Emylie had a fairly good night last night. Her breathing was a little labored, so they decided not to wean her PEEP for the night. She also had a little bit of a leak around her trach. The nurse, Andrea #2 (only bcz this is the second Andrea that has cared for her this stay) would often have the respiratory therapist come check Emylie and they decided that because her sats were good they didn't want to add any more water to the cuff. She also spiked a fever of 38.9C, so they sent a blood culture. She got a chest xray this morning at 4:30am. With the movement she woke up a little. I was standing at her bedside. She raised her right hand a little, keeping her fingers close together and then tried to mouth something...she was asking for her Binky! :) I asked her if she wanted pink or purple and she mouthed "pink". When she tried to speak, her mouth moves very gently and slow. It was a sweet moment. The nurse also said last night she put chapstick on her lips and asked Emylie if she wanted to taste it and Emylie tried licking her lips. :) She had a lot of nasal and mouth secretions which are incredibly thick because of the meds. Last night Andrea even had to get a larger suction catheter because the other was getting plugged...ok sorry if that was to much info.
This morning during rounds they decided to cut her PEEP from 12 to 11, turned down her breaths per minute from 31 to 20 and turned her pressure support from 14 to 12. The discontinued her lasix. They inflated her cuff a little, thinking that perhaps that swelling has gone down so that is why she got a leak. Her chest xray doesn't look worse, other than she has a little air in her soft tissue on the right side up by her neck and a little lower by her abdominal cavity, probably from taking the chest tube out. They feel it should absorb and not be an issue but they will monitor it with daily chest xrays. I had stepped out of the room for a minute to get a drink and when I came back, the left side of Emylie's face was swollen. :( They are wondering if it is positional, so they turned her on the right side and will see if anything changes and go from there.
I think we are on the right track.
Dr. Tell Bennett says...slow and steady wins the race.
Thanks again for all the prayers!! Thank you for all your support it helps immeasurably.
I'm slow to leave a comment, but I wanted you guys to know that I'm following your blog and I'm praying for sweet Emylie. Cindy and I are planning to come visit soon. Just wanted you to know that your horse friends are thinking about you and are praying for all of you!
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