A recap of Erics' last 2 1/2 months

January 28
Thank you all for your comforting emails and calls. As expected it has been a bumpy ride for all. Eric's breathing problem has extended to his heart so today, after a couple heart failures it was decided to give him a pacemaker. It's in, no problems during the procedure, now Eric has to get to work and we are here to help him with the only tools we can use our love and prayers.
For now ICU continues to be his address, all eyes and ears are on him, tomorrow is another day and we look forward as always to spend sometime with him.


February 2
Hello my friends I know it's been a few days since I last updated everyone.
Eric had a very difficult week; he is now recovering from a series of interventions related to his lungs. He's sedated still on assisted breathing. He has a small "hematoma"(?) in the left lung that was decided not to operate to clean it out because at this point would be too risky to submit him to it.
We'll have to see how it will somehow dissolve itself. All other vitals are good and we keep praying that this yet another challenge shall pass.
Eric is very strong, must take from grandma Furtado, doctors had to double sedation cause he was waking up wanting to know what was going on.
His address continuous to be ICU and we're there with him every minute we are allowed, regardless of him being asleep, we talk, massages his hands with lotion even play some music.
Thank you for your love and prayers.

February 6
Hello my friends once again thank you soooooo much for your support.
Eric has had a good week with some improvements, he is now breathing on his own with just a little bit of oxygen being pumped thru the trachea. This is a major achievement considering both his lungs were severely affected. All vitals are still good and if he continuous this way, next week the plan is to have the pacemaker installed permanently, this has to be done at another Hospital, we are a little nervous but we trust their decision.
He is still sedated; they are slowly removing the drugs. He is not comfortable, as he had to be fitted with the neck collar, his vertebrae separated again.
As he attempts to talk we try to read his lips, so today he asked Phillip " How did you find me?” than he quickly closes his eyes and sleeps. He is still in Intensive Care.
We know that there are still numerous stages to go thru in this journey, we are determined to be with him all the way.
Thank you for your prayers and support it certainly make a difference.

February 11
Hello everyone, since last time I wrote to you we have had some ups and downs. As time goes on we get to understand a bit better the evolution of Erics´ injury, we know that it's a long process and everyday, every hour we can see changes.
Eric was sent to another Hospital ICU where a team of cardiologists has been following the need for him to have a permanent pacemaker, the one he has now has been turned off as they do the assessment.
The fact that he has been bed ridden for so long brings more complications; we seem to be in a vicious circle now with regards to his respiratory system. I wont bother you with details. For now he his stable, sedated, assisted with a breathing machine and we don’t know how long will take to determine the fate of the pacemaker.
We continue to pray for him to get better, we see him every day for as long as we are allowed.
Thank you again for all your encouraging emails, love and prayers.

February 19
Hi everyone!
Wow... it's only been a week since the last update and a lot happened in Erics’ life.
Great news, it was determined that he does not need the pacemaker, his heart is fine so no worries on that front.
All week he has made small but important progress regarding his breathing, it is still assisted however he is doing a bit more on his own (60% machine) constant and in sync, which is very important. Now , he is still sedated and when they wake him up he gets anxious and loses the rhythm with the breathing machine, than he has to be put asleep so he can rest , get the oxygen concentration in his body back and start over.
If he continuous stable as he has these last couple days ,he will be able to have a CT scan
and the Thoracic Surgeon will be able to assess his lungs. If it is determined that there is nothing new , the hematoma has shrunk to an acceptable level Eric will be able to be transferred back to the Trauma Hospital.
So we are praying that all is well off course and that he'll be able to be transferred so he can start his rehab, timing is very important in the first weeks of having a spinal cord injury, the rehabilitation of the hands movement is extremely important for him to be a bit less dependent.
So , we had a good week and look forward to to tomorrow!
Thank you again so much for your thoughts and prayers you have made such a difference in all of us.





February 26
Another busy but good week for Eric!

The hematoma, is located in the lining of the lung, was mostly drained and it has been determined that no longer poses a threat.

Eric is back at the ICU of the original Hospital," Traumatologia and Rehab" and we are glad, as I mentioned before this is the place that specializes in the rehab.

