Mark Brandemuehl update

[mike_elliott]

From Jenny today

 

7/15 Update - Mark still stable mike elliott, Jenny Brandemuehl has posted a new announcement for Family & Friends of Mark Brandemuehl. Hi All, Mark had a good night. His heart rate remains stable, his blood pressure still good and being supported by medication but at a reduced level compared to when he came out of his first surgery to remove fungal tissue. (He was in bad shape - lost of a lot of blood then).   The good news is that his white blood cell count is in the normal range. His kidneys are still in need of a lot of support from the dialysis machine.   The doctors are doing their morning rounds today. I plan to talk with his doctor about Mark's current prognosis now that we've gotten through the weekend. The nurses can't assess the state of the fungal infection on his exterior body nor the skin grafts on his front torso. I am a little anxious about what we'll hear from Dr. Peck today.   We weren't able to see Mark yesterday until 4 pm. Steve, his brother played a guitar he borrowed from Jeff Dempsey and we sang a few rock songs in Mark's room - Steve, Rene, Michelle, Susan, Adrian and I. It didn't matter that Steven hadn't played in a while, I know Mark felt the energy and heard the music. Because they had to heat Mark up with heat lamps (he gets cold with dressing changes), what felt like a sauna became a sweat lodge!   We also played the music from a concert Mark sang in years ago when he was a member of the California Bach Society. Really beautiful music.   I hadn't attended church in a few years and yesterday, I made it to All Saints Episcopal (thank you Gwin for referring Rev. Reed there). Amazingly, the sermon was about the good Samaritan. It was a reminder to me of everyone who helped Mark live when he could've so easily died in his plane crash, in particular Thomas who got Mark out of his burning plane. So many miracles that day. You are receiving this message because you are a member of this community. You may unsubscribefrom receiving announcements at any time. Thanks for all you do to help others,   Your friends at Lotsa Helping Hands © 2019 Lotsa Helping Hands | 118 N Peoria 2N Chicago, IL 60607

 

 

 

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jenny Brandemuehl <jenny.brandemuehl@members.lotsahelpinghands.com>
Date: Jul 15, 2019 10:32 AM
Subject: 7/15 Update - Mark still stable
To: mike_elliott@HOTMAIL.COM
Cc: 
 

7/15 Update - Mark still stable mike elliott, Jenny Brandemuehl has posted a new announcement for Family & Friends of Mark Brandemuehl. Hi All, Mark had a good night. His heart rate remains stable, his blood pressure still good and being supported by medication but at a reduced level compared to when he came out of his first surgery to remove fungal tissue. (He was in bad shape - lost of a lot of blood then).   The good news is that his white blood cell count is in the normal range. His kidneys are still in need of a lot of support from the dialysis machine.   The doctors are doing their morning rounds today. I plan to talk with his doctor about Mark's current prognosis now that we've gotten through the weekend. The nurses can't assess the state of the fungal infection on his exterior body nor the skin grafts on his front torso. I am a little anxious about what we'll hear from Dr. Peck today.   We weren't able to see Mark yesterday until 4 pm. Steve, his brother played a guitar he borrowed from Jeff Dempsey and we sang a few rock songs in Mark's room - Steve, Rene, Michelle, Susan, Adrian and I. It didn't matter that Steven hadn't played in a while, I know Mark felt the energy and heard the music. Because they had to heat Mark up with heat lamps (he gets cold with dressing changes), what felt like a sauna became a sweat lodge!   We also played the music from a concert Mark sang in years ago when he was a member of the California Bach Society. Really beautiful music.   I hadn't attended church in a few years and yesterday, I made it to All Saints Episcopal (thank you Gwin for referring Rev. Reed there). Amazingly, the sermon was about the good Samaritan. It was a reminder to me of everyone who helped Mark live when he could've so easily died in his plane crash, in particular Thomas who got Mark out of his burning plane. So many miracles that day. You are receiving this message because you are a member of this community. You may unsubscribefrom receiving announcements at any time. Thanks for all you do to help others,   Your friends at Lotsa Helping Hands © 2019 Lotsa Helping Hands | 118 N Peoria 2N Chicago, IL 60607

 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2019 by mike_elliott

[mike_elliott]

From Jenny today



Clarification of Mark's surgery - he's in there no[http://mobile-mail]

mike elliott,

Jenny Brandemuehl has posted a new announcement for Family & Friends of Mark Brandemuehl.

