July 11th, Evening

Hello there, Lisa here,

Today, the nurses in ICU made several attempts to wake Barry but to no avail he remains resting peacefully this evening. He had a pretty rough day today. Upon attempting to wake him, his blood pressure would rise and he would become agitated which is detrimental to the recovery of his aorta. The nurses would them give him blood pressure medication that immediately reduced the blood pressure and they would then start the process over again. This process continued throughout the day. Because of his non-responsiveness, they ordered a CT Scan to rule out edema (swelling of the brain) and clots in the brain. The results were negative. Thank you God!

Haley, Marissa, Steve, Janie, and I went to visit Barry this afternoon and JC joined us there. The nurses asked us to talk to him and ask him to open his eyes, squeeze our hands, or wiggle his toes in hopes that he would respond to voices that he recognized. Upon hearing our voices, he was very responsive and would turn his head in our direction. He however became agitated and the blood pressure would rise again, the nurses would give him the B.P. medication, and we again repeated this process until about 7:00 p.m. this evening at which time they retired him for the evening. We are thrilled that he was responsive to our voices!!

He was also running a temperature of 101 all day and they have been constantly checking his blood for infection and administering tylenol. Tomorrow the nurses will again repeat this process. If he remains unresponsive to commands, they will send him for an MRI to rule out neurological damage. Please keep him in your prayers.

He remains on the ventilator until he is conscious. Rest peacefully tonight Barry and continue your fight tomorrow!!

I have quite a few thankyous to post and if I missed anybody, I sincerely apologize. Thank you Auntie Sandy for picking me up at the Brockton Hospital and getting me to the Beth Israel hospital. Thank you Kathy for the muffins, bagels, and coffee and for leaving your out of town company to be with me Wednesday morning; Dawn and Heather for taking half days on Wednesday to be with me; Mom and Curt for helping Marissa get her license renewed; Janie and Donnie for dinner and cocktails this evening; Janie, Donnie, John, Lynae, Ken, and Kathie for keeping us company in the ICU and Janie and Dawn for fielding phone calls from family and friends.

Thank you to the Egans, Brookers, and Sloans, for offering Meals on Wheels and Heather for the little orange pills that help me sleep!! Thank you to my colleagues at Mount Washington Bank for covering my department and all the well wishes that I have rec'd; especially to my boss George for being so understanding through this ordeal, Alex for working during her maternity leave, Melinda for "covering the fort" and coming in on her vacation days, and my commuting buddy Mary, for picking up my lap top and delivering it back to me as well as helping out in my department. Thank you to Barry's colleagues at Ameriprise for covering his office in his absence and thank you again to you all for your kind sentiments and prayers. Please keep Barry in your prayers.

Lisa