It is with very deep sorrow that I announce the passing today of Gregory Blake, owner of this blog. He underwent surgery in Boston a couple of weeks ago, and the recovery was just too rough for him.
He was a great friend, and he will be truly missed.
I do not yet know what the future of this blog will be, but will post updates as appropriate.
Greg died today around 4:37 pm at Children’s Hospital with his family and friends at his bedside. He was comfortable and surrounded by prayer, music and love. Memorial information to follow. I was honored to be there.
Eleanor called with a ‘glass half full report’. Greg had a stable night last night. He’s still on the ECMO and they’re now increasing the length of time he’s on dialysis.
tomorrow they’re going to try again what they did on wednesday — turn down the ECMO and see how his heart looks on the echocardiogram. hopefully it will go better this time.
Eleanor and Dale had the amazing opportunity to watch his doctors do a bronchoscopy on Greg. They verified that the sutures that connect his lung to his heart are still in good shape. They also saw no obvious infection. These are ‘crumbs of hopefullness’.
The family is being mindful of the balance of doing things FOR Greg and doing things TO him. It sounds like they have a very supportive staff of Nurses at Children’s, too. I am greatful for all they have done for Greg and his family.
I may have the opportunity to visit Children’s hospital on Monday afternoon. I will be happy to take your comments to him — read them to him, if I can. So please feel free to say as much as you need to Greg. If you’d prefer to email your thoughts for him privately, please do so at fontaholic *at* gmail *dot* com.
Greg’s family met again today with the doctors. Although there hasn’t been solid improvement, they have found a medication that is stablizing his heart rhythm, but he still having a problem maintaining a steady heart rate. The doctors are encouraged, and will keep adjusting things as long as they keep finding things that work.
Greg is very sick. He won’t be able to stay on the ECMO much longer. His lungs are holding, but the doctors are very concerned about infection because his defenses are down from the immunosuppresives they’re giving him. The next two days are critical.
Eleanor asked me to extend her thanks to those of you who have been calling and leaving supportive, loving messages for the family. They really appreciate it and know you all understand that now is a very difficult time for them and they often don’t have the energy to take many calls, or make a lot of return phone calls, but they feel blessed to have the support of all of you.
Keep the prayers and healing energies flowing. love you greg.
Greg’s mom called to say there’s really been no change today. More as I get it.
For those of you wishing to send cards, please send them to his parent’s house at 194 Kenyon Street, Hartford, CT, 06105. I’m guessing he’s not allowed any non-family visitors at this point, but will ask the next time I speak to them.
Sorry I don’t have more news.
i touched base with eleanor today and they are remaining positive, while trying to stay realistic. greg has been having a rough time but has been holding his own and the family and doctors are happy about that.
the big challenge has been getting his heart into a good sustainable rhythm. they’re using cardioversion techniques, including shocking his heart, to get his heart into a normal pattern. the ventricular specialist says that the right side of his heart has enlarged and is causing this to be not as succesful as they had hoped.
he’s still on the ECMO to facilitate blood oxygenation, but they’re working to reduce his use of it since prolonged use is not ideal. today they did an echocardiogram and reduced some of his meds successfully, but didin’t keep the ECMO machine notched down for long since they want to make sure his heart can handle it. even with the ECMO, he’s only able to use his lungs to about 30% of their capacity, so they need to get that up.
they are becoming concerned about neurlogical issues, but need to really assess greg when he’s not as medicated. he can sometimes follow simple requests, but sometimes is not aware of reality.
he’s been stable enough today that they’ve planned a trip back to CT to take care of some odds and ends and will continue to take shifts at the hospital.
greg’s big goal is to get off the ECMO and get his lungs working at a higher capacity so that that they can concentrate on normalizing his heart rhythm without the cardioversion. focus your postive energy and prayers to this goal. the more positive energy people can send the better. do it how ever it works for you… light a candle, say a prayer, take some photos you have of greg and put them somewhere where you can smile at him every day/hour to send your love for him his way.
stay strong greg. you can do it.
Hi all,
Sorry for the silent weekend. I know that can be frustrating. We heard from Eleanor last night via phone message letting us know he is still stable and they’re having a family meeting today to discuss next steps. I will keep you posted as soon as we are updated.
Greggles, many many healers and I sent you SO much energy this weekend while I was away. Stay open to the healing we’re all sending you!
just got another update from greg’s family. he continues to remain stable. the doctors have reduced the sedatives enough that he opens his eyes when his name is called. hopefully they will be able to bring him back steadily and without incident. his family is staying at the hospital in shifts – returning home to get clean clothes and rest, then going back to the hospital to relieve the others. it is taking a lot of energy, but that comes from the love and support from all of us.
another note, i will be joining emily in the woods, so we won’t be receiving the updates and posting them until monday night or tuesday. so it’s extra important that those who love greg continue to send him healing energy during this time of transition back to the world of sunshine and life!
a quick update: Rebecca called last night and left a message. yesterday was another relatively stable day. that’s good – he needs at least one more of those before they will consider weening him from the ECMO. hour by hour he’s getting closer to recovery. please keep the good love coming!
today, greg’s stability improved. he slept through most of the night and had a quiet day. well, his iPod has joined him via his family, so not *too* quiet.
doctors and nurses from 2 hospitals met with the family to lay out the “plan”. if greg remains stable for the next couple nights, they will begin to back him off the ECMO machine. this is the next step to getting his body to care entirely for itself.
greg’s family says that he is receiving excellent and thorough care. they also ask for continued support, love and healing energy to be sent to greg – it makes a difference.
emily is away for the week, so bucky (her husband) is managing the blog for now.