Dr. Peck clarified before Mark went into surgery that they are focused on debriding any fungal infected tissue on his arms. There's a possibility they may have to amputate above his arms.


Additionally, as they've gone in to look at his remaining fingers, they believe they will need to amputate all his remaining fingers and thumbs.


We expect to get an update after surgery in a couple hours.

You are receiving this message because you are a member of this community. You may unsubscribefrom receiving announcements at any time.

Thanks for all you do to help others,  
Your friends at Lotsa Helping Hands

2019 Lotsa Helping Hands | 118 N Peoria 2N Chicago, IL 60607




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[carusoam]

Real life sure has complications...

Thanks for the updates Mike.

Prayers for Mark and family.

Best regards,

-a-

[PTK]

So sorry to hear such disappointing news. May God give Mark and Jenny and their entire family the strength and the courage and the hope they need in this extremely difficult moment. I can’t even imagine this very heavy Cross he has to bear.

[Seth]

Thank you for the updates Mike.

-Seth

[aviatoreb]

There are a lot of people pulling for you and thinking of you Mark.

Thank you for the update Mike.

[Danb]

We are so fragile you never know what’s in store for us to handle, my thoughts and prayers are all I’ve got for the family, such a difficult situation, God bless..

[thinwing]

Prayers to family...can’t imagine how tough his life adjustment will be.

[mike_elliott]

From Jenny last night

 

Mark’s surgery went well today mike elliott, Jenny Brandemuehl has posted a new announcement for Family & Friends of Mark Brandemuehl. Mark’s surgery today went well. No obvious signs of fungal infection on his thighs. They replaced the allo and xenographs and amputation wound sites on thighs looked good (no infection).  He will need to go into surgery either this weekend or early next week for them to assess his back and his arms (2 separate surgeries) for fungal infection. The biopsy results for his upper left arm won’t come back for 1-2 weeks, the earliest will be next Tuesday. We breathed easier today.  Because he needed a dressing change and airing out of his new xeno and allografts, we had the afternoon off. So sorry I didn’t post an update earlier, we took a break and went to see the movie Yesterday. I know some of you were worried when you didn’t hear from me. Mark looked peaceful tonight. His vitals all good. He’s off the meds for heart arrhythmia, blood pressure good without medication. We’re so grateful he is doing ok given how much stress his body’s under. We‘re continuing to pray that the fungal infection will leave his body. Tomorrow is a day of rest. Dr. Peck is back on duty tomorrow and will decide timing for next steps. Please pray for AJ too. He’s two doors down from Mark. He is the 21 year old guy I mentioned with third degree burns on 90% of his body. His mom was the one who told me to find one positive thing everyday. I passed AJ’s room yesterday and saw her nestling her face next to his. What a beautiful moment and how powerful a mom’s love can be. She and AJ’s sisters have been at the burn center everyday for 3 months now. They are a beautiful African American family local to Phoenix.   You are receiving this message because you are a member of this community. You may unsubscribefrom receiving announcements at any time. Thanks for all you do to help others,   Your friends at Lotsa Helping Hands © 2019 Lotsa Helping Hands | 118 N Peoria 2N Chicago, IL 60607

 

 

 

[Danb]

God gives these families an unbelievable amount of inner strength, if I’m ever called upon I only hope I’d have the inner strength and fortitude to go on, such tough times prayers are with them plus AJ

[aviatoreb]

Thank goodness a moment of eased direness for Mark and family,   We sure hope this trends.  And to AJ too.

