Good morning!
We found out late last night that the OR had to reschedule Eric's tracheotomy for Friday. They apparently were over booked, and Eric had some swelling in his chest and face (air underneath the skin from the ventilator), so he was the one they decided to push back. His swelling has gone down quite a bit by now. The doctors are still watching it just in case it indicates that another chest tube should be put in. Last night, they were also able to reduce his oxygen to 40% (from 50%) and keep the dialysis machine running. All of his vitals look nice and stable, too! I think they are going to try to start weening him off of his steroids and antibiotics today to see how he does. They're not going to completely eliminate all the meds, just try to get him to lower dosages.
A small concern is that his hemoglobin has been dropping the last few days. They were initially thinking that this drop was due to the problems we had with the dialysis machines. Every time they would clot or go down, he would lose blood in the tubing and the filter. This was happening fairly frequently, so the docs were not really concerned about the hemoglobin loss. However, they started a heparin drip yesterday to help with the dialysis, so they are being extra careful about watching for bleeds. Right now, he is getting a bag of red blood cells, so that should bring him back up to normal. It is so nice thinking that we went 11 days without getting any blood products. This is compared to the beginning when he would get as many bags transfused as they could in 24 hours.
Now, we are waiting for the doctors to make their rounds. We should hear some results today from the blood test for remission. I REALLY do not like our current hematologist's bedside manner, so I get nervous every time I think about it. Well, I guess I get nervous every time he walks into the room, but now with pending results, I'm a little more anxious.
Love,
Melissa
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good job of keeping us all informed! We really appreciate the updates.
ReplyDeleteLove, Aunt Ann
Chin up! We're all here for you!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm sure Friday can't come soon enough now! Hopefully, the reschedule will help his vitals continue to stay stable and health improve even more before the tracheotomy. Every day of healing, rest, and stability helps bring him back to you and your family! And let's not forget his newly acquired fan club.... :)
ReplyDeleteThough there is a great deal on the line pending this test, you'll never get rid of the nerves waiting for those tests results! My family still holds our breaths every 3 months when my brother goes in for his scans. Just stand your ground and don't let the hemotologist push your family into treating him like he's the median 65 year-old patient when he's 25!! All his blood numbers on the calm days seem promising!