Three Guesses, and the First Two Don't Count

When asking the obvious question, my mom used to say, "I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count." It was her way of saying, "You know exactly what the answer is."

So here it is: Where's Aaron? I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count.

Yep, you got it.

We're back.

I kinda expected this would happen, and even pretty much saw it coming. 

I mean, the antibiotics that we've been using forever to keep his tracheitis at bay have been subdued by the enemy. So the plan was to try to get something else, but only use it when he was symptomatic. 

He got something or other about a week ago and we started seeing it in his trach, eyes, and right ear. Yeah, the same place we always see problems start.  But no fever, no nasal discharge, and other than tired, he mostly did okay. 

He did become less stable, but it was for a few minutes here and there each day.  Unstable like, he would drop his sats to the 60's and sometimes 50's.  Not good, but again, it was brief. 

So Monday evening we came back up to get checked out. He looked good, really, but I was on edge with things. In the ED, everything was coming back right in the normal range.  He was even pretty much baseline on his oxygen. There was no way he needed the PICU so he came up to the floor.  We had a new doc on the team who very much didn't want to use the big IV antibiotics. I mean, I get it. They need to not be used except when very much needed.  But when the germs don't respond to anything else (including the one he was sure would work), they're needed! Whatever. 

Yesterday also went really well except I was pretty foggy. We didn't get to our room until just after 5 am. Discussion last night was that we would wait until today for the samples to finish growing and then go home tonight. 

Yeahhhhh. 

Maybe not.

Those grew out just like I was afraid they would. We need those IV antibiotics, and a week of them. Plus, he's become less stable through the course of the day. Instead of mid to high 80's on 3-4 liters, he's struggling to maintain 77 on 8-10 liters. I really don't want to end up in the PICU.  I guess the plus side is, (if he reads the script right) I'll take him home next Tuesday on what's my day off anyway. That will be a lot easier than working all day, driving back up here, and then driving home. Sigh...  

So yep, Aaron is hanging out at Primary's. And frankly, he's having a good time here. I'm grateful for that.

When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, 

don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.

Confucius