[mike_elliott]

From Jenny today



Mark’s in stable condition[http://mobile-mail]

mike elliott,

Jenny Brandemuehl has posted a new announcement for Family & Friends of Mark Brandemuehl.

Mark has a good and restful night. His vitals look good. His kidney functioning are not yet back to how they were before his leg amputations, but he’s slowly improving. 

We were with Mark all afternoon and evening. His face is getting more fully healed and he has a healthy pink complexion. Amanda, his night nurse said Mark had a restful and good night.

His eyelids are sewn shut (so new skin around his eyes becomes flexible, otherwise too right & he wouldn’t be able to close his eyes). But yesterday he kept blinking and now both eyes are partially open. His nurse explained that while he’s sedated, he’s not paralyzed. He doesn’t like having his teeth brushed as his respiratory number goes up each time! 

Laila, our longtime friend & Wellesley sister visited Mark the last few days from Boston. Mark’s Stanford GSB classmate Kathy & her husband Page are here this weekend along with my cousin Richard who flew in from nearby Las Vegas where he was attendIng a tech conference. 

Rene here and leaves this afternoon, Michelle left yesterday. There continues to be a lot of love in the room for Mark.

No word of any surgery today. If it changes after the doctor’s morning rounds, I’ll let everyone know.

You are receiving this message because you are a member of this community. You may unsubscribefrom receiving announcements at any time.

Thanks for all you do to help others,  
Your friends at Lotsa Helping Hands

2019 Lotsa Helping Hands | 118 N Peoria 2N Chicago, IL 60607




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[whiskytango]

We will continue to keep Mark and his family in our prayers.

[OHAEDO]

Continually praying


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[mike_elliott]

From Jenny tonight...
Things are looking better!



Good news today[http://mobile-mail]

mike elliott,

Jenny Brandemuehl has posted a new announcement for Family & Friends of Mark Brandemuehl.

Hi All,

I haven't talked directly to Dr. Peck but through Mark's nurse, she let us know that he didn't see anything concerning on Mark's body or his vitals today. She said that Mark may go into surgery next Thursday but not anytime soon unless his condition changes suddenly.


I'm inferring that we need to wait until next week for Mark's upper left arm biopsy results to confirm if Mark's fully free of the fungal infection. You may remember that we were told Dr. Peck would need to have Mark in surgery this weekend or early next week to assess for fungal infection on his back and arms (yes, again) and excise infected tissue as needed.


Let's just pray that his current stable state continues through next week and no new infection shows up. God knows, poor Mark could use the rest and recovery time for his amputations and to rebuild his strength.


Continued heartfelt gratitude to you from our family for your prayers, positive and healing thoughts for Mark.

You are receiving this message because you are a member of this community. You may unsubscribefrom receiving announcements at any time.

Thanks for all you do to help others,  
Your friends at Lotsa Helping Hands

2019 Lotsa Helping Hands | 118 N Peoria 2N Chicago, IL 60607




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[exM20K]

Mike,,

Thanks very much for posting these updates.

-dan

[mike_elliott]

From Jenny this morning.

Those of you who made donations, you were the reason their family could be together. Mark shows great improvement against great odds.

Mike, 

A belated thank you for the co-pilot bear - I really love this little furry guy.  It reminds me that the accident happened while Mark was doing what he absolutely loved - flying.

 

As you may know from the lotsahelpinghands community, we had a crisis last Thursday with Mark's fungal infection. His doctors told us to have our families fly in asap in case Mark wasn't go to make it.

 

Since then, I have come to believe it is not Mark's time to go.  There's no scientific reason for me to know this. If anything, his current stable condition is not what his doctors expected.  

