Hi,
Eric has been a lot more awake today. First thing this morning, he asked us to move his arms for him. He's probably pretty stiff from laying in one position for so long, and this allows him to try to work his muscles, too. I'm trying really hard to be better at lip reading, but apparently, I'm a slow learner. He's been on a trach collar for most of the day. The Ear, Nose and Throat doctor said that the next step is to deflate his cuff on the trach he has now (they switched it out this morning to keep it clean), then they'll move to a smaller trach with a valve to allow him to talk. The next step after that is removing it completely. Hopefully, we will move quickly through this. He's been doing so well off the ventilator during the day, that I'm hoping this will be the case. We still haven't seen a physical therapist (PT) or a speech therapist (ST). The PT will give us a better idea of what we can do to help him out. We're moving his arms and legs when he asks us, but I don't want to do this too much or hurt him. The ST will do a swallow assessment to see if he can swallow liquids. Since he had the ventilator tubing in his mouth for so long, it expanded his trachea a little. This makes it difficult to swallow correctly, and they want to make sure no liquids get down into his lungs before allowing him to eat or drink anything.
We started to talk today about longer care rehab centers. These are centers that people go to directly out of the hospital that will work with them up to 25 days, as needed. If necessary, patients can then move onto other rehab centers for more therapy or care. It sounds like we'll be heading from the PCU to one of these rehab centers. This is where Eric will get a lot of his physical therapy. They recommended one around the block from IU hospital and one in Lafayette. It would be really nice to be closer to home. They both have their perks, though. Does anyone have any experience with Kindred (Indianapolis) or Seton (Lafayette)?
I told Eric today that his favorite racer, Michael Schumacher, is coming out of retirement and will be racing the Formula 1 circuit. He REALLY perked up at that. Then I told him that he won't be racing for Ferrari, but for Mercedes. He definitely gave me an outraged look. It was really nice to see his reactions.
I know new posts haven't been very frequent lately. Now that he's more awake, I find that I'm a little more busy. :) So know that if there is a long time between posts, it's because things are going well.
Love,
Melissa
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Trach Collar
Hi,
Eric made some more improvements with his ventilator today. About midday, he was moved to a trach collar, which basically meant he was breathing completely on his own. All it supplied was a little more oxygen than normal air. He was on and off of this twice today in 2 hour durations. Now, he's back on volume control mode on the ventilator to give him a break. He's completely off of both sedative drips, with only small doses of ativan (one of the sedatives, anti-anxiety) as needed tonight. The idea is to get him even more awake tomorrow.
He was communicating with us even more today. It gets a little hard, because he can't talk with the trach tube. Plus, he hasn't moved or talked in 6 weeks, so even when he mouths words, we have a hard time knowing what he is trying to say. I'm sure this is very frustrating for him. I just wish I could do more to make him comfortable. He's also starting to try to move around a little in the bed. He is so weak, and I'm sure he hurts pretty much everywhere. I wish I could make it easier on him. We're all so happy to see him like this, and he probably doesn't understand why; at least, I hope he doesn't understand. I'm starting to sleep at the hospital again, because I don't want him to wake up and not recognize anyone.
He had a fever yesterday, peaking at 101.5 F, but now that is almost completely gone. It will be so nice to start taking lines away from him, since those are the most likely sources of infection.
I wanted to thank everyone again for all of the cards, comments, emails, and packages. We're going to have a fun time showing them all to Eric once he is more awake. I think we've gotten over 100 cards since we've been here. They've been absolutely wonderful to receive and read. It is truly amazing the amount of support we have, and it means so much to all of us here.
Love,
Melissa
Eric made some more improvements with his ventilator today. About midday, he was moved to a trach collar, which basically meant he was breathing completely on his own. All it supplied was a little more oxygen than normal air. He was on and off of this twice today in 2 hour durations. Now, he's back on volume control mode on the ventilator to give him a break. He's completely off of both sedative drips, with only small doses of ativan (one of the sedatives, anti-anxiety) as needed tonight. The idea is to get him even more awake tomorrow.
He was communicating with us even more today. It gets a little hard, because he can't talk with the trach tube. Plus, he hasn't moved or talked in 6 weeks, so even when he mouths words, we have a hard time knowing what he is trying to say. I'm sure this is very frustrating for him. I just wish I could do more to make him comfortable. He's also starting to try to move around a little in the bed. He is so weak, and I'm sure he hurts pretty much everywhere. I wish I could make it easier on him. We're all so happy to see him like this, and he probably doesn't understand why; at least, I hope he doesn't understand. I'm starting to sleep at the hospital again, because I don't want him to wake up and not recognize anyone.
He had a fever yesterday, peaking at 101.5 F, but now that is almost completely gone. It will be so nice to start taking lines away from him, since those are the most likely sources of infection.
I wanted to thank everyone again for all of the cards, comments, emails, and packages. We're going to have a fun time showing them all to Eric once he is more awake. I think we've gotten over 100 cards since we've been here. They've been absolutely wonderful to receive and read. It is truly amazing the amount of support we have, and it means so much to all of us here.
Love,
Melissa
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Another Good Day
Hi Everyone!
We just saw the kidney doctors, and the first thing they said was, "Well, you really don't need kidney doctors anymore!", so they are signing off! The nurse is going to take out his dialysis catheter in a little bit, so that is one less line that is in him. Plus, this one was in his neck, so I'm sure it will be more comfortable to wake up to. They've already reduced both sedatives today. He's been awake a lot more this morning. He had his eyes open enough that I went ahead and put his glasses on for him. Every time we ask if he is in pain, he shakes his head no. He's breathing really well, so I think we might be able to move out of the ICU in a few days! The next step is to get him off the ventilator and put a collar on his trach tube. This supplies oxygen without any positive pressure for breaths. Then, once they've decided he can handle this well enough on his own, he'll be able to move from the ICU to the Progressive Care Unit (PCU). The last time we were there was Dec 12th and 13th. He'll still get a lot of care, but the room is much more comfortable to be in. We have not yet seen the Infectious Disease doctor today, but she said yesterday that she was planning on signing off today as well. He has made so much improvement in such a short time! Everyone that has helped us out these past 6 weeks keep stopping by to see him, especially since he looks so different and more like himself. It is so nice to get this kind of attention, because we've definitely had the other kind while we've been here. I am just so happy and so grateful!
Love,
Melissa
We just saw the kidney doctors, and the first thing they said was, "Well, you really don't need kidney doctors anymore!", so they are signing off! The nurse is going to take out his dialysis catheter in a little bit, so that is one less line that is in him. Plus, this one was in his neck, so I'm sure it will be more comfortable to wake up to. They've already reduced both sedatives today. He's been awake a lot more this morning. He had his eyes open enough that I went ahead and put his glasses on for him. Every time we ask if he is in pain, he shakes his head no. He's breathing really well, so I think we might be able to move out of the ICU in a few days! The next step is to get him off the ventilator and put a collar on his trach tube. This supplies oxygen without any positive pressure for breaths. Then, once they've decided he can handle this well enough on his own, he'll be able to move from the ICU to the Progressive Care Unit (PCU). The last time we were there was Dec 12th and 13th. He'll still get a lot of care, but the room is much more comfortable to be in. We have not yet seen the Infectious Disease doctor today, but she said yesterday that she was planning on signing off today as well. He has made so much improvement in such a short time! Everyone that has helped us out these past 6 weeks keep stopping by to see him, especially since he looks so different and more like himself. It is so nice to get this kind of attention, because we've definitely had the other kind while we've been here. I am just so happy and so grateful!
Love,
Melissa
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