update 3/30/11

So Bill's doing better. He is still on ventilator in the ICU, but his respiratory therapists are steadily working to wean him off of it. He still sleeps a lot but is more alert when awake. Just a few minutes ago he was able to squeeze my hand in response to my asking him to do so. This means he is understanding commands!

Had a family meeting with Dr. Bronstein, the ICU director at his request. Abby, Arlene, my sister Sunny, and I were present. Frankly we expected the worst. It turns out that Dr. Bronstein is a big believer in "communication" who does a lot of family meetings to facilitate patient care. Dr. Bronstein is a lively, entertaining character who talked a lot. The gist of it: He can not really tell which way Bill is going. It is still wait and see situation. He is working to take him off the ventilator first and foremost and he doesn't know how long it may take. He will remain in the ICU while on ventilator.

The frustrating thing is, no doctor, including Dr. Bronstein, has been able to say exactly what is wrong with Bill. His latest CT scan of the brain, chest X ray both revealed nothing of note: No stroke, no pneumonia, no infection.. They make vague references to scleroderma, but various scans donot really seem to support that either.

I have a renewed if guarded hope that Bill may still pull through this...

Kris