I apologize for not updating this sooner. My laptop was the least of my worries as I was running out of my house! Obviously, the last few posts were time-delayed! Here's the scoop on the last 36 hours.
Abby had had a rough night Monday into Tuesday. She threw up, which is something she never does. Our night nurse was concerned that Abby was just generally unhappy and agitated, getting very little sleep that night.
Our day nurse was late that morning, so I was on my own for about 20 minutes. Shortly after D got there, we noticed that Abby was wheezing and decided to give her a nebulizer treatment. I wanted to suction before because I could hear a lot of junk in there. When I did, I felt a lot of resistance and didn't get anything. We put her back on the vent for a few seconds while I got some saline to try to loosen the secretions. At that point, Abby went into respiratory distress and turned blue. We bagged her and gave her oxygen, which didn't help. We decided to change the trach, which is no easy task when you're freaking out. I had a hard time opening up the package--but we couldn't have it out beforehand because the trach is sterile.
After changing the trach and continuing to bag her, Abby went from blue to gray. I called 911 immediately after changing the trach and made sure they understood that she was a trached and vented child.
While D continued to bag Abby, I set up the oxygen to go through the vent. We quickly switched her over to the vent again and waited for the ambulance. While we waited, we suctioned her and got a lot of bloody secretions (probably from the trauma of the emergency trach change.)
Once they got there at about 10:30, she was looking a little better and they asked if I still wanted to go to the hospital. I said absolutely because she lost oxygen and I didn't want to take chances. Something was obviously wrong! It was a good thing that I insisted because she started having trouble again in the ambulance and they ended up taking her Priority One (really, really fast!!)
They quickly assessed Abby and noted that she was really laboring to breathe and extremely uncomfortable. All I can say about our local hospital is that I am thankful that they recognized that they were out of their league and quickly decided to send Abby to JH.
The doctor at the local hospital did the RSV test. When it very quickly came back positive, they decided to medivac her to JH. IThey allowed me to ride in the helicopter, and we left the ground at 1:30.
TWICE in the last four months, I have ridden in a medical helicopter! TWICE. Most people never do it in their lifetime, and I've done it TWICE in the last FOUR months! Just once, I want to ride in a helicopter for fun, please. Under different circumstances, I would have really enjoyed myself. Just like last time, I was way too worried about my daughter's well-being to take in the sights!
We touched down about 2:00, answered the same questions 53 times with 53 different people, and were finally admitted to a room in the IMC at around 6:30. We are actually in a large room with about ten other children, and there are always nurses present. I stayed in the room last night but didn't sleep at all because of the noise and beeps. If I'm going to be any good to anybody, I need to sleep tonight. Thank goodness for RMH! They found me a room and welcomed me back like an old friend!
Right now, they're monitoring Abby for signs of respiratory distress. She has been weaned off of the oxygen and has been on room air since early this morning. While she has slept most of the day, Abby had a good awake time where she was very alert and happy. It was nice to see! She is definitely looking better, but is still having a lot of secretions.
We're not exactly sure when we are heading home, but it depends on Abby's feeding and respiratory status. They say that RSV is at its worst at day five, but we don't know if we have hit day five or not! Hopefully we're past the worst of it.
Overall feelings about the last 36 hours?
I am thankful for the quick thinking of my day nurse. She's a keeper!!
I faced my fear of not knowing what to do in an emergency and was able to keep my head. We now know that we need to change the placement of a few things and I know what I need to do if this happens again.
I'm even more convinced than ever that one person should not be left alone in the house with Abby. I'm not sure how either one of us would have done it all by ourselves.
Thank goodness Caleb was at school!!
Our respiratory therapist set up our travel vent with the circuit just the day before "just in case of emergency." This was not an accident. God certainly planned this!
Yesterday was a whirlwind for me and I am not sure I have fully processed what nearly happened.
I'm really not ready to be back in a hospital yet. I think I'm going to develop White Coat Syndrome too!
Thank you Lord for protecting Abby and giving D and I the wisdom to know how to handle the situation.
