A Friend in Need
12-03-2007, 12:46 PM
#1
A Friend in Need
Some of you may know Jeff Keeton, Some of you may not.
Jeff is from Jacksonville and races off-road and on-road.
His a great Friend and Loves RC Racing.
Jeff just got married a few months ago and now he and his wife have twins on the way sometime in April.
Hi All, this is Vicki, Jeff's wife. I just wanted to update you on
Jeff (looks like Bobby has been doing a great job) Thanks Bobby!!
I'll start from the beginning...
Thurs Nov 29 - Jeff throughout the early morning developed a really
high fever of 103.2. We thought that it was just the "normal" cold
type fever. Throughout the day, he started getting progressively
worse with vomitting. Then later in the evening, the diarrhea
started. So, we are thinking now that it's just a flu bug of some
sort. Around 2 am Friday, Jeff moved from the bed to the couch to try
to get himself more comfortable and he felt bad for waking me up
constantly. I apparently fell back asleep and didn't know anything
that happened from 2am-7am. During that time, every time Jeff would
stand up, he would pass out. He didn't bother yelling for me or
trying to wake me up because of Colin (my son) So, when I woke up at
7am, he told me he needed to go to the ER. I had to get Colin ready
for school real quick and took him to the neighbors house next door.
I called 911 and the paramedics showed up. They took his blood
pressure and had to retake it because they couldn't believe it was
that low. It was like 50 something over 20 something. VERY LOW. Oh
yeah, also his bad leg was throbbing and turning purple. Jeff said
it's the worst pain he has ever had before in his life.
We got to the ER room and his vitals were still very low. He was very
dehydrated, weak, and pretty out of it. After about 3 hours, they
moved him to ICU. His vitals remained very low, his blood pressure
dropping and rising, dropping and rising. They had him on 3 different
types of blood pressure meds to try to stabilize it. They were also
pushing 2 liters of fluids down him every hour. Meanwhile, while all
this was going on, his leg was continuing to turn more purple all
over. Around 9pm, the surgeon decided to do emergency surgery on his
leg. She told me that if they didn't operate ASAP, we were going to
lose him. Said he has an infection that is very aggressive and moved
rapidly. Said everything on his leg that is purple is dead and needs
to come off. Jeff was in surgery for about an hour. When the surgeon
came out, she told me that all the skin and tissue from the lower knee
to his ankle is gone. They had to cut it all out down to the bone.
They did make two smaller incisions up on his upper leg on the sides
to check to make sure the infection hadn't spread up there, which it
has not!!! I didn't get to see Jeff til around 1am Sat morning. He
was heavily drugged and has a breathing tube in his mouth. I do want
to say that I noticed a small area on his left leg (his good leg) that
is starting to turn purple, so they are going to check that part of
his leg to make sure there's no infection there.
Friday night/Saturday early morning was a very tough morning for us.
I honestly thought I was going to lose Jeff. His vitals still were
not stable and with more purple showing up, and the way Jeff looked, I
was certain. Jeff is a fighter and he is continously fighting hard
because he told the nurses his goal is to get out of the hospital and
see his babies. All Saturday, Jeff has been doing good. His blood
pressure is up (still on 2 meds to help with that) and they have
stopped giving him so much fluids. The infectious disease dr came in
and said that he has necrotizing fasciitis which is a form of Strep A
(the same strep that kids get in their throats) The "necrotizing"
means "Flesh Eating Bacteria" The infection was literally "eating"
his tissue inside his leg. It also puts off heavy toxins which has
gotten into Jeff's bloodstream. It has affected Jeff's only kidney he
has, his lungs, and his liver. His kidney right now is not
functioning. Every liter or 2 they put in him, he is only able to
secrete 5 or maybe 10 cc's which is not good. They are going to put
him on dialysis to try to jump start his kidney and relieve him of
some fluids.
Saturday night - Jeff had a really good night. He is continuing to
fight hard, his vitals are maintaining, his lungs are good, but his
kidney is still not functioning, and his biliruben results (liver) is
very high which means the toxins are still affecting his liver. He is
on 2 heavy pain meds right now which is helping with his leg and
helping him sleep a little bit.
