Information from Mr. B

Wednesday, April 16

Melissa survived her fourth surgery yesterday and is again in an induced coma. The doctors have ordered complete silence and has even restricted the family’s ability to be at her bedside. Except for the facts that she is on a ventilator and in a medically-induced coma, all her vital signs are good.Every member of the Yu family is fighting with every emotional and spiritual fiber they have. They "will" keep their daughter and sister. Marlene said, "As long as she has breath we will fight for her." Michael took her statement even further, "No matter what condition, no matter how difficult for us, no matter how hard, we will take care of Melissa as long as she has breath."

It is difficult to comprehend the hard work that lies ahead for the Yu family and for Melissa as she starts down the road to recovery. Patients who suffer such brain trauma have to go through a lot to get back to normal. However, this is not just any patient. It is Melissa … a daughter, a sister, a friend, a servant of Jesus … a young woman who is loved by everyone who knows her.

While you pray for Melissa's complete recovery, do also pray for Michael, Marlene, Maurice, Melodie, Mildred and Erin. The hardest work is just about to begin for all of them.

Cards and get well wishes: Please keep your cards, letters, e-mails, PowerPoint slides, JPEG files, etc. coming. I will be giving another package to the family this weekend.
Tuesday, April 15

After church on Sunday the three girls, sisters Mildred and Melodie and family friend, Erin Tsai, went to the hospital. It was such a good afternoon. Melissa was awake, mostly. Her ventilator was allowing her to breathe on her own. And, little sister, Mildred, played nurse, wiping her forehead with a wet washcloth. The girls took turns talking to her, saying hello from friends and telling her that they loved her and wanted her home soon.

But Melissa had a bad night last night. Although she was very alert, it appeared that she was trying to communicate that she was in pain. A brain scan confirmed that yet another artery was leaking into the brain. It will be another two - three hours in neurosurgery (the fourth since her first aneurism) before we’ll know any more. Pray for Michael and Marlene. They look exhausted, as if they are in shock.

The family asks your immediate prayers this Tuesday afternoon.

Friday, April 11

On Tuesday, Melissa was transferred from Mission Viejo to the 6th floor ICU unit at Children’s Hospital in Orange. This is more convenient for the doctors who have been treating her, as they are all located at the Orange facility, and because it is the main Children’s Hospital location, it gives her better access to the care she needs.

Melissa is responding to Marlene by holding and releasing Marlene’s hand. She is now able to answer Marlene’s questions by blinking her eyes. She still has a low grade fever of unknown origin of between 99° and 100°. Her white blood cell count is down significantly from 2300 to 1400 which is a good sign. Her doctors are still concerned because they have not been able to fully control the bacterial infection in her heart.

Melissa still needs the help of a ventilator to breathe. The doctors are hoping to be able to remove her from the ventilator soon because the irritation from the tubes down her throat can cause inflammation. Also, the sooner she is off the ventilator, the sooner she will be able to leave ICU and begin therapy. Marlene has asked for your prayers that Melissa will be able to breathe on her own. If she isn’t able to do that soon, the doctors will have to perform a tracheotomy, cutting a hole in her throat to insert another breathing tube.

Cards and get well wishes: I delivered another package of cards, letters and posters to the family on Sunday. Thank you to all of you who have given these to me. If you haven’t yet done so, or want to send more, you can still deliver get well wishes to me by e-mail, in person or by mail and I will get them to the family. You can send them in any format.

Friday, April 4

Though the odds of surviving an aneurysm are not great, Melissa has done just that. No one knows how long her recovery will take or if the aneurysm did any permanent damage, but she is showing good progress and so far the signs are favorable for her recovery.

On Tuesday her brain pressure had stabilized enough for the doctors to remove her brain pressure and oxygen monitors. By the end of this week she has shown movement in both legs and hands, better on the left side than on the right, and she seems to be able to focus her eyes. Marlene stood on her right side and said, "Melissa this is mommy. Can you look at me?" Slowly, Melissa turned her head to the right and focused her eyes on Marlene. The nurses also think that she actually used her hand face up and her finger in a trigger type motion to call them. This is amazing progress considering it’s only been twelve days since the aneurysm.

The pneumonia has almost disappeared (right lung is still clouded, though the left lung is clear) and the her fever, which had been as high as 104° on Wednesday, has also been reduced. The cause of the fever is not known. Melissa’s heart seems to have returned to a nearly normal size and rhythm. The blood in her urine was caused by one of the antibiotics we now know. Her white blood count is pretty high which means that her body is fighting some infection, but it isn’t clear what it is.

Melissa will spend the next week in ICU before being transferred to physical therapy.

