Dennis Dotson, the patriarch of the Houston Jazz Scene is back home in Houston and has made a near full recovery from his quadruple bypass surgery. He had his surgery and recovered from it in East Texas while undergoing rehabilitation to regain his strength. We are so glad to have him back!
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Dennis Dotson was visiting his mother in East Texas (Rusk) when he suffered a heart attack. He has been admitted to East Texas Medical Center. After a trip to the Cath lab Tuesday morning it has been determined that on Wednesday the 14th he will undergo an open heart triple bypass surgery with the possibility of a quadruple bypass. Please keep this Houston legend and dear friend of the worldwide jazz community in your thoughts, prayers and meditations. Forum thread on Dennis
:::UPDATE::: The surgery went very well and Dennis is out of the OR and in ICU now. He has some trouble last night and his magnesium got really low. At one point the paddles had to be used to get his heart going again so that was a set back but the quadruple bypass went on as scheduled today at 12 and he will be sleeping/resting for the next 24 hours to assist in his pain management. But, the surgery went as well as they could have hoped for and he is doing as well as they can hope for. Keep the prayers coming.
:::UPDATED AGAIN:::
From Sherrye Dotson:
Dennis was stable last night. They have called in a pulmonologist to treat some breathing problems. They will keep him sedated until these problems improve. They told us this morning they are taking one day at a time. I will let u know if thngs change.
:::update from Carmen Dotson via Jacqui Sutton:::
I spoke with Carmen this morning. Dennis is still on respiration and will likely remain sedated through tomorrow. They did wake him briefly this morning, and he had quite the fighting spirit! More than likely this was due to being disoriented. But the amount of energy he showed is probably a good sign.
His requirement for oxygen has decreased by about 50%, so they were able to remove one of the tubes.
His blood pressure is stable and he was stable through last night. His color looks better than yesterday.
The really hopeful news is that it also seems there has been no damage to his heart stemming from the heart attack. This is great news from a recovery standpoint!
:::Saturday update::::
Dennis had another good night last night, but he is still sedated. The doctors removed another drainage tube this morning so he is becoming more independent in that respect. He still has the breathing tube, but the hope is to remove that tomorrow BEFORE they bring him out of sedation. His kidney function was also very good.
Every day brings better news!
:::SUNDAY UPDATE:::
:::THURSDAY UPDATE:::
I just got updated. The tracheotomy went well this morning and they'll probably have him out of sedation by the end of the day. Right now he's still under anesthesia but the surgery went perfectly. :) yay!!! Go Dennis, go!
:::Saturday update::::
Spoke with Carmen (Dennis's mom) a little while ago and he is slowly but surely coming out of sedation. They'll probably be closing his tracheotomy over the next couple of days. He's responding by turning his head and making expressions to what she says and that is good progress. He hasn't been opening his eyes yet but he'll probably do that any time now. :) go Dennis go!!!!
:::Sunday update:::
Our boy is doing great! He came out of sedation for the neurological trials, opened his eyes and responded to commands. He was pretty uncomfortable, though, so they sedated him again so he could continue to rest well and heal. He's doing great! They are sporadically taking off any extra oxygen and he's doing well with that so his progress is wonderful. :)
:::Monday update:::
Even though Dennis continues to be on antibiotics, he has developed a fever this morning (about 102), so they've run some tests to figure out where the infection is coming from.
For this reason he's not doing as well on independent breathing as he had done yesterday. The doctor says the tracheotomy will likely be in for another week or possibly two, as the healing process is moving slowly in Dennis' case
He's also still sedated, but he occasionally opens his eyes, and he recognized his mother. These are sporadic moments of semi-consciousness.
Despite these developments, the doctors do consider him to be stable, and that it's just taking longer than usual.
Fight that fever Dennis!
:::3/27/2012 Tuesday update:::
The fever is continuing, and the doctors suspect it's possible that his other medications are predisposing him to infection or fever, but they are not sure. The tests that he took yesterday will yield results tomorrow, it is hoped.
The pulmonologist conceded that Dennis came in with other illnesses that are hampering his progress, and is stressing patience for his recovery.
Dennis did open his eyes today and responded by squeezing the doctor's hand; but is responsive generally due to the sedation. He is not completely under as they are slowly weaning him off the sedation, so his consciousness is transient.
Prayers please ...
:::3/28/2012 Wednesday update:::
DENNIS DOTSON UPDATE: Spoke to the nurse today. She says Dennis is more awake and is tolerating a reduced level of sedation! So he appears to be doing better today. He is still having trouble with respiration, so continues to have the tracheotomy in place.
Just spoke with his nurse and Dennis is much more alert today. They just finished his breathing/respiratory tests and his rates were the same as yesterday. There isn't any big change from his status yesterday other than him being much more alert. Keep the prayers, thoughts and meditations coming!
:::Tuesday 4/3/2012 update:::
Just spoke with Mrs. Dotson: he has made another bound of improvement. He breathed completely on his own all day yesterday without any extra oxygen or assistance and is getting really frustrated at being unable to talk with the tracheotomy. So he's pointing and trying to communicate as best he can with gestures and facial expressions. They've gotten him a board to write on but they can't make out what he's trying to say just yet which just makes him mad as hell! :) This is wonderful news. As soon as he has a full 24 hours without extra oxygen, they'll switch him to the talking trach and shortly there after, will remove it completely. These last two days have been great bounds of improvement and they're very very pleased.
GO DENNIS GO!
::::Wednesday 4/4/2012::::
Great news: Dennis is being moved out of ICU to a unit that is for extended care. They are also taking the tube out of his nose. :) This is wonderful news and the next step should be getting the tracheotomy removed. He's on the road to real recovery! GOOOOO DENNIS! :)))
:::4/7/2012 Saturday:::
He's DOING SO WELL!!! He got a "talking trach" today so he's just started being able to communicate what he wants. WAAAHOOO!!!! They're still waiting on the bed in the extensive physical therapy/skilled nursing area he'll be going to but our boy is kicking ass and taking names! :) he's not up to talking on the phone yet. But he's finally able to tell them what he needs today, so that's AWESOME! GOOOOO DENNIS!
:::4/8/2012 Easter Sunday:::
Our boy had a set back around 5 am this morning and God certainly had a hand in him still being in ICU waiting on a room in the rehab/skilled nursing wing. His BP got really low and he got clammy all of a sudden. But they've got his blood pressure back to normal, his heart rate (that had been high) is steadily coming back down and they've given him two pints of blood. So, he's feeling better now but he gave us a scare. Please please please keep the prayers, thoughts, good vibes & meditations going.
:::4/14/2012 Saturday::::
Our boy is kicking ass and taking names. He all cozy in his new room and he's been a chatterbox all day, they said. :) he's got his cell phone and a stylus now so I think he can get his emails. We should probably hold off on blowing up his cell phone with phone calls, though. We don't want to wear him out. ;) the staph infection is gone and he's doing GREAT! Goooooo Dennis GO!
:::4/18/2012 Wednesday:::
Dennis is continuing to make great progress. He's eating solid foods, talking up a storm to the nurses and they're very pleased with how he's doing. He has no more breathing assistance and they got his TV fixed in his room so he's happy about that. :) GO DENNIS!
:::5/3/2012 Thursday:::
So, as insurance usually makes things screwy, plans have a changed a touch. Medicare did not approve his rehab at the hospital but have suggested a skilled nursing facility in it's stead. Our boy will probably be moved to a new facility in either Rusk or Jacksonville by Monday. Let's hope that all goes smoothly. The cardiologist is happy and said that he looks great. Now it's just a matter of getting him up and moving. Keep those prayers & good vibes a'coming!