Sunday morning today!! Jeff is back in surgery. They have to go in
and clean his leg, and they are putting on a vaccuum pump. I haven't
seen one before, but apparently Jeff had one when he had his
motorcycle accident. I was told it's like a ziplock baggie and you
suck all the air out of it. It is supposed to help pump fluids in and
out of the open area on his leg to keep the muscle & bone moist and to
help with infections. Also, they are going to check his left (good)
leg and make sure he doesn't have any infection there.
I want to say thank you for all your kind words and thoughts. Jeff
and I have a LONG road ahead of us. He is going to be in ICU for
atleast 2 weeks, and then the regular hospital for a couple or more
weeks. I was told to expect atleast a month. He is going to have a
long road ahead with trying to get his leg to heal, possibly having
skin grafts and plastic surgery. We are definitely not out of the
woods yet. It is still possible that he might have to have his leg
amputated. We also have to deal with the problems that the toxins
have left on his organs. Jeff is still very critical and very very
sick.
Please keep continuing to pray for Jeff and have us in your thoughts.
Thank you for taking the time to read this!!
Vicki
Jeff is from Jacksonville and races off-road and on-road.
His a great Friend and Loves RC Racing.
Jeff just got married a few months ago and now he and his wife have twins on the way sometime in April.
Hi All, this is Vicki, Jeff's wife. I just wanted to update you on
Jeff (looks like Bobby has been doing a great job) Thanks Bobby!!
I'll start from the beginning...
Thurs Nov 29 - Jeff throughout the early morning developed a really
high fever of 103.2. We thought that it was just the "normal" cold
type fever. Throughout the day, he started getting progressively
worse with vomitting. Then later in the evening, the diarrhea
started. So, we are thinking now that it's just a flu bug of some
sort. Around 2 am Friday, Jeff moved from the bed to the couch to try
to get himself more comfortable and he felt bad for waking me up
constantly. I apparently fell back asleep and didn't know anything
that happened from 2am-7am. During that time, every time Jeff would
stand up, he would pass out. He didn't bother yelling for me or
trying to wake me up because of Colin (my son) So, when I woke up at
7am, he told me he needed to go to the ER. I had to get Colin ready
for school real quick and took him to the neighbors house next door.
I called 911 and the paramedics showed up. They took his blood
pressure and had to retake it because they couldn't believe it was
that low. It was like 50 something over 20 something. VERY LOW. Oh
yeah, also his bad leg was throbbing and turning purple. Jeff said
it's the worst pain he has ever had before in his life.
We got to the ER room and his vitals were still very low. He was very
dehydrated, weak, and pretty out of it. After about 3 hours, they
moved him to ICU. His vitals remained very low, his blood pressure
dropping and rising, dropping and rising. They had him on 3 different
types of blood pressure meds to try to stabilize it. They were also
pushing 2 liters of fluids down him every hour. Meanwhile, while all
this was going on, his leg was continuing to turn more purple all
over. Around 9pm, the surgeon decided to do emergency surgery on his
leg. She told me that if they didn't operate ASAP, we were going to
lose him. Said he has an infection that is very aggressive and moved
rapidly. Said everything on his leg that is purple is dead and needs
to come off. Jeff was in surgery for about an hour. When the surgeon
came out, she told me that all the skin and tissue from the lower knee
to his ankle is gone. They had to cut it all out down to the bone.
They did make two smaller incisions up on his upper leg on the sides
to check to make sure the infection hadn't spread up there, which it
has not!!! I didn't get to see Jeff til around 1am Sat morning. He
was heavily drugged and has a breathing tube in his mouth. I do want
to say that I noticed a small area on his left leg (his good leg) that
is starting to turn purple, so they are going to check that part of
his leg to make sure there's no infection there.
Friday night/Saturday early morning was a very tough morning for us.
I honestly thought I was going to lose Jeff. His vitals still were
not stable and with more purple showing up, and the way Jeff looked, I
was certain. Jeff is a fighter and he is continously fighting hard
because he told the nurses his goal is to get out of the hospital and
see his babies. All Saturday, Jeff has been doing good. His blood
pressure is up (still on 2 meds to help with that) and they have
stopped giving him so much fluids. The infectious disease dr came in
and said that he has necrotizing fasciitis which is a form of Strep A
(the same strep that kids get in their throats) The "necrotizing"
means "Flesh Eating Bacteria" The infection was literally "eating"
his tissue inside his leg. It also puts off heavy toxins which has
gotten into Jeff's bloodstream. It has affected Jeff's only kidney he
has, his lungs, and his liver. His kidney right now is not
functioning. Every liter or 2 they put in him, he is only able to
secrete 5 or maybe 10 cc's which is not good. They are going to put
him on dialysis to try to jump start his kidney and relieve him of
some fluids.
