Channel Man Stan is in extremely critical condition, but is still hanging in there as of 7:00 PM this evening. His family, friends, and clergy have been by his side and maintained a vigil in the ICU waiting room at the hospital.

Late this morning and throughout the early afternoon his blood pressure and blood oxygen saturation declined to dangerous levels and he started to become anemic. He was given medications to paralyze his body to prevent it from fighting the respirator and was also given a dose of very powerful antibiotics and infused with steroids. However, the ICU staff was running low in their "bag of tricks" and things began to look quite dire. A difficult meeting with the attending physician in the ICU made it clear that his condition was continuing to deteriorate and that little else could be done to improve things.

Late this afternoon his fever began to subside and his condition improved slightly. He also was transfused with two units of blood at around 5:00 PM which were intended to help improve the oxygenation of his blood and vital organs, and hopefully begin to turn things in the right direction. This seemed fitting and more than earned given that he has been a devout blood donor for almost 60 years and has donated almost 220 units (or over 26 gallons) of blood over his lifetime.

His condition continues to be extremely critical and although he has improved slightly since earlier today, things are still running minute-to-minute and he is far from out of the woods. Please keep Stan and our family in your thoughts and prayers.

-- Channel Man's Son Lance