Mpenguin1 (Mike) is in the hospital!!

Kristie

Mama Bear....
Staff member
fur realz :(

We don't know what's wrong but i have word out to his sister that we'd like to know his status.

Last i heard, the doctors say he is responding to treatment but still not out of the woods yet.

Has anyone talked to Mike (Mpenguin1) since Thursday? if so, do you know anything more? We'd really like to do something special for him that will brighten his day whether it's sending a bunch of pink flowers (hehe) or a HUGE JC "get well" card or something.

I hope I'll hear something soon!! As soon as i do, i'll update this post.

here's the scoop on mike...It looks more positive than negative since he's responding to treatment....i hope they're able to take him off the vent.

Hi Kristie,

Right now Michael is still in the ICU and he is still on a ventilator. They feel that he is not requiring as much support as he was whent they first intubated him, so they may try to remove the breathing tube today. The doctors have been terrific, they have been calling me daily with updates and so far they are happy with the way he is responding to treatment. So far today, I have not heard anything. My sister is there now because Mari had to come home for a couple of days, her job is giving her a hard time. I will send updates on him as they come in to me. Thank you again for your support, it means a lot to Michael!

I think that he would love a "huge" get well card, it will lift his spirits, although he is staying positive and strong. The name of the hospital is Valley Medical Center in Renton, WA. He is in the CCU, I will find out the information for you, if you want to send something to him.

Jeanette

ok, i called the hospital... of course they couldn't give me any pertinent information (not even a yes or no as to if he's doing better today).

but i did find out that he can get cards, artificial flowers (NO real flowers) and balloons or something that can sit on a tabletop...

i think the large obama cutout is out for the time being....but if someone wants to, they could send him a bobblehead

I think he would love some cards and balloons... I'm going to send him some balloons cuz i'm thinking 1800flowers doesn't have artificial flowers....

The address is:
Valley Medical Center
ATTN: CCU, #3209, Mike Communiello
400 S 43rd St
Renton, WA 98058-5010

Again, if anyone is up in the area and can go see him personally, I'd (myself) would really appreciate an update!!!

Update:
Hi Kristi,

I am glad that you got the information on where to send get well wishes to michael. My sister lisa is there with him now and while I was on the phone with her- michael woke up and I told her that you were asking for him and he gave a thumbs up. So he knows that everyone is thinking of him.

As to what happened to him, he had a staph infection that was not treated correctly and the infection colonized into his blood stream and traveled to his lungs, he then got sick on top of that and his body just could not take any more. The staph infection lowered his immune system so much that he picked up MRSA which is in his blood stream and lungs. He is on very heavy antibiotics trying to kill this infection and they are testing every other organ to make sure that it did not colonize there.
According to one of his co workers staph was a common infection last year and many people were hospitalized.

Today he had a test done to make sure he did not damage any heart valves (which seems to come back negative) and a CT scan of his brain and sinus cavities to make sure there were clear (so far negative). It will take a while before this clears up . I am waiting for the doctor to call me know with an update. When I hear something I will let you know.

Update 03/24/09 (10PM PST)

He is already giving them a hard time! Not much change in his condition. They expect him to be on the ventilator for another 5 days. They tried last night to lower the settings and he started to hyperventilate. His lungs still need time to heal. I am sure he is sorry that he missed Obama's speech tonight :)

Thanks again everyone for checking in and praying for Michael.

Update: 3/25/09 (AM)

Wow!! My sister was not kidding how much love is out there for our brother. I have a funny update on michael. You all obviously know my brothers sense of humor!!!! He wrote down that with these big tubes hanging out of his mouth that he felt like a porno star!!!
Kristie i will make sure with the docs what kind of nite he had and give a call if its ok.
You all are great medicine for him!!!!

Update: 3/25/09 (PM)

So i talked to Mike's sister Lisa on the phone today. She said he's doing well but is still in need of major recoup time and has asked us that we not visit until we get the go-ahead from them or his wife Mari. She's asked that we at least hold off until Saturday and she'll keep us updated on how he's doing as saturday approaches. They're hoping to try to take the vent out again as the weekend grows closer. If that happens, then he will be able to take on more visitors.