Saturday night - Jeff had a really good night. He is continuing to
fight hard, his vitals are maintaining, his lungs are good, but his
kidney is still not functioning, and his biliruben results (liver) is
very high which means the toxins are still affecting his liver. He is
on 2 heavy pain meds right now which is helping with his leg and
helping him sleep a little bit.
Sunday morning today!! Jeff is back in surgery. They have to go in
and clean his leg, and they are putting on a vaccuum pump. I haven't
seen one before, but apparently Jeff had one when he had his
motorcycle accident. I was told it's like a ziplock baggie and you
suck all the air out of it. It is supposed to help pump fluids in and
out of the open area on his leg to keep the muscle & bone moist and to
help with infections. Also, they are going to check his left (good)
leg and make sure he doesn't have any infection there.
I want to say thank you for all your kind words and thoughts. Jeff
and I have a LONG road ahead of us. He is going to be in ICU for
atleast 2 weeks, and then the regular hospital for a couple or more
weeks. I was told to expect atleast a month. He is going to have a
long road ahead with trying to get his leg to heal, possibly having
skin grafts and plastic surgery. We are definitely not out of the
woods yet. It is still possible that he might have to have his leg
amputated. We also have to deal with the problems that the toxins
have left on his organs. Jeff is still very critical and very very
sick.
Please keep continuing to pray for Jeff and have us in your thoughts.
Thank you for taking the time to read this!!
Vicki
Last edited by scarecrow; 12-03-2007 at 02:00 PM.
12-03-2007, 02:11 PM
#2
I never had the opportunity to meat him but wish the best and WILL defiantly pray. Hope everything comes out OK!!!!!!!
Bryan
Bryan
12-03-2007, 06:22 PM
#3
I have never had the opportunity to speak with Jeff but I have seen him a couple of times at the Daytona FSEARA race. I wish Jeff and his family the best and hope he will come through as well and as quickly as possible. If there is anything that can be done to help please post on here....
Get well soon!
Butter
Get well soon!
Butter
12-03-2007, 06:39 PM
#4
Jeff is an outstanding guy at the track, for the little bit of offroad I get to race he is always willing to help.
Hope everything works out for the best and if you guys need anything, like Butter said, let us know
Hope everything works out for the best and if you guys need anything, like Butter said, let us know
12-03-2007, 07:22 PM
#6
prayers are with you. GET WELL SOON
12-03-2007, 07:45 PM
#7
damn it!
always around the holidays!
JEFF GET WELL SOON!
WILLIAM SELL
JEFF GET WELL SOON!
WILLIAM SELL
12-04-2007, 07:40 AM
#8
Wow, I am just now reading all this and I am sorry for your news. I have meet Jeff and he is a really nice person. Hope he gets better.
Regards,
DJ Apolaro
Regards,
DJ Apolaro
12-04-2007, 09:34 AM
#9
All the best Jeff, get well soon.
12-05-2007, 05:42 AM
#10
Thoughts and prayers are with you Jeff, Vicki and family. Get well soon from all at JConcepts.
12-05-2007, 07:56 PM
#11
Jeff, Keep fighting the good fight. Its always good to have a prayer now and then and there seems to be lots of them heading your way.
Good luck my friend and we'll be doing some praying for you also.
Greg Esser
Good luck my friend and we'll be doing some praying for you also.
Greg Esser
12-05-2007, 08:12 PM
#12
Jeff, Get well soon. Hope to see you out at the track sometime this season.
12-06-2007, 05:15 AM
#13
Tech Regular
WOW
Jeff, Get well .Thoughts and prayers are with you.Hope to see you soon.
12-06-2007, 06:12 AM
#14
Tech Fanatic
Jeff, get well soon. Prayers are with you
Paolo
Paolo
