The Story

Zack got sick last week with a cough/cold symptoms. Saturday he went to Urgent Care, where they gave him antibiotics for pneumonia and sent him home. That didn't work, and Monday he went to the ER unable to breathe, where that evening he was intubated and put on a ventilator. He is currently in the ICU at Lodi Memorial. He fought the sedation, so is on more than one sedative to keep him out while on the ventilator. He will be unconscious as long as he remains on the vent. He has a viral, atypical pneumonia that may be H1N1, although a diagnosis hasn't been confirmed. He is on a variety of medicines for the virus and pain. As the doctors and nurses warned, he continues to go up and down, having good periods, then bad. This may continue for quite some time. He is in good hands and is young and strong. We, along with the nurses, are optimistic about his recovery, but he is not out of the woods yet. His oxygen levels need to stay consistently high, he needs to stop fighting sedation, his blood pressure needs to remain good, and his fever needs to stay down. Please pray that he stays stable and starts improving steadily.