Sunday, January 18, 2009

So I wanted to share with you a picture  of Christy's pedicure.  When I went to visit her  yesterday, Kanani had added a pretty flower design and some bling!! You can't really see the rhinestones in this picture but they are there. Christy has the sassiest toes in the hospital--hands down!

So the exciting news of the day is that Christy is completely off the ventilator (breathing machine).  She no longer needs the breathing machine to aid her.  She was taken off the breathing machine this morning around 9:00-9:30 am.  They have been weaning her since she got her trach on Friday.  So, remember yesterday we were talking about needing humidified oxygen because the trach bypasses the nose and upper airway? Well, I wanted to show you another picture of what is delivering that humidified oxygen to her-  the picture below shows a trach collar/mask.  This device is hooked to oxygen coming out of the wall from the central oxygen delivery system of the hospital.  From the wall extends tubing hooked to a plastic bottle of saline & then more tubing that leads to the mask.  The oxygen is humidified & warmed by the attachment on the tube with the saline bottle.  It's band is worn loose around the neck for comfort.  The other picture below is a side view of  where the trach is actually placed in her windpipe.

Chirsty breaths completely on her own and is maintaining good oxygenation without distress.  She was breathing about 18 breaths a minute when we were in the room tonight.  She was calm and look like she was just resting.  If she was breathing 30-40 breaths a minute, that would be too fast.  It would be a sign that she is in respiratory distress.  She would be working too hard to get her oxygen.  Christy looked very comfortable.  Christy also has a good cough which will be instrumental in getting any mucus out of her lungs.  She can be suctioned intermittently by a nurse or respiratory therapist as she needs it.

Christy is still on tube feeding (liquid food, looks like "ensure" if you've seen that in a can).  Her feeding tube goes from her mouth down to the very beginning of the small intestine. She is still tolerating her goal feeding (optimal nutrition) without any problems.  

Chrsity's blood pressure and other vital signs have been very stable.  She still wears a cervical collar (neck brace) around her neck in case she suffered trauma to the neck.  They don't think she has a neck injury, but they weren't able to do a MRI the first 48 hours to be positive.  The hospital policy is they have to leave it on for 6 weeks without that MRI, or have Christy say to them that she has no neck pain.  It stabilizes her neck to protect her from moving her neck too far in any direction.

Chrsity is at a point where she is breathing on her own, tolerating her food delivery well, and not requiring frequent correction of lab tests.  All of her other injuries to the internal organs and her ribs, shoulder blade and spine are stable.  She is so stable that they will probably move her to another floor tomorrow.  When I get more details about that I will update.  

Now all Christy needs to do is regain consciousness! Please keep praying for her speedy recovery.  Until tomorrow!