What's happening is that he's coughing a lot and he's not getting enough rest because the doctors are in there on an hourly basis. So when he gets a visitor like her or his wife, he wants to try to stay awake as long as he can and it's too taxing for him right now...so because he's not getting enough rest to fight, he's under even heavier sedation today and the next few days to keep him sleeping and give his body a rest.

She really appreciates all the kind words on his facebook and she prints out those pages to show him. He's able to read, just not able to talk with the vent in...and he continues to be a jokester every moment but has a hard time laughing along (again, cuz of the vent). My interpretation is that he's doing ok since he continually tries to joke around...after all, that is the mentality of the pengy we know and love.

Please continue to keep him in your thoughts...we've been sending him a few cards already that we hope he'll get a good laugh out of.

Update 03/28/09 (PM)

Not much change with his condition. They are hoping to remove the vent in a couple of days. I am booking a flight to get there on Easter Sunday evening and will stay until that Friday.

Kristi, I heard that he did receive your card and he loved it!

Thanks for checking in :)

Update 04/01/09 (AM)
They still have Michael on the Vent but they are not suppling him with any O2, he has been breathing on his own. They are starting to ween him off of it. Even though it is not breathing for him the tube is going to remain in until he is 100% because it can cause complications if the tube goes in and out and just in case of an emergency the tube is already in.
Breathing on his own has been taking a lot out of him so he has been exhausted and really out of it the past couple of days. He also requested that they stop sedating him so heavily which is good because he wants to do all he can to work and get his body strong again.

Thanks for checking in. I will send more updates as they come in.

Update 04/03/09 (PM) - GREAT NEWS!!

Sunday evening Michael decided that he has had enough of the ventilator and pulled the tube out himself. They felt that he was breathing ok and left it out. He is now getting very restless and wants to go home but he still has a pretty long recovery ahead of him. His lungs are not 100% and they are still getting his diabetes under control. The doctors said that when the patients do this and leave early they end up right back there. Since he has not walked or moved around in a while, I am sure that his muscle are very weak and need to be strenthened. I hope that he listens and gives his body time to heal. Thanks for stopping by and checking in on Him!

HE IS OUT OF CCU AND IN A REGULAR ROOM 3508
 
fur realz :(

We don't know what's wrong but i have word out to his sister that we'd like to know his status.

Last i heard, the doctors say he is responding to treatment but still not out of the woods yet.

Has anyone talked to Mike (Mpenguin1) since Thursday? if so, do you know anything more than we don't know? We'd really like to do something for him that will brighten his day whether it's sending a bunch of pink flowers (hehe) or a HUGE JC "get well" card or something.

I hope I'll hear something soon!! As soon as i do, i'll update this post.

:eek: Oh wow sounds serious! Keep us up to date Kristie! I say we send him a giant Obama cut out!
 
can you find one? HAHA

we could have a quick phx gathering and have at least the phx folks sign it....
 
Oh man, I knew something was up. :( I heard from him over a week ago when I checked in on him since he was quiet here on JC. At that time he said he'd been under the weather and would call when he got his voice back. I may have sent him a PM after that, but don't remember.
I hope he's ok--thanks for checking, Kristie. Keep us posted!
 
Ohhh MONEY!!! Let's send it to him. Either the mask or the cut out works. The mask might be a little better.
 
I've put Mike's status up on the top post.

Do we have any Seattle peeps that could go visit??

I've told her we'd be happy to help anyway we can...Mike's done so much for us in the past and he's a super great friend to so many on the board (including doug and I) and that if there's anything she needs to let us know.

I'm not sure the hospital would allow a full sized Obama to stay in the hospital room....what do ya'll think? should we still do it anyways?
 
I'm not sure the hospital would allow a full sized Obama to stay in the hospital room....what do ya'll think? should we still do it anyways?

I'm up for it, just let me know when and I can place that order :) I'll need an address as well.
 
Get well dood!!

I know WAflyboy is a seattle native, he doesnt post much but he is a hellavaguy. He might be able to help out.
 
This is sad to hear. Mike is a great guy and certainly one of the best schedulers I've ever worked with. I wish I was in a position to do something for him, but I'm half way around the world from Seattle.

Please keep us updated.


Typhoonpilot
 
no, still no clue... i wish we could get updated faster but i don't want to go bothering his family members too much. I'm sure they have enough to take care of.
 
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