After school Michael brings sisters, Melodie and Mildred, to the hospital to do their homework in Melissa's ICU room. Big brother, Maurice, rides his motorcycle to the hospital when he is not in lacrosse practice. Marlene's spirit has returned, as she is again laughing at Michael's humor.

Though there is a long way to go, we all praise God for the tremendous progress Melissa has made.

Cards, etc: Thursday morning I presented a large package of get well cards, letters, drawings, posters, audio/video files on DVD, encouraging e-mail messages, and a ceramic cross to a family friend to deliver to Melissa and her family. It was pretty emotional. Please keep your cards and letters coming. I can accept them electronically in almost any format, so if you prefer, you can e-mail them to me, so you don’t actually have to go to the store to buy them.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Melissa is a real trooper. After three brain surgeries last weekend, the neurosurgeon told the Yu family that he had done all he could do. Melissa left the third surgery on Sunday morning with a brain pressure of 35, and things were looking grim. The family was gathered at the hospital expecting the worst. Though she’s not out of the woods by any means, she is showing improvement. Every day last week the pressure reading went down until it reached 7 on Saturday … well within normal range. If it remains low, and stabilizes, the doctors may begin reducing her medications to slowly allow her to wake up on her own. This could occur as early as this week. Recovery is likely to be a long road for her, though.

Both Michael and Marlene are staying in the parents room at the hospital. Every night Michael goes into the ICU room and sings quietly under his breath so as not to disturb Melissa. Although in an induced coma, she recognizes her parents voices, becomes roused and her brain pressure increases. However, as Michael sings, the brain pressure seems to ease. In addition, on Saturday, Melissa opened her eyelids about a third of the way. Michael raced to get Marlene. They could see her eyes moving. This must be one tough little girl fighting her way back. The nurses increased the medication and she slipped back into the coma so as to be able to rest the brain.

As you can imagine this is a strenuous time for the family. They ask for your continued prayers for Melissa. As Michael has said, “Don’t stop peddling!”

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Yesterday, Saturday, was a relatively good day. The pressure on Melissa's brain continues to improve. Her father, Michael, prayed to see "7" and God answered. The range Saturday was between 7 and the low 20s (10 is normal). In the next couple of days, if the pressure remains stable, the neurosurgeon is going to modify her medications to bring her from a heavy sleep to a lighter sleep. This will allow Melissa to gradually wake up on her own. She has been in an induced coma since last Sunday. The oxygen levels in her brain have also improved. Marlene, her mom, noticed that one eye twitched as well as one of her legs.

On the negative side, Melissa has now developed pneumonia … not too unusual for someone in a coma. We don’t yet know how serious this is.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Melissa’s doctors have decided to keep her in a medically induced coma (i.e., keep her in an unconscious state) for longer than the 3 days that had originally been planned. This will mean her brain will have a longer time to recover, but will also probably mean a longer hospital stay and a longer time in rehabilitation.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Several weeks ago Crew member Melissa Yu (15) was hospitalized with a serious heart infection (endocarditis). She was released from the hospital over the weekend of March 15-16. She spent the next week at home and seemed to be getting better. But at the end of the week she was rushed back to the hospital with a burst blood vessel in her brain (an aneurism). She had brain surgery to correct the problem, then over the weekend had to have two more surgeries on her brain to relieve abnormal brain pressure. She was put into an induced coma to rest her brain and will remain in that state for several days before they will allow her to wake up. Last night her mom and dad visited her room and spoke softly to her and stroked her arm. A tear fell from one of her eyes, possibly meaning that she understood that they were there. Melissa’s mom has asked that no one visit her until they let us know that she can receive visitors.

What You Can Do

1. PRAY OFTEN AND HARD for Melissa, her doctors and hospital staff, her family, Michael (Dad), Marlene (Mom), big brother Maurice (17), sisters Melodie (13) and Mildred (9), and family friend Erin Tsai (16). Melodie and Erin are Crew members; Mildred is a KIXs member. Even though Melissa is not conscious, I’m certain she will feel the power of your prayers for her and her family. Prayer can work miracles!

2. SEND GET WELL CARDS TO ME and I will get them to the family. Even if you don’t know Melissa, let’s show her and her family that the Crew family is behind them and are praying for them all. Send your cards to:

Paul “Mr. B” Bogenrief
Mariners Church
5001 Newport Coast Dr.
Irvine, CA 92603

3. SUPPORT Maurice, Melodie, Mildred and Erin when you see them, by letting them know that you’re praying for Melissa and for them.

I will keep you updated as I hear more.

Paul “Mr. B” Bogenrief