While there's cause for some optimism this morning, it's only because we learned just how serious Michael Schumacher's accident was yesterday following a skiing accident in France. Schumacher is still in "critical" condition, but doctors seem to think he's improving.
What we know today is that the fall Schumacher took while skiing in the Alps was so severe it cracked his helmet and that doctors labored yesterday to keep him alive.
The rest we'll get from Former F1 doctor Gary Harstein, who writes on his blog after this morning's press conference with doctors:
It sounds retrospectively that MichaeL's ICP was worrisomely and persistently high yesterday, despite the right sided bone flap not having been closed. This was a standard and totally normal decision Sunday in the OR. The ICP problem was so worrisome that they considered a dip to be a "respite" allowing them to scoot to the scan. Now remember, I'm piecing this together from the words used, so everything I say is therefore subject to interpretation. But we've all had patients like this and agonised over going to the scan, coz until just before (the respite they're talking about) every time we TOUCHED them their ICP shot up. So the decision was made to gain some room, and drain what sounds like superficial left-sided hematoma.
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This leads me to insist on just how sick Michael was yesterday. These guys were sweating bullets, doing everything known to man to help, and they deserve a lot of credit. But this was SERIOUSLY life threatening minute to minute yesterday.
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Lastly, I think we can A) reset all the countdown clocks we started yesterday (time to reduce sedation, time to wean from vent, etc). And B) insist on just how severely Michael is injured. Be patient. This is gonna take a long time.
That last bit is the most important information. This isn't going to be quick or easy. We don't know what long-term damage there is. The good news today is that the news isn't as bad as yesterday.
Michael Schumacher's Condition Improving, Undergoes Second Surgery