I love my girl more now than ever. Cherish every minute!!
Abby had had a rough night Monday into Tuesday. She threw up, which is something she never does. Our night nurse was concerned that Abby was just generally unhappy and agitated, getting very little sleep that night.
Our day nurse was late that morning, so I was on my own for about 20 minutes. Shortly after D got there, we noticed that Abby was wheezing and decided to give her a nebulizer treatment. I wanted to suction before because I could hear a lot of junk in there. When I did, I felt a lot of resistance and didn't get anything. We put her back on the vent for a few seconds while I got some saline to try to loosen the secretions. At that point, Abby went into respiratory distress and turned blue. We bagged her and gave her oxygen, which didn't help. We decided to change the trach, which is no easy task when you're freaking out. I had a hard time opening up the package--but we couldn't have it out beforehand because the trach is sterile.
After changing the trach and continuing to bag her, Abby went from blue to gray. I called 911 immediately after changing the trach and made sure they understood that she was a trached and vented child.
While D continued to bag Abby, I set up the oxygen to go through the vent. We quickly switched her over to the vent again and waited for the ambulance. While we waited, we suctioned her and got a lot of bloody secretions (probably from the trauma of the emergency trach change.)
Once they got there at about 10:30, she was looking a little better and they asked if I still wanted to go to the hospital. I said absolutely because she lost oxygen and I didn't want to take chances. Something was obviously wrong! It was a good thing that I insisted because she started having trouble again in the ambulance and they ended up taking her Priority One (really, really fast!!)
They quickly assessed Abby and noted that she was really laboring to breathe and extremely uncomfortable. All I can say about our local hospital is that I am thankful that they recognized that they were out of their league and quickly decided to send Abby to JH.
The doctor at the local hospital did the RSV test. When it very quickly came back positive, they decided to medivac her to JH. IThey allowed me to ride in the helicopter, and we left the ground at 1:30.
TWICE in the last four months, I have ridden in a medical helicopter! TWICE. Most people never do it in their lifetime, and I've done it TWICE in the last FOUR months! Just once, I want to ride in a helicopter for fun, please. Under different circumstances, I would have really enjoyed myself. Just like last time, I was way too worried about my daughter's well-being to take in the sights!
We touched down about 2:00, answered the same questions 53 times with 53 different people, and were finally admitted to a room in the IMC at around 6:30. We are actually in a large room with about ten other children, and there are always nurses present. I stayed in the room last night but didn't sleep at all because of the noise and beeps. If I'm going to be any good to anybody, I need to sleep tonight. Thank goodness for RMH! They found me a room and welcomed me back like an old friend!
Right now, they're monitoring Abby for signs of respiratory distress. She has been weaned off of the oxygen and has been on room air since early this morning. While she has slept most of the day, Abby had a good awake time where she was very alert and happy. It was nice to see! She is definitely looking better, but is still having a lot of secretions.
We're not exactly sure when we are heading home, but it depends on Abby's feeding and respiratory status. They say that RSV is at its worst at day five, but we don't know if we have hit day five or not! Hopefully we're past the worst of it.
Overall feelings about the last 36 hours?
I am thankful for the quick thinking of my day nurse. She's a keeper!!
I faced my fear of not knowing what to do in an emergency and was able to keep my head. We now know that we need to change the placement of a few things and I know what I need to do if this happens again.
I'm even more convinced than ever that one person should not be left alone in the house with Abby. I'm not sure how either one of us would have done it all by ourselves.
Thank goodness Caleb was at school!!
Our respiratory therapist set up our travel vent with the circuit just the day before "just in case of emergency." This was not an accident. God certainly planned this!
Yesterday was a whirlwind for me and I am not sure I have fully processed what nearly happened.
I'm really not ready to be back in a hospital yet. I think I'm going to develop White Coat Syndrome too!
Thank you Lord for protecting Abby and giving D and I the wisdom to know how to handle the situation.
I love my girl more now than ever. Cherish every minute!!
Comments
all of you. Love, Mrs B