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The link for the funeral mass at St. Paul the Apostle Church is here: https://youtu.be/ZDxr340I9MU Mass will begin at 1pm. The burial will take place after (around 2:30pm) at Resurrection cemetery in Wyoming. For those of you who couldn’t attend the visitation, we will post the photo boards virtually tomorrow so you can see howContinue reading “Funeral Live Stream”

Daniel Wayne Hopkins, 62, of Grand Rapids, MI passed away on Wednesday, December 9th 2020. He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Laura and their five children Nicholas, Ashleigh Jordan, Jacob, Brittany Gallup (Jeffrey), and Caitlin as well as his grandchildren Paige, Penelope, Maelynn and Marshall. He is preceded in death by hisContinue reading “Obituary and Funeral Information”

Dan passed away peacefully with his family by his side today shortly before 3:30pm. Information regarding services have yet to be decided but will be added to this page for anyone who wishes to pay their respects. We have been blessed to have Dan in our lives, shaping us to be the people we are.Continue reading “December 9, 2020”

Dan did not have a good night they had to put the oxygen up to 100%. We have been told that at this point there’s nothing more that they can do for him and they no longer believe his hospital stay is survivable. The ability to keep a patient on a ventilator for a longContinue reading “December 8, 2020”

Today is not better news. They had to put him back on the paralytic this morning because his lungs were too tight and stiff to breathe even with the ventilator. He still has a ventilator up at 90% and his oxygen levels are at 90 to 92% they are not encouraged with his progress. He’sContinue reading “December 7, 2020”

I apologize for the delay, it was a busy day at the hospital so we had to wait quite a while for an update. They said today he was fighting the ventilator so they had to increase his sedation a bit so that he wouldn’t do damage to his lungs. They also had to increaseContinue reading “December 6, 2020”

Just a quick update. The paralytic is still off. They added a little more sedation so he doesn’t fight ventilator. They are doing a step by step process to see what his lungs can do. He is using the ventilator at 65% with his oxygen being in the low 90s. Hoping to be able toContinue reading “December 5, 2020”

I just got off the phone with Dan’s nurse. About an hour and a half ago they took Dan off the paralytic and they are hoping to keep him off of it. He’s still heavily sedated so he’s not feeling pain. Nor can he respond to any commands like “squeeze my hand” at this point.Continue reading “December 5, 2020”

The social worker at the hospital set up an iPad for us to be able to talk to Dan in his room for an hour daily. That is a blessing. It was great for us to be able to say hello to him and we know that hearing our voices will help him fight harder.Continue reading “December 4, 2020”

I Just talked to the nurse. They have decided to keep him on his back today since flipping him on his stomach hasn’t netted any gains in his lab tests. He is getting 80% from the ventilator and his blood oxygen levels are in the low 90’s with that amount of output. They did getContinue reading “December 4, 2020”

Dan’s nurse was able to get back to us and he said there’s been no changes for Dan. They kept him on his back for about four hours today and then put them back on to his stomach. His blood gases are in the 70s currently which is about what happened last night. They continueContinue reading “December 3, 2020”

I just got off the phone with the nurse. They are very concerned because Dan isn’t showing any improvement at this point. They have him on his back to give him a break for four hours but they will continue to put him back on his stomach because his blood gasses are dipping into theContinue reading “December 3, 2020”

They tried Dan on his back for four hours but his blood gas ratio went down to 70 so he is back on his stomach. The usual procedure is to keep him on his stomach for 16 hours and then try him on his back for four hours hoping to eventually work him up toContinue reading “December 2, 2020”

They are about to turn Dan on his back again. They are going to leave him on his back for a few hours and take another blood gas draw and see how he is doing. Hopefully they’ll be able to keep him on his back. They are able to send a sample from his lungsContinue reading “December 2, 2020”

Just got off the phone with the night nurse. Dan is doing much better. The paralytic is helping him relax enough to let the ventilator do the work. He is still on his stomach, proning. They are down to using only 70% of the oxygen from the ventilator and his blood gasses are in theContinue reading “December 1, 2020”

The doctor from the ICU called and let me know that they are going to give Dan a paralytic. It will keep his lungs from working and let the ventilator do all the work. They also keep him on his stomach so he can breathe easier. They assured me he won’t be in any painContinue reading “December 1, 2020”

Dan’s doctor just called and his oxygen levels keep the paid down into the 80s and sometimes the 70s. So they’ve decided it’s time to put him on a ventilator and take some of the stress off his lungs. They will sedate them before they do. He’ll be under sedation most of the time. TheyContinue reading “December 1, 2020”

The ICU doctor called and said that Dan’s new blood oxygen levels came back. They are better than they were this morning so they aren’t going to intubate him right now. It is at 91%. She said the he has stabilized. They want to keep him in the ICU, the team feels it’s the bestContinue reading “November 30, 2020”

Dan is still struggling to breathe. They put a face mask over his nose cannula so that will get oxygen through his mouth as well. They looked at his blood gasses and are concerned. So they are transferring him tot he ICU to keep a closer look on him. He is ok now, she said.Continue reading “November 30, 2020”

The doctor treating Dan just called. She said that he requires the same oxygen level as he’s had the last couple days, about 90-95%. She said he will continue the steroids he’s been taking for a 10 day treatment and the remdesivir is usually a five day treatment, so he has two more days toContinue reading “November 29, 2020”