He is making good progress with regards to his respiratory system.

The left lung is still a wee-bit sick, they have been successful in restoring some function to it, just this morning another fiberscope was done (to loosen up remains of the pneumonia he had), as a result, today he was positioned on his side and therefore sedated the whole day.
So for now we are looking for a more stable breathing without the risk of the left lung collapsing, until than we can’t move forward.

We had a couple of days that he was less sedated, he at times was more coherent, understood and cooperated with Phil , his personal trainer, worked on his arms and it was great to see what a difference it made in just a few days. Granted that he was frustrated as he came to understand that for now his arm/hands coordination is not there and not being able to speak was challenging. Encouragement and reassurance from our side is abundant needless to say.

Your thoughts and prayers keep us going as we approach a different phase of this journey.

March 5
Hi everyone, sorry for not sending in the update yesterday!

This week Eric has been gradually breathing unassisted. The last scan (yesterday) shows that a lot of progress has been made especially on his left lung, like I mentioned before there is a wee bit of his left lung that requires more effort to inflate. Erics’ injury prevents him from using certain muscles, I’m not yet sure how will he overcome this challenge but we were told that he would be able to eventually breath on his own all the time. Also the CT-Scan covered his neck injury and they are comfortable that it's safe to remove his neck brace, which was done tonight.
He has had 30 minutes of Physio every day, his temperature is on and off, unexplained, therefore there are days that he is more asleep than others.
He is a good patient, compliant and low maintenance, I have been allowed a bit more time in the room.
He still can’t talk; it’s getting a little easier to understand him. He does ask few questions to the Doctors about how long will he have the tracheotomy, does he need more surgery??
Overall if I had to describe his being this week I would have to say SAD ;(
We believe he has full understanding of his condition.
As always we keep very positive, assuring him that he is having the best care and that coupled with the love of his family and friends would get him thru it all.
We also know that he is going to go thru a series of emotional stages and that we have to ensure that they are all dealt with step by step.
Tomorrow his 2 best friends in Portugal are visiting again, this time he is awake and I’m certain that they will make a difference.
For now Eric will remain in intensive care.

Thank you for your love and prayers


March 14
Hello everyone, I wish I had better news to give you, Eric has yet another infection. Like we said before he has to try and break
this vicious circle he is in. His immune system is not working due to the many days in bed and with all kinds of drugs; therefore any kind of virus has an environment to thrive.
As of last night he was winning this new fight, temperature was down, blood pressure ok, chest X-ray way better than the last.
This is all I can tell for now.
Thank you again for your love and prayers.

March 16
Hi just a quick note to let you know that Eric is rebounding from the last infection. We saw him this morning and he looks much better. Drs. will attempt to have him breath on his own bit by bit and see if he can get out of this vicious circle.

March 21
Eric has had a good week overall. Since Tuesday he is off the breathing machine, we are hoping he manages to keep it up. Fever comes and goes, still a mystery.
Phillip has brought his computer and played a movie for Eric last Thursday, Eric dozed off 20 min into it . Yesterday Phil read him the "News" he was interested.
He looks much better, the work the physiotherapist does with his arms and hands is paying off, and he is getting some strength back. We are all getting better at lip reading and that makes a difference, so much that he was able to convince the nurses to rearrange his room, he wanted to be able to see the nurses station as well as look out the window to see the trees.
Because of all the painkillers and sedatives his short memory is still affected he does not remember the accident and forgets easily what we tell him.
This is the best we have seen of him so far and pray that he continues this way.
The next thing to happen is the leg surgery, we are waiting to see if the infection is totally gone.
Thank you all for your support, love and prayers.

March 29
Hello my friends
Great week for our Eric, he has been breathing unassisted since March 20!

We are attempting to feed him... it's like starting all over, his stomach has shrunk and his throat hurts but ... mothers never give up right? So today he ate a few spoonful of applesauce.
He is looking good, calm and coherent, knows what he wants and asks for it.
He may have surgery to his leg this coming week.
We are ecstatic, all your love and prayers are being answered,
THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH