The 4 Trafs: Fig (Lamar) Craigarina (Greg) Chuckles (Billy) Nuss (Steve)
Goooooooood Morning!
Well, I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up! I spoke with his nurse a few minutes ago - Joe - Who said that Dr. Strickland & Dr. Farless had just made rounds... They decided their goal now would be to extubate tomorrow, since Joe was still pulling a lot of fluid off of his lungs. Since he has been productive in suctioning the fluid out mechanically, they decided to leave him on the ventilator in hopes that they could get even more fluid off of his lungs instead of leaving him solely responsible for coughing it up on his own, which is one of the reasons why he had to be re-intubated two times. I didn't realize he still had so much fluid down there... He also said that there is a chance that Dr. Strickland could round again this afternoon, see that Dad is doing well, and change his mind to take the tube out today, but he wouldn't know that until later. Joe did inform me that they lowered the settings on the vent even more, so that now it is "puffing" his airways open even less, which means he's doing that much more on his own. And they are continuing to keep him a bit more sedated because each time he wakes up he becomes agitated and reached for the tube... Joe said you only get one strike pulling the tube out yourself - Which he has already used up, ha - So he is sedated, resting & restrained!
Joe also said that the tube feeding is going "so well that he is requesting that the dieticians lower the amount of fiber in the mixer"... HA... Way to digest, Dad!
More to come later...
I went and saw him around 2 today.... Joe, his nurse, was super nice and filled me in on the goings on. Billy was sedated as NOT to be able to take the tube out for a 3rd time. He had good color though and was breathing well....
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kate! Totally appreciate your comments & updates... It helps me picture everything while having to be so far away!! :)
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