Here We Go Again

 

On our way in the ambulance.
Thanks, Lone Peak Fire!!

Soooo, here we are, again.  

In truth, it's actually been quite a while.  We spent a day in the ER in September, a few days in the hospital last April, and then the ugly stay back in September of 2020.  That's all (that I'm remembering) for pretty much the past two years.  I've enjoyed not being here.  

So what happened?  I'm not really sure.  No one else is, either.

He was sick over Christmas time.  But the great part is that with the new trach that we put in the beginning of October, we had lots of wiggle room.  Over time, we went from tolerating sats above 77% and oxygen needs of 6-10 liters every day to sats in the mid 80's and oxygen flow of 3-6 liters.  That gave us enough breathing space (like what I did there?) to be able to increase his oxygen to compensate for not feeling well.  Long and short of it is we stayed home, and it wasn't even that hard.

But this week has been a bit rougher.  Not bad, per se, but "something" going on.  By about 6 pm on Thursday, I figured we were coming to the end of what I was going to be able to do at home.  But still,  I kept telling him that it wasn't a good thing to miss the first day of class in a new semester.  I needed him to give me until Friday afternoon and then we could go in.  Um, I guess I forgot who really is in charge.

If you're triggered by medical issues, stop reading here and just know he's doing okay and we'll make it.  Yeah, our evening was that ugly.

We tried bagging, extra breathing treatments, and then changed out the trach.  Often it's helped.  It DID. NOT. GO. WELL!!!  At all!  

After the awful trach change.

It wasn't an "emergency" change.  I got the back-up trach, not the one we have hanging and ready to go in an emergency.  I prepped it.  Michael bagged him while I did this.  Even with bagging, sats weren't "amazing."  Pulled the old one out, put the new one in.  Easy peasy.  Except it didn't work.  Like, he wasn't breathing.  Sats plummeted.  Quickly hit 60% while bagging on 10 liters.  In the meantime, I grabbed the stethoscope and listened to all four lung quadrants.  Nothing!  Asymmetrical tugging and retracting.  Audible crying as he struggled to breathe.  

Yanked the trach, threw the old one back in.  Bagged more, and he started to come up but still struggled.  And there was NOTHING in either trach.  No reason for what happened.  But when we'd stop bagging, he didn't maintain, which meant that I couldn't bring him on my own.  

So we called in the cavalry, you know, the ones in the big red truck.  Actually, by the time we got to the hospital, he was looking pretty good, but then we were still bagging him.  

So once we got here?  X-ray was read as viral pneumonia, but the docs and I all agreed that it pretty much looked like Aaron, cloudy with a chance of junk (although we're still not pulling any junk out).  Viral panel came back negative for everything.  Labs did show higher markers for infection, and he possibly has an ear infection, but we're really not seeing anything else.  By the time morning came, he was back where he belonged at home.  We've got a couple newer docs who don't really know him, and they were ready to push to the floor.  I suggested we needed to wait for that one until we saw what he did today.  They wanted to move him to the regular ventilator instead of the ICU one.  Okay, but keep the ICU one in the room as insurance.  

Hangin' in the ER waiting for a bed.

So now he's on the regular vent, but has also maxed out a few times on his oxygen.  They've been in and out a few times this afternoon.  We've done more breathing treatments.  He's gotten Tylenol because his heart rate is still quite elevated, although no fever.  Long and short, we're not sure what's going on.  It could be the ear infection.   If the antibiotics work, he may feel much better tomorrow.  It could also be another virus.   I mean, they test for about 30 or so, but there are hundreds.  It's not Covid.  It's not Rhino.  It's not the flu (any of the flu varieties).

But he's playing.  He's not as interactive and energetic as he usually is.  He's not well.  But I'm also not worried about where this one is going.  He's whacking at his toys on his Mardi Gras beads strung across the bed.  We'll make it work.  

We got to our room about 4 am and I had class at 8 am.  Thankfully, that one was online.  Nothing like missing the first day of class to make a good impression on your professors.  Fortunately, they're understanding and are willing to work with me.  But I'm exhausted.  I'll try to keep things updated, although most updates may be on his Facebook page.  Anyway, please keep us in your prayers.  

"Be strong because things will get better. It may be stormy now, but it never rains forever."

- Unknown.