PAUL ERLENBACK UPDATE
By Larry Lee, BraceBeagling Editor
September 08, 2008

by bracebeagling.com Correspondant, Lynette Coil

I thought everyone would like to know the status of Paul. He had bypass surgery on August 7th and the surgery went well. Not quite two weeks later he tried ripping the incision apart, which might have been a good thing. A cat scan revealed the wires they put his rib cage back together with were wearing through the bone and there were blood clots, so they went back in on August 19th to repair this. He finally moved out of intensive care Tuesday evening, Sept. 2nd.

Until September 7th did Paul regain full consciousness. He tries to talk, but I can’t make out a lot because of the ventilator tube. They took him off the ventilator for over an hour today and he did very well. Tomorrow they will take him off 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. He wasn’t happy with all the machines.

I explained what has been going on and that the ventilator will be going away and they are weening him off. I explained about the kidneys and hopefully, they start working now that he has regained consciousness – Keep Praying Please for a Full Recovery, as I know you all have been doing. They did not do dialysis today, but his output was very little. The swelling is staying down at this point in time. He is completely off the Fentanyl and it is amazing that after a couple of days of being off it, consciousness has come. I am so grateful. Hopefully, his strength will come back soon once he starts his rehab work. Until all Dr.’s agree that he can move to the next phase, which is Mahoning Valley Hospital in Boardman, will that happen. If he continues moving forward like he has today; well, we are that much closer to him being able to come home. Thanks so much for the prayers and support! It made my day that we have come this far.

I thank everyone for the calls, emails, cards, thoughts and prayers. It is truly appreciated and I would say has certainly helped -- wouldn't you?

For further cards, please send them to his home address so nothing gets left behind. His address is as follows:

Paul Erlenback
13001 Western Reserve Rd
Salem, OH 44460

For future updates, please contact me at lynettecoil@aol.com and I can ad you to the Distribution List.