Berserker Updates

[Dirty Dan]

I received an email from Karen today saying squirrels and other assorted items are arriving daily. It makes Mike smile. She said to thank you all for everything you're doing for Mike.

Great work, folks.

[Dirty Dan]

New update on Mike. This is a copy/paste job from Karen's email so it may read a little strange...



Mike is still on the vent. They are weaning him but it is going slowly. They are hoping to have him out of SICU mid next week. He will have the trach on the medical floor for a bit. (precautionary)

Mike's care plan:

The plan is to take the last chest tube out, continue weaning him off the vent.

He has pneumonia and they changed his antibiotics.

He has a tube feeding and is getting his meds via the j-tube.

They got him up in a "Cadillac" chair today. (kind of a barbers chair on wheels)

He has periods of when he is alert but they are giving him Ativan to sedate him. So he sleeps soundly and rests a lot.

The bad news is his heel bone (right leg) was fractured into a lot of pieces (shattered) and they are thinking he may have residual problems with his right foot.

There are so many pieces it isn't likely they can put it back together easily. I asked about a prosthesis like they do for knee, shoulder joints and the docs weren't sure (no ortho people there).

It will be awhile before they do the surgery on the foot.




That's it for now, folks.

[Dirty Dan]

I talked to Karen for a bit today. She said there have been a couple setbacks but some postive as well.

Mike has been moved to an isolation ward. Some antibiotic resistant bacteria has been found in a culture so they "squirreled" him away to be sure he doesn't spread that around. It doesn't sound like this is a big problem as of now.

Mike's been getting agitated. She thinks he's frustrated at not being able to communicate.

However, that's part of the good news. Mike is looking much better and wants to talk. He's been off the vent since 11:00 central and his air ratio...whatever...is real good. Hopefully, he won't have to go back on. It's a wait and see situation.

Karen says he is very alert. He remembers nothing about the accident or any of us being there the weekend before. But his eyes are bright. The lights are on and someone's home. The power of 43 is with him...


Da da ba da dat's all, folks.

[Dirty Dan]

Just got off the phone with Karen:

Mike is leaving the isolation unit and ICU for a trauma floor.

He is off the vent and breathing on his own. They removed the last chest tube as well. Friday they are operating to repair his right heel. Karen didn't have details on what's involved, just that it will be done. He still has a trach tube, but they removed the first one and inserted a smaller diameter tube. He can't talk yet, but they will insert some sort of valve that enables him to do so sometime this week as well.

Mike's really doing well and is making terrific progress.

I'm friggin' pumped.

[Dirty Dan]

Mike changed rooms late yesterday afternoon. Here is the updated mailing address. The only thing that changed is the room number.

Michael Manderfield
C/O Froedtert Hospital
Room 20 2NT
9200 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53226

Mike's getting frisky. He wants to go home. Still can't talk and communicating takes a lot out of him. But, he's out of ICU and making steady progress.

As of now, he's requesting no visitors until he can talk. Knowing Mike, I'm sure not being able to talk highly pisses him off, so I don't blame him.

I will post updates as they become available.

[Dirty Dan]

Here's a copy/paste from Karen:

They are not going to be able to do the surgery on his foot this Friday due to blisters on the foot. They are thinking next Friday 4/3. He may go to the ortho floor on 5th floor after the surgey and the rehab team will start evaluating him for inpatient rehab. That is also on the 5th floor. Mike just wants to go home. He is starting to remember parts of the accident, the cop asking for permission to draw his blood. 4 sets of cop lights. Hurt all over but mostly his right leg was agonizing. Freaky how his memory is coming back.

[Dirty Dan]

I had the opportunity to talk to Mike for a minute tonight and it was damn good to hear his voice. He is on the way back.

[ms_tapestry]

'zerk joined us for a few moments tonight! http://www.doofclenas.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=158543

[Dirty Dan]

More copy/paste from Karen:

Another room change today. Rehab floor. They are talking about giving him a week of rehab, having his heel done and then sending him home the next week! Not a lot of rehab now cause he is non-weight bearing and is wheelchair bound. The bad news is he needs 24 hour supervision. This is not going to go good. He wants to go HOME to his house and there isn't someone 24 hours.

I'll try to get the new room number.

[Dirty Dan]

Here's a post I've been waiting weeks to write.


Talked to Mike for a while today and it looks like he is going home on Monday or Tuesday. Somebody PMed me over the weekend asking for Mike's new room number. When I asked Mike about it, he said anything from this point forward should go to his house. Here's the address:

Mike "Berserker" Manderfield
2209 State Rd. 33
Saukville, WI 53080

He sounds great...strong voice and ready to rock.

Moreover, it looks like the wheel chair ramp is in progress. I think his dad is overseeing that project.