - An American rock climber was airlifted to the Alfred Hospital with two broken wrists and severe head injuries after he fell from a cliff face in the southern Grampians on Tuesday.
Two Ararat State Emergency Service crews were sent to assist with the rescue, but were not required due to the remoteness of the location and the Warrnambool based south west rescue helicopter was used to winch the man out.

Ararat SES controller Geoff Dunmore said the climber had been climbing at Mount Abrupt when his climbing protection ropes dislodged from the cliff face, causing him to fall backwards. Ropes still attached to the cliff face prevented him from plummeting to the ground, but when he swung towards the cliff face he broke both wrists trying to protect himself. He also received serious head injuries.

Two fellow climbers lowered the man to the ground and hiked an hour to the road to raise the alarm.

The new south-west emergency helicopter was called on to winch the man out and slashed many hours off what potentially could have been a lengthy carry-out operation by SES crews.

Mr Dunmore said it is estimated that the chopper only takes between 15 and 20 minutes to reach the Grampians area from its base in Warrnambool.

''If we had to go in it would take about an hour and then the carry-out would take about three to four hours,'' he said.

The MICA paramedic crew winched the man out of the area and then landed the chopper again, stabilising him before flying him to Melbourne for treatment.

Here are two more links from ABC News:

Rock climber critically ill after fall

US tourist rescued after cliff fall

Update from Melbourne

first of all, i want to thank everyone for all the love and support that has been shown. i went to the hospital twice today, and the second time, paul's parents were starting to get emails that had been sent to the hopsital. It really meant a lot to them to see all those people loving their son. So thanks to all ya'll. In terms of updates, today was a pretty good day for paul. His vitals are stable and have been for 24 hrs. The swelling in his brain is down from yesterday, and still falling, which is a good thing. Also, just looking at him today was encouraging. When i first saw him a couple days ago, he was super swollen, and today you can see the color coming back in his face, and the swelling leaving. He's starting to be recognizeable as the paul we know and love again. The neuro doctors have decided to start to wake him up. I had a vision of this being a quick process, a couple hours kinda thing, but turns out i'm wrong. By waking him up they mean, slowly cutting the meds back and checking his response to stimulus. It takes a couple days aparently. But i saw him move more today in the hour i spent there, than i had in the last three days. So it was really encouraging. I'll try to keep ya'll posted as much as i can. Again, thanks for all the love. Keep it coming. His parents really apprecitate it, as do all of us over here.
-Sarah

Picture greetings to Paul!

Yael, who is over in Australia and is going to see Paul tomorrow (Australian tomorrow), had a wonderful idea:

They will be taking Paul out of the induced coma in a few days, and it would be great to have something nice for him to look at. So Yeal is going to get one of those digital picture frames and wants people to send some picture greetings to Paul. This can be anything: a picture of you, some sort of digital card, a picture of something he likes, etc. Be creative. But remember it's going to be sitting on a bedside table in a hospital, so be tasteful.

Try to do this quickly. In the next day or so. Email the picture directly to Yael and she will put it in the picture frame: ykgirard@gmail.com

Let's send some good cheer to PB!

Update from My Parents 10/22/09

I spoke with my Dad this evening and recieved some updated information on Paul's fall and status:

My parents were able to speak with a police officer that was involved in the rescue. He reported that when the rescue arrived, Paul was alert and on a ledge of the mountain. He was able to state who he was and where he was from. He also reportedly scored a 14/15 on a cognition test; however, his condition did begin to rapidly deteriorate due to swelling in the brain. It took the crew about two hours to get him off the mountain and one hour to fly him to the hospital in Melbourne.

When he arrived at the hospital they performed surgery to help the swelling in the brain. They also had to do some surgery to repair some broken bones around his eye sockets. Both of his arms and wrists are broken because he pulled them in front of his face when he fell. This was a good step on his part because the damage could have been much worse if he did not. They are going to be repairing his wrist bones by putting in a plate or some type of screws in the near future.

The doctor reported that the first four days are when swelling will reach its peak so he will stay in the induced coma for at least this amount of time to help expedite healing. They also reported that they are trying to keep the pressure in the brain below 20 and he's been fluctuating between 8-10 and that is good news.

My parents were at the hospital last night and today and reported that Paul looked much better today than yesterday. My cousin, Kirsten, who is a permanent resident of Australia has also said that Paul has made significant positive changes in his appearance from one day to the next.

Right now, this is a waiting game, but the good news is that they are not concerned about his survival. He will definitely survive this, but we don't know what long term disabilities could result from the brain injury.

Thanks for all of your love and support for Paul and our family. We need all of it!

Tara

Share your stories and pictures of good times with Paul

With Paul's many friends spread so far apart, several people have mentioned that they wished we had a way to share stories, pictures and video of Paul with one another. This site will continue to offer updates about Paul's condition and a place to donate to Paul's family, but rather than trying to keep in touch over facebook or other social sites, we have created a place online to share our stories with one another and be together as a community. It doesn't require any sort of log in, and its really easy.

Click here to check it out

Paul's Financial Situation

Although Paul did have accidental insurance, it appears at this point that his coverage is maxed out at $35,000. It isn't clear at this point what type of expenses he will incur over the coming months but they will surely be far more substantial. Many of us love Paul so much because of his willingness to live his life plainly with intention and compassion. I've never known Paul to ask anyone for a donation or a hand out. But he isn't in a state to refuse so when he wakes up, he can give it all back to us if wants to be that stubborn.

There is not a lot of clarity regarding what the total costs will be. However, many of us may know someone who has undergone this type of treatment and it can be financially debilitating. Many of Paul's closest friends are akin to him in our need for a life that is based on taking care of those around you and having a really good time doing it. Therefore, most of us don't make a killing and don't have a lot to spare. What I'm trying to say is donate what you can. More importantly ask all of those people you love if they can lend a hand.

Thanks-

Paul's friends.

Paul's accident and status as of 10/21

Paul took a significant fall while rock climbing and hit an overhanging rock landing on his face. He was knocked unconscious immediately and needed to be helivaced to Melbourne.

Paul fractured his skull and many of the bones in his face. The most recent surgery was to ease the inner cranial pressure and to allow his brain to respond to the trauma of the impact. They had to put Paul in a drug induced coma for the next several days to allow his brain to recover from the trauma.

There is little known about the extent of the trauma in his brain until he is removed from the drug induced coma. However, there were no bone fragments in his brain and no brain tissue needed to be removed during the surgery. His spine is intact and everything below his arms is not seriously injured. I want to emphasize that Paul’s baselines are stable currently and the coma he is in was induced by drugs.

His Parents are on their way to Melbourne and should be arriving shortly. Much more knowledge will be available after his parents are given access to his medical charts. They will be staying with Paul for the duration until he can be moved back to the U.S. Currently, Sara Gaskin Sam Haskett, and Paul’s cousin Kirsten are with him.