Taylor is on his way home. Turns out that his skull was fractured after all. He had a rough night with pain and vomiting, so they re-scanned him this morning and found a compression fracture. I was able to speak to the neurosurgeon, his Mission President, and the medical advisors in SLC, and they all agreed that it would be better for Taylor to be treated here in the States, rather than in the DR.
A few technical points:
-There is no bleeding inside his head.
-The surgery will be to lift the compressed bone back into place.
-The doctor (in the DR) doesn't think it will be too complicated of a procedure.
-They also want to make sure everything is in the right place, and is clean and won't get infected.
He is flying home commercial, which is a good sign, and will arrive late tonight and go straight to Barrows Hospital in Phoenix. (Which isn't nearly as good as Barro's Pizza)
We will let you know more information as we have it. The doctors, the Church and all of you have been wonderful and supportive. We appreciate all of you. Please keep Taylor in your prayers. The hope is that he can quickly return to the mission field and finish out his service.
He does NOT want to come home.
Change of plans...
Turns out the airline would not let Taylor board without specific documentation, or the right kind of medical supervision. He will have both tomorrow, and they will try again. So, for now, it is back to the hospital. We will probably get to talk to him today, and will update accordingly. (Tuesday, 12:15pm)
It looks like it will now be Wednesday before Taylor gets home...
Taylor is scheduled to fly out tomorrow morning and arrive tomorrow night. This time he will be accompanied by a wonderful doctor who is serving as the church medical coordinator for the Caribbean - so they'll let him on the plane. Both Chrissie and I got to talk to Taylor for a few minutes. He sounded tired, but coherent, and was able to communicate fine. He had just gotten back to the hospital after the airport fiasco. It was reassuring to hear him. His biggest worry was whether or not he will be able to return to the DR.
I did have a chance to learn more about what could be happening with the injury. Anytime there is a skull fracture with an open wound, it justifies a surgery to go in and make sure there isn't anything that is going to cause infection. Also, the doctors will need to take a look at the dent in the back of his head and decide if they will need to try and lift the bone back to where it should be. (Steve, feel free to edit here)
We are overwhelmed by the outreach and support we have received today. We truly feel loved, and know that Taylor is loved too. Thanks for the texts, emails, FB posts, visits and phone calls. We appreciate every one of them. Please don't feel like you need to leave us alone - you don't. We want you all "in the loop". And your cookies.
Love,
The McBrides
(Tuesday 7:00pm)
Spoke with Taylor again this morning. He is on his way to the airport. This time he isn't wearing pajamas, and has a doctor with him. He should be good to go. He reports feeling about the same, still having nausea and some vomiting - the car ride isn't helping. He suggested we not have any big meal planned for him because he isn't eating yet - I told him not to worry - we are just taking him straight to the hospital, and he said "Good." :(
So, he is scheduled to be back in Phoenix tonight, and we should have some better information by this time tomorrow.
(Wednesday 7:00am)
