Hello Amazing People!
The latest skinny!
1.) Tonight at 0300, they'll stop her feeds and increase her dose of saline. They're also really going to lower her ventilator settings to prepare & test her w/how well she'll do on her own.
2.) Tomorrow (Sun) is a BIG day...she's getting extubated around 0900 (EST)!!!! (In Other Words: getting the ventilator out...FINALLY!) Thank God! They said it should be about a 20-30 min procedure. They want her fully awake so that she'll hopefully yell, cry & scream as much as possible, b/c they want her to fully inflate & use her lungs as quickly as possible once they remove the tube...seriously. So...please pray that the extubation will go GREAT & that she immediately takes over the breathing process as soon as they remove the vent. They said it's not the most comfortable procedure just due to that big ventilator tube being pulled up out of her throat. She may not do a whole lot of talking right away. No sweat...she doesn't talk a whole lot anyway. She's kinda like her mom in that regard. Gorgeous (my awesome wife) isn't the most talkative of sorts. I pretty much make up for both of them. (I know that's a pretty big surprise to most of you. I've pretty much been labeled "shy" and "reserved" most my life...ok...not so much.)
3.) So once they remove the vent tube, they'll allow her to be awake (FINALLY!), but will keep her somewhat sedated b/c she'll still have both chest tubes in. They're going to keep her in the PICU for at least 24 hrs to monitor her & see how well she's breathing on her own.
4.) They're also going to start weening her off all the meds they've had to give her the past 2 weeks. They're going to possibly be giving her valium, morphine & methadone. Evidently those are to help with the withdrawal process. I've never done drugs myself, so I'm not quite sure how the withdrawal process works.
5.) Thanks again for your prayers, emails, texts, Fb messages & voice messages! They are all VERY much appreciated! We do apologize if we have not yet responded to your individual messages, but please know we do read/listen to them all & are VERY grateful for all of them!
6.) Daylen is coming along well, too! He's been stable the past couple days and they're beginning to ween him off the oscillator w/the goal of getting him on a regular ventilator in the next day or two. Again, the bottom line is that he is ALSO healing! Thank you for praying for him as well!
7.) Medical Staff update: Lauren took care of Elena (& 1 or 2 other new kids who arrived this a.m. in the PICU) and Suzanne took care of Daylen (& 1 or 2 other new kids) and Jenny also took care of 1 or 2 new ones. Al was the Respiratory Therapist. Tonight we've got Deborah taking care of Elena & a couple others, Sherrie is taking care of Daylen & a couple others, Shera is taking care of a couple others and Elizabeth is the Respiratory Therapist. Both day & night shift are super duper! Christina was the PA today and David Henderson is the PA tonight. Dr. Finch has been the weekend PICU Doc. He's also 4 right angles from what I've heard. (i.e.: really "squared away").
We love & appreciate you all SO much!
Thank you for joining us in this fight!
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"You are a solution to someone else's problems." --Mike Murdock
"The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your relationships." --Michael Fletcher
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