Hi again everyone. Well, we are still at the hospital. Chrissy is doing okay. She is being weaned off the vent and they are very slowly doing that. Don't ask me why it has to be such a long, drawn out process, but that's the way they do things here! She has been on straight trach collar trials (just using trach collar with warm humidified air on a blowby) today. First they let her go one hour on it, then back on the vent, then two hours off, and back on the vent, then three hours off. She is back on the vent for tonight and tomorrow will go longer off the vent. One thing they are concerned about is her central apnea while she is sleeping, so tomorrow night she will have a sleep study done - half the night on the vent and half the night on c-pap through the vent. If she tolerates the c-pap only and doesn't have a lot of episodes of central apnea, she will go home with a portable vent that uses c-pap (sorry, dont know the technical term) through it. If she has a lot of apnea episodes even with the c-pap, then she will go home on the vent at night, but off the vent during the day. Hope all that makes sense!!
She is adjusting well to her trach. We are only having to suction her three or four times a day, which they tell me is a good thing! At night we maybe have to suction once. The respiratory therapist says that the vent keeps them pretty clear of secretions, and we may see a slight increase in secretions and suctioning when she is off the vent.
We had trach care and trach change class today and I was able to change her trach for the first time. Kind of scary, but pretty easy to do. Her dad was here and had to change the trach too, so she got two back to back changes. Dad was more nervous than me and was slower too! LOL
The plan at this point is for Chrissy to go home on Monday, so we have a few days yet to get through. Two weeks in the hospital is a looooooonnnng time!
Emily has her sedated ABR (hearing) test in the morning. Her dad is bringing her up to the hospital in the morning for that.
Our dear friend (and Chrissy's nurse) Peggy is helping out with getting Stephen and my neice Marissa on the school bus in the morning. I am so thankful we have her to help us out! And did I mention how grateful I am she is Chrissy's nurse!! We are so fortunate to have her as a friend and as a nurse!
Thanks for all the prayers everyone!
Welcome to the Mason Family Blog. Our story, our family, our happiness and our sorrows. Our journey through earthly life with all the joy and all the pain and all the faith and love needed until we return to Heavenly Father's loving arms....
"When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequalities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance." -Elder David A. Bedmar
Hi Angela!
ReplyDeleteWow, you guys have had so much going on since I left! I am glad to hear Chrissy is moving along and working on weaning. Glad to hear Emily is now officially a candidate for the implants! Strep has been nasty this year, from what I heard. Tell Stephen hello and to steer clear of the strep! Tell Peggy I said hi as well. I hope you are hanging in there yourself. Take good care of yourself so you can take good care of your family. Hopefully, we will both be out of the medical center very soon! Many prayers for you and your family, Wendy.