 

As people who've known Mark have gotten in touch in the last 6 weeks, I now understand that people with grew up with an absent father in their life are attracted to Mark.  Received some very moving emails from some folks.  I believe the story and connection between Thomas Hunnicutt, the young man who saved Mark the day of the accident is far from over.  Thomas had a rough childhood growing up in LA, had 6 stepsisters/brothers and 2 natural brothers.  His oldest brother who he had a close bond with died at age 18 which was devastating to Thomas.  I think Mark will become his big brother.  There's something between them that is unexplainable.

 

He was the first to tell me it's not Mark's time to go and I wanted to believe him.  Now, I believe that to be true.  

 

How long were you in ICU?  You had massive internal injuries, were you burned from the fire on the plane?

 

Jenny

[aviatoreb]

8 hours ago, mike_elliott said:

From Jenny this morning.

Those of you who made donations, you were the reason their family could be together. Mark shows great improvement against great odds.

Mike, 

A belated thank you for the co-pilot bear - I really love this little furry guy.  It reminds me that the accident happened while Mark was doing what he absolutely loved - flying.

 

As you may know from the lotsahelpinghands community, we had a crisis last Thursday with Mark's fungal infection. His doctors told us to have our families fly in asap in case Mark wasn't go to make it.

 

Since then, I have come to believe it is not Mark's time to go.  There's no scientific reason for me to know this. If anything, his current stable condition is not what his doctors expected.  

 

As people who've known Mark have gotten in touch in the last 6 weeks, I now understand that people with grew up with an absent father in their life are attracted to Mark.  Received some very moving emails from some folks.  I believe the story and connection between Thomas Hunnicutt, the young man who saved Mark the day of the accident is far from over.  Thomas had a rough childhood growing up in LA, had 6 stepsisters/brothers and 2 natural brothers.  His oldest brother who he had a close bond with died at age 18 which was devastating to Thomas.  I think Mark will become his big brother.  There's something between them that is unexplainable.

 

He was the first to tell me it's not Mark's time to go and I wanted to believe him.  Now, I believe that to be true.  

 

How long were you in ICU?  You had massive internal injuries, were you burned from the fire on the plane?

 

Jenny

Thank you for this news Mike.  What a relief some good news of improvement.  And plans and bonds for the future.  Thomas.

And co-pilot bear.  My bear is about 10 years old. When I got him he was just to be my cute cockpit mascot.  Then you.  And your program.  He has more meaning for me now.  He makes me think of Mark right now.  Co-pilot bear is looking over and smiling.

Edited July 22, 2019 by aviatoreb

[mike_elliott]

More from Jenny

 

Dr. Peck confirmed good news so far mike elliott, Jenny Brandemuehl has posted a new announcement for Family & Friends of Mark Brandemuehl. Dr. Peck stopped by today to share the following updates from his review of Mark yesterday:   1) He did not see any evidence of fungal infection topically on Mark's legs and arms. Did not look at his back. But we know the nurses have shared they haven't seen anything concerning on his entire body including his back. 2) Confirmed it's good that Mark continues to remain in stable condition. No arrhythmia, no blood pressure issues, everything else good - heart rate, temperature. Still on kidney dialysis but that's to be expected in his condition. 3) Amputation wound sites look clean and no signs of infection. 4) Amazingly, his skin grafts on his front torso didn't fall off like Dr Peck expected when they had to position Mark lying face down for them to excise fungal infected tissue. Skin grafts start out so small and delicate. It will be another 5 days before we know if the grafts "took." He was definitely surprised the skin grafts have survived.   I asked Dr Peck, if Mark continues to remain stable, when can they resume the skin grafting process? He said that this Tuesday, Dr, Foster, Dr. Matthews, the entire medical team and he will review and determine what's the strategy and next course of action for Mark.   We also expect to receive biopsy results for his left arm next week and hope it comes back negative.   It's a huge relief (for this leg of the marathon). Thank you God and all the love in the universe for protecting Mark.   You are receiving this message because you are a member of this community. You may unsubscribefrom receiving announcements at any time. Thanks for all you do to help others,   Your friends at Lotsa Helping Hands © 2019 Lotsa Helping Hands | 118 N Peoria 2N Chicago, IL 60607

 

 

 

[mike_elliott]

From Jenny today



Mark scheduled for Thurs surgery[http://mobile-mail]

mike elliott
Hey everyone,

Mark had a peaceful night. Dr. Matthews dropped by yesterday to update us that Mark will go into surgery this Thursday so that they can:


1) Cover back up his arms with xeno and allografts. They had to remove them when they excised the infected tissue from his arms last week.


