We've had no fewer than 17 medical people (doctors, nurses, nursing students, residents, fellows, nutritionists, therapists, etc.) come through Noah's room today. While all are welcome (except maybe the nursing student who just stood and stared at me like she was waiting for me to do a dance), it makes for somewhat of a parade and sometimes a traffic jam. These visits also included two respiratory therapy sessions at midnight and 4 am that Noah slept through... which cannot be said for me and Josh.
Noah news (Day 5 @ Children's):
-Noah had a pretty brutal gastritis attack this morning. Twice he spit up some nastiness that was definitely not food (he is being fed with formula going directly into his small intestine) and that slightly concerned us. As the hours passed, he became increasingly agitated to the point that his heart rate skyrocketed and his face turned bright red. The neurology fellow who was in the room at the time got a wee-bit freaked out by this turn of events and began to frantically search for a cause. Our pediatric surgeon happened to wander in the room around this time and casually said that we may want to consider venting his g-tube then wandered back out again. Sure enough, after hooking up an empty syringe to his g-tube and the subsequent flow of additional nastiness, Noah settled down and looked at us as if to say, "What took you so long?" Our GI doc said he thinks the nastiness was a result of a irritated stomach and esophageal lining... not a huge deal, just uncomfortable for little Noah man.
-We get to add a new specialist the myriad of doctors who are involved in Noah's care. Dr. Clancy, a pulmonologist or lung doctor, introduced himself today and talked with us a little about the options we have in our attempts to protect Noah's airway. He is currently receiving respiratory therapy, which consists of a therapist coming in every four hours to essential pound on Noah's chest to loosen up any junk that is in there as well as using a machine that assists him in coughing. These are both therapies that we can continue at home if necessary. Our respiratory concerns right now are pretty simple. Noah's oxygen levels drop significantly when he is not supplemented with extra oxygen... he should be at a 100 all the time but he tends to drop into the upper 80s when he breathes completely on his own. Also, there is some concern that Noah is not clearing the carbon dioxide out of his lungs effectively. Please pray that his gas levels are stable, otherwise surgery might be postponed until next week!
-Noah is tentatively on the surgery schedule for tomorrow afternoon for his fundoplication. We are waiting to get clearance from the respiratory docs based on Noah's carbon dioxide levels and have our fingers crossed that no other emergency surgeries bump Noah out of line. He will have to be on the ventilator and be under anesthesia for the surgery... neither of which we are looking forward to. Please pray that he is able to breathe on his own after surgery... otherwise he will end up back in the PICU for recovery and remain on the ventilator.
-Our nurses have been awesome. Debbie, our current nurse, may actually try to take Noah home with her.
-Today's simple pleasure: Crushed ice. Is there anything better? And we have all the crushed ice we could want a few steps away at the nurses' station.
2 comments:
Praying for you, friends!
Praying for all of you and thanking God for his provision of crushed ice:). Linda
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