Blaine has been fighting for his life in the Intensive Care Unit of a Miami hospital since February 22.  As of March 5, he has managed to survive and has slowly been making progress.  He is facing a long and difficult recovery process.  Blaine and his family have already incurred tremendous expenses for emergency medical care and support.  Recovery costs will be significant as well.  See below for more information.

While staying in Marathon (in the Florida Keys) for the winter, Blaine started out with a simple case of the flu (Influenza A, H1N1).  After a week, he had not gotten better and went to the clinic where he was prescribed some strong antibiotics for "a touch of pneumonia."  Three days later he was having extreme difficulty breathing, despite the antibiotics.  A return trip to the clinic resulted in Blaine being transferred to a Miami hospital via ambulance with extremely low blood oxygen levels.  A CT scan revealed very, very severe bilateral pneumonia.

After being admitted to the ICU in Miami, Blaine was diagnosed with respiratory failure and needed to be intubated.  At that point, he was placed on a ventilator to breathe for him at 100% oxygen, sedated, paralyzed, and strapped into a "rotoprone bed."  The rotoprone bed is a state-of-the-art treatment that turned his body in different positions in an attempt to help his body reduce the fluid in his lungs and improve the transfer of oxygen.  He was on the rotoprone bed for 5 days - it very likely saved his life.

The first few days, Blaine's prognosis was not very good.  But despite the dire condition of his lungs, developing kidney problems, and other issues brought on by his condition, he hung in there.  The nurses commented on how tough he was and that he was a fighter.  After several days, Blaine started to improve just slightly each day.  Finally, on March 4th, Blaine's lungs had improved enough that they were able to take him off the ventilator.  As of March 5, he is now semi-conscious but very weak and tired.  He is still in critical condition and is not able to eat, talk, or move much yet, but he has made great progress

The doctors have told us that he is "not out of the woods yet," but they are much more positive about his future.  One doctor and nurse said that they never expected him to make it to this point.  We are glad he has proved them wrong.

Moving forward, the doctors say it will be a long recovery process with lots of ups and downs.  As of March 5, we are focusing on continued improvement in his lungs and overall condition.  Eventually, if he continues to improve, he will be able to leave the ICU and be transferred to a rehabilitation facility.  Full recovery could take months.

At this point, Blaine's medical bills are quite astounding.  In addition, family members are incurring significant expenses to provide support and care to Blaine so far away from home.  Once Blaine begins rehab, he and his family will incur substantial additional out-of-pocket expenses.  We are very much appreciative of any help you can give.