Updates: (11/16/2025)

Today has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Eli was taken for his MRI early this morning, but we didn’t receive the results until later in the afternoon.

He needed another unit of blood overnight because his blood pressure dipped slightly, which is common after surgery.

Good news: the brain bleed has now been labeled a non-issue.

The brain surgeon is generally pleased with how the lumbar drain is working. Tomorrow they will clamp the drain to see if fluid continues to leak from his nose. If it does, sinus surgery will be necessary.

The MRI showed a fracture in his neck at C5 and C6. Surgery is likely, though the doctor is still hopeful that fusion will not be required. If fusion does end up happening, long-term movement should still be okay.

There is also significant damage to the disks in that area. Because these disks are low in the neck, the doctors will need him awake to understand how well he can move his hands and extremities to gauge the full extent of the injury.

He will need a minimum of two to three more weeks in the hospital.

There is vascular damage in his neck, and he will likely need to take baby aspirin for some time.

The difficult news today is that the MRI showed damage to the brain stem. The doctor described it as a DAI injury, caused by the force of his head snapping back during the accident.

The positive part is that his responsiveness is stronger than expected given what the scan showed. The thumbs up he gave earlier and the way he responds when sedation is lowered are encouraging signs that his brain is still communicating with his body.

The doctor said that what the MRI shows and how Eli is behaving are not matching up, and that his responses are giving more hope than the scan alone would suggest.

Tomorrow will be an important day. He will remain immobilized and sedated for the rest of today. Tomorrow they will clamp the lumbar drain to check the fluid pathway, and they will begin trying to lower the respirator. The overall goal is to move him toward breathing fully on his own.

They are not lowering the respirator today because the body naturally tenses when support is reduced. Right now his body needs to stay calm and still, so today is a big rest day.

Some uplifting news: after the MRI, my parents went into his room and Eli’s left eye was open. His right eye is still too swollen to open, but he was able to see our parents and squeeze their hands when asked if he could hear them.

My mom asked him several questions, and he squeezed her hand multiple times. This was incredibly exciting to see, especially given everything the MRI showed.

There was a lot to take in today and it was an emotional swing for all of us. We are feeling optimistic and hoping for more good news tomorrow. ❤️