Mark Brandemuehl update

[mike_elliott]

Finally, some very positive news....

Hi All, We received an upbeat message from Mark’s doctors today post surgery. 1) Confirmed they saw nothing concerning such as fungal after examining his entire body. 2) Covering his thighs with allografts went smoothly. 3) Because Mark’s arms have not much tissue layer and down to muscle, they covered his arms with cow placental allograft. We need to learn more about this process. Bottom line, it’s good to get Mark’s arms covered ASAP. 4) His left upper arm biopsy indicated no fungal so far, they will continue to monitor as it can take up to 2 weeks for fungal to grow and it’s been 9 days. The plan is to move forward with preparing Mark for skin grafting. Next Wednesday, in surgery they will set up a test patch for autografts on his body. Autographs are the prep layer grown from Mark’s skin that needs to be put on his body before they place his skin grafts on top of it. They want to test first to make sure it can “take” before they do more widespread prepping. Dr. MacGregor said we should celebrate the good news, as Mark has survived a critical leg in his marathon. If he gets any more bacterial infections, it can be a reset but it’s recoverable. Not typically so with fungal infections. Dearest God and all the love in the universe, thank you for another miracle - the gift of life for Mark.

[afward]

A "Like" just doesn't cover it.  Thank you Mike for providing us with continued updates on Mark.  This is great news, even if there's still a long way to go for him.

[OHAEDO]

Finally, some very positive news....

Hi All, We received an upbeat message from Mark’s doctors today post surgery. 1) Confirmed they saw nothing concerning such as fungal after examining his entire body. 2) Covering his thighs with allografts went smoothly. 3) Because Mark’s arms have not much tissue layer and down to muscle, they covered his arms with cow placental allograft. We need to learn more about this process. Bottom line, it’s good to get Mark’s arms covered ASAP. 4) His left upper arm biopsy indicated no fungal so far, they will continue to monitor as it can take up to 2 weeks for fungal to grow and it’s been 9 days. The plan is to move forward with preparing Mark for skin grafting. Next Wednesday, in surgery they will set up a test patch for autografts on his body. Autographs are the prep layer grown from Mark’s skin that needs to be put on his body before they place his skin grafts on top of it. They want to test first to make sure it can “take” before they do more widespread prepping. Dr. MacGregor said we should celebrate the good news, as Mark has survived a critical leg in his marathon. If he gets any more bacterial infections, it can be a reset but it’s recoverable. Not typically so with fungal infections. Dearest God and all the love in the universe, thank you for another miracle - the gift of life for Mark.

Love the daily updates - reminds me to stop - pray for these folk - sustenance and renewal - Peace only the Lord God - can provide - in Jesus name - amen



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[mike_elliott]

From Jenny last night

Mark’s surgery went well - it was a relatively easy one. They took skin cells from his the unburned part of his thigh and grafted a patch on his upper torso. They’re called autografts and it takes 5 days to see if it takes. They have a higher success rate than the skin grafts grown in the lab in Boston called CEAs. Unfortunately, none of the CEAs grafted on his front torso a few weeks survived. The goal for today’s patch is to create a donor site where they can take more skin cells to graft. Also it’s better to run his lines there where it will become healthy skin rather than burned raw skin. Starting Monday, once we see how his autografts do, they can decide next steps.

[steingar]

CEA's are Cultured Epidural Autographs.  The problem in the current case is the patient has insufficient "good" skin to perform allografts, where they take good skin and cover bad areas.  What they're doing is taking small amounts of good skin and growing more skin cells in a laboratory using in vitro culture and appropriate growth factors.  It takes the cells time to grow, but once they do so they can be engrafted onto the patient without fear of an immune response.  

The cow placental xenograft is quite different.  They've used bovine cells called trophoblasts, that form a membrane in the cow placenta.  These cells have the unique property of evading rejection (remember, they're genetically different from the cells in mom's uterus) by not expressing lots of immune molecules.  Since they can evade rejection in a bovine uterus they can also evade rejection in a human burn victim.  That said, the cells can form a biological membrane that will keep out pathogens and for a scaffold onto which the patient's own cells can begin to rebuild.

Edited August 7, 2019 by steingar

[carusoam]

Steiny,  you have really added value today!

Thanks for the brief biology lesson.

 

Keep up the good work, Mark!

Best regards,

-a-

[Hank]

5 hours ago, carusoam said:

Steiny,  you have really added value today!

Thanks for the brief biology lesson.

 

Keep up the good work, Mark!

Best regards,

-a-

Yes to both! Encouraging progress for Mark!

Thanks for the explanation, Steiney. It helps me understand the updates. I have two engineering degrees but never had high school bio . . . .

[mike_elliott]

mike elliott, Jenny Brandemuehl has posted a new announcement for Family & Friends of Mark Brandemuehl. Dr Foster examined Mark’s arms today and said the tissue looks healthy. If you remember, his arms were where he first found the dreaded fungal infection 4 weeks ago. The new autograph on his upper torso looks good. Please keep Mark’s fingers in your prayers. Ashley, hIs nurse, says the tips look dark. I’m really hoping they won’t need to amputate anymore than they already have. Mark only needs a low dose of insulin which means his blood sugar is less elevated, a sign that his body is not under stress. Heart rate, blood pressure all in the normal range. I read to Mark the autobiographical parts of Wallace Stegner’s “Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs,” which describes growing up in the majesty, the beauty and fragility of the West. Mark never saw a mountain he didn’t want to hike or ski.

[aviatoreb]

2 hours ago, mike_elliott said:

mike elliott, Jenny Brandemuehl has posted a new announcement for Family & Friends of Mark Brandemuehl. Dr Foster examined Mark’s arms today and said the tissue looks healthy. If you remember, his arms were where he first found the dreaded fungal infection 4 weeks ago. The new autograph on his upper torso looks good. Please keep Mark’s fingers in your prayers. Ashley, hIs nurse, says the tips look dark. I’m really hoping they won’t need to amputate anymore than they already have. Mark only needs a low dose of insulin which means his blood sugar is less elevated, a sign that his body is not under stress. Heart rate, blood pressure all in the normal range. I read to Mark the autobiographical parts of Wallace Stegner’s “Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs,” which describes growing up in the majesty, the beauty and fragility of the West. Mark never saw a mountain he didn’t want to hike or ski.

Oh Mark, this is good good news.

[KLRDMD]

On 8/1/2019 at 6:58 AM, steingar said:

CEA's are Cultured Epidural Autographs.

Autografts. I don't think anyone is signing anything.

[chrixxer]

Who is Mark Brandemuehl? Was he in a Mooney crash?

[carusoam]

6 minutes ago, chrixxer said:

Who is Mark Brandemuehl? Was he in a Mooney crash?

Chrix,

you are familiar how thin the line is between lucky, and not so lucky....

The following thread covers the early stages of Mark’s incident...

Best regards,

-a-

 

[MATTS875]

Thanks Mike for all the updates. We continue praying for his recovery and thoughts and prayers for his family 

[chrixxer]

13 hours ago, carusoam said:

Chrix,

you are familiar how thin the line is between lucky, and not so lucky....

The following thread covers the early stages of Mark’s incident...

Best regards,

-a-

Thanks for the link, hadn't put a name with the incident.

Not sure about the editorializing. (Well aware I was incredibly lucky. Twice.)

[mike_elliott]

From Jenny last night

 

Dr Peck let us know that Mark’s surgery went well. His upper left torso autograft successfully took. Woo hoo! They took some donor skin from his abdomen (not burned) and put it on left lower torso. Again, we will wait 5 days to see if it takes. Mark’s CAEs arrive from the Boston lab next Thurs, the 15th. Please pray for Mark to remain stable. It‘s so critical to skin grafting success, both new grafts today and CAEs next week. Mark continues to show no signs of the fungal infection. In talking with Dr Foster, it is truly a miracle Mark survived the infection. He will stay on antifungal medication for the entire time he’ll be in ICU. It was a good day for Mark. I want thank those of you who have been so faithfully praying and holding Mark in your positive thoughts for healing. It‘s so good to see hIs doctors lookIng pleased In contrast to 4 weeks ago. Please continue to pray for him to remain stable so his new autograft can “take” in the coming weeks along next Thursday’s CAE grafting. I put up photos of Mark at Incline Beach in Tahoe and on a hike near Mt Rose in his room.

[OHAEDO]

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[aviatoreb]

Keep pulling through Mr Brandemuehl.  Your perseverance is inspiring.

 

[mike_elliott]

mike elliott, Jenny Brandemuehl has posted a new announcement for Family & Friends of Mark Brandemuehl. Hi All, Thankfully, Mark continues to be stable. Dr. Matthews dropped by a couple days ago and told Susan and I that the real work for the family begins when Mark wakes up. We still have quite a long road in ICU yet but it was good to start thinking about post ICU.   He mentioned that Mark Haley, another burn patient visited the burn center this week. Mark was a former patient from Utah who suffered burns from a freak accident in a drag race in Tucson. Dr. Matthews shared that Mark H is doing well and thriving after being in the hospital sedated for 6 months. He had 3 limbs amputated and severe burns to 45% of his body. Like our Mark, this Mark is a positive person. If you search, you can also find a radio interview he did describing his life post-ICU and rehab.. https://www.ksl.com/article/46498019/utah-man-back-from-brink-after-freak-drag-racing-accident   It's definitely an encouraging story. In his radio interview, Mark H said he didn't remember anything from ICU - he literally remembered the race, not the accident because he was unconscious trapped in his car when it was on fire. The accident was in Jan 2018 and he woke up in ICU in July. I'm so glad Mark won't remember any of the pain he's been through with all the procedures he's had. I think he's had at least 17 surgeries. The nurses told Susan and I that it can take up to 3 weeks to wean patients off their medications after they finish skin grafts. That's why when they can, they try to ease up on the sedation dosage.   I spend a lot of hours in Mark's hospital room every day. I know some of you have expressed concern for my well-being (thank you!). Ever since Mark became stable, I'm sleeping well. I work out every morning and during his daily 2-3 hour dressing change, I have time to run errands or do something enjoyable. I've been to the Phoenix Museum of Art with Adrian and Susan. When my friend Christina visited, we went to the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. It's too hot this time of year in Phoenix to go for a hike. It ranges from 103 to 118 F degrees everyday. Good way to get heatstroke! The restaurant scene in Phoenix is very good - lots of great places to eat. Adrian's been enjoying the break from Zurich to get ethnic and American food.   The day and night nurses stay with Mark continuously for 3 days in a row and then change out. I know the majority of nurses now after 8 1/2 weeks. Some of the newer nurses look at the many photos of Mark in his room - with friends and family, of him skiing, hiking, and driving his AC Cobra (the beast) and they say, oh it looks like he's a fun person.   I thought of a story from when Mark and I were first dating. As some of you may know, we met in our first job out of college at a tech company in New York. He used to pick flowers for me from the landscaping at our company office! I remember him giving me a bunch of daffodils once. So sweet! I didn't know where they came from. The director of facilities was really mad because he'd recognize the flowers on my desk. He knew it was Mark but he could never catch him actually doing the deed! I'm really not sure why Mark didn't buy flowers as he certainly could afford them. One of the questions I want to ask him when he wakes up!

[Danb]

 Ms Jenny is a strong loyal partner just what we in vision when we say I do. Mark will need her love and strength, I’m praying and pulling for you Jenny and Mark, god bless 

[aviatoreb]

It is really good to hear that not only snark has stabilized but enough that and Jenny has been sleeping well now and taking some time for herself to exercise and eat well.

[mike_elliott]

Dr MacGregor let us know that they covered Mark with CEAs on the following: 1. Both arms 2. Small area on lower right torso 3. Front left thigh They didn’t put down CEAs on his right front torso as expected because they saw signs that his skin is regenerating on its own. I’m amazed and not sure how that’s possible as Mark’s doctors and nurses never brought this up as a possibility! The 2 autografts on his left front torso are doing well. We’ll know in a week, if these CEAs successfully take. Please keep Mark in your prayers and positive thoughts for healing for the next 7 days. Ashley, the really sweet nurse who helped Mark when he arrived the day of the accident, told me that when Dr Mellon told Mark it’d be a 2 month recovery, Mark said, “That’s too long!” and tried to get up. Well, it’s been a little over 2 months so I know if Mark were awake, he’d be in a big rush to get out the burn center. Thank you everyone for your posts, cards, texts - I read all of them to Mark.

[Austintatious]

man this is tough to read.  I hope he pulls through with no more complications... I just cant imagine.

[carusoam]

Austin...

My heart warms with every read...

There is a very strong individual at the core... fighting to get out... and winning!

Keep fighting, Mark!

Best regards,

-a-

[mike_elliott]

Hi All, Mark has had several days of heart arrhythmia which lowers his blood pressure and in turn impacts his kidney functioning. Typically his kidneys take a hit after each surgery but they come back. This time because his heart’s not pumping efficiently, his blood pressure is lower, effusion in his body is lower. His kidneys are not producing much urine. Dr Foster says if urine output continues to be so low it can lead to kidney failure. Right now the dialysis machine is keeping his kidneys going but his urine output’s super low. We really need Mark‘s heart rhythm to get regular and his kIdneys to start working well soon as he’ll be going to surgery next week. Dr Foster said Mark’s skin grafts look encouraging. The goal is to get the front of him fully covered so he goes into surgery middle of next week for more autografts. They’ve ordered more CEAs which will arrive in 2 weeks. After his front is covered, they’ll begin grafting his posterior. Currently, Mark has no sign of infections. Hooray! Assuming Mark‘s heart rhythm and kidneys get back to normal, Dr Foster said today that Mark’s status so far is officially a miracle!!! Thank you prayer warriors - I know your prayers and intercessIons truly matter. God and all the loving energy in the universe is so powerful. It‘s been amazing and humbling.

[aviatoreb]

Here is praying for that continued miracle in progress for Mark, and of course for Jenny.

Edited August 24, 2019 by aviatoreb