2) Replace the current xeno and allografts with fresh ones on his thighs. This is an ongoing process - until he has his own skin grafts, they have to replace the artificial grafts every 7 days to prevent infection.


3) If Mark continues to make steady improvements with his kidney functioning, they will take him off dialysis. Hoping that will happen in the next few days.


We asked when Mark can get back on track with his own skin grafts - as you know, he was only 2 days away from that phase when they found the fungal infection last week. The full medical team will meet today to review Mark's condition and determine where we go from here. They'll have an answer on skin grafts after this meeting. Once the doctors order the skin grafts, it takes 2 weeks for the Boston lab to grow and deliver them.


I'll update everyone as soon as I know more from their meeting today. I do think it's a good sign that they want to cover his arms even though it can take up to 6 weeks to know the full status of fungal infections. Mark will continue to be on the anti-fungal medications for a while.

You are receiving this message because you are a member of this community. You may unsubscribefrom receiving announcements at any time.

Thanks for all you do to help others,  
Your friends at Lotsa Helping Hands

2019 Lotsa Helping Hands | 118 N Peoria 2N Chicago, IL 60607




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[aviatoreb]

This is wonderful to hear improvement news.

Its amazing to think skin grafts can be grown, and then transported like that.  There is a fellow from this small town who was an AP in the Air Force, and his son is an AP in PA working for a medical transport company managing several small jets, like the Phenom 100, and they do on demand time critical flying for such critical items as transplant organs. Serious business.  I visited his son with him at his business.

Edited July 24, 2019 by aviatoreb

[mike_elliott]

 

Mark's temperature inching up mike elliott, Jenny Brandemuehl has posted a new announcement for Family & Friends of Mark Brandemuehl. Mark's temperature inched up last night to 38.7 C or 101.6 F. His white blood cell count is now 1-2 points above the max of the normal range.   His nurse isn't sure if it's the start of an infection or normal fluctuations of burn patients because they have trouble regulating their body temperatures without the protection of skin.   Mark still on schedule for surgery tomorrow.   We found out from Dr. Matthews, his primary doctor for the next 3 weeks, that they are continually growing his skin grafts at the Boston lab. That way, whenever a sufficient batch is ready, they'll send them. They have to be used right away so it's tricky around timing to make sure Mark's not in the middle of a raging infection when they put the grafts on. Or that he's on blood pressure medication because it reduces the blood flow to the tissue in order to flow to support his vital organs.   Please pray that Mark doesn't have an infection and can tolerate his surgery tomorrow. We really need to get his body covered by the xeno and allografts to continue to reduce the chance of infection. You are receiving this message because you are a member of this community. You may unsubscribefrom receiving announcements at any time. Thanks for all you do to help others,   Your friends at Lotsa Helping Hands © 2019 Lotsa Helping Hands | 118 N Peoria 2N Chicago, IL 60607

 

 

 

[Danb]

Upsetting Mike it seems when we have a positive to lean on a turn of events occur. Jenny must be a strong loving spouse bless her.

[mike_elliott]

Jenny knows this is a marathon. Marks recovery will be excruciatingly slow with lots of hills and valleys. People tend to wear out and move on in their support, but we will stand tall with her

[OHAEDO]

Jenny knows this is a marathon. Marks recovery will be excruciatingly slow with lots of hills and valleys. People tend to wear out and move on in their support, but we will stand tall with her

As for me - every time there’s an update I call out to The Lord God for them. Prayer moves the hand of God


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