[troy@uk]

My positive thoughts for Jeff and his family are decorated with Belgian Lacing.

[bluesman]

Hoping for the best for him. Thanks so much for the update Frank.

[dhacker]

Indeed . . and Frank, if you have the chance, be sure to tell him his AHA family is really thinking about him, his wife and his children.

[majorvices]

Thanks for the update Frank. He has been heavily in my thoughts. I am glad to see the news, while still serious, seems to be encouraging.

[akr71]

Indeed . . and Frank, if you have the chance, be sure to tell him his AHA family is really thinking about him, his wife and his children.

+ a kazillion

My wife's a nurse and had not heard of EEE before.  Though according to this map ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern_equine_encephalitis_incidence_map.gif ) it hasn't reached Maine yet.

[hamiltont]

Thanks for the update Frank.  We're all patiently awaiting your future posts and as Dave said, the AHA family is truly pulling for Jeff & his family!!!

[marty]

horrible news, thoughts with Jeff and his family

the state kept delaying the mosquito spraying earlier in the month

[narvin]

Thanks for the latest news.  Still shocking, but all we can do is hope for the best.

Despite the latest outbreaks, EEE is still very rare, so there's definitely a chance that this is something else.

[tschmidlin]

My wife's a nurse and had not heard of EEE before.  Though according to this map ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern_equine_encephalitis_incidence_map.gif ) it hasn't reached Maine yet.

Wow, according to that map it looks like there's only about 5 cases a year . . .

[bonjour]

Good news, but not out of the woods yet.

Still pumping good vibes and prayers his way.

Be sure that he know that AHA Staff has responded and is wishing him well.

Frank,   please keep the updates coming.

[tankdeer]

Holy crap. Hang in there Jeff, we need all the sour beer lovers we can get around here. Stay strong buddy.

I hadn't heard of EEE either.

[vista]

every year in much of southern new england (mostly warwick rhode island and southeastern CT), the EEE scare starts up around mid august and lasts until about mid october (first frost). in high school they used to schedule around dusk and dawn, so that sports and bus rides weren't around the peak of mosquito feasting. it was always pretty scary to think that it was out there but i never heard of anyone getting it. west nile virus started popping up as well, but was never AS scary as EEE. again, glad to hear some positive news...

[rabid_dingo]

Holy Moly! Hang in there Jeff, Sending any good vibes your way.

[frankw]

Update: 8/25/2010

I wasn't able to get to the hospital today, but we've got some more positive news.  Jeff's white blood cell count is down into the normal range.  The results off his CT scan show that his brain swelling has not increased and may have actually decreased slightly. 

He underwent a battery of tests when he was first admitted, these tests are to determine what infection he actually has.  The results of these test will continue to trickle in over the next few days.  The results of some test have shown that was he has is not bacterial.  So they will start to back off on the antibiotics and will continue with the antiviral drugs.  Some members of the team that are treating him are actually backing away from the EEE diagnosis and leaning to it being a strain of meningitis.  If this is true, comparatively speaking, this would be great.  Ultimately the EEE test is the only thing that can eliminate the EEE  diagnosis.

His temperature has been running pretty close to normal (around 99) over the 30 hours or so.  As part of the management of his body temperature, they've got a cooling vest on him.  They've also been working to manage shivering.  Shivering apparently requires a lot of physical and mental energy.  So, they are going to remove the cooling vest and see how he reacts. 

Again, he's not out of the woods yet, but we'll definitely take all the positive news we can get.

[Pawtucket Patriot]

Definitely some positive news, Frank.  Glad to hear it's not as bad as it could be and that Jeff may have a better chance at recovering.

I'll be raising a pint of dampfbier to him tonight.