Because We Love Her

Monday, December 14, 2009… Day 12 post op

December 14th, 2009 Posted in Daily News Post

Okay, so that backfired. Now back to Chloe. Last night, after I left, something really sweet happened. Dana said to Chloe, “I wanna climb in bed with you.” Chloe made a motion as if to move over so Dana took the clue. She got in bed with Chloe like Chloe does to her at home. She almost fell asleep just like that. When Dana asked her if she missed being hugged Chloe nodded. So Dana held her as best she could, avoiding all the hoses and monitor wires attached to her. It was Chloe’s first night without a sleep aid medicine. (It doesn’t get much better than that.)

Today’s early report is that there is a new doctor on PICU for the week and he’s really with it. They will have Chloe in the chair, off the ventilator, and wheeled about for her first outing since arriving in PICU. Off the vent for two times at 4 hour stints is pretty good. She breaths quite well on her own but they do keep the O2 flowing at 40% to keep her levels up. The short-term plan is to get her transferred to the third floor unit after her trach change on Wednesday.

After she moves it doesn’t mean Party Time. She will still need her rest and she hasn’t been too open to visitors yet. We’ll see as the days progress. We are also so aware of the need to keep her lungs safe. She doesn’t need to get sick with the flu or a bad cold. She’s had a cold for a while now based of what we’ve suctioned out.

The head of RT… the Air People… tried to get Chloe to talk today. He reduced the cuff on her trach, which allows the possibility of speech. She tried but nothing came out. We still need more movement in her vocal cords. This is where we need all our focus. I know this is more than possible. We rewire ourselves daily so, with the speed Chloe does things, this will be done in short order.

Sandy left for home today, for a much need and deserved break. I’ll take her shift tonight with pleasure. I’ll try and kick Dana out early so she can get some quality sleep. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see she needs the rest. Grandma Lee is coming to town tonight so maybe she’ll be able to take a shift or two as well.

There will be more information later as I get the reports.

Be Well,
Ron

  1. 2 Responses to “Monday, December 14, 2009… Day 12 post op”

  2. By Kevin and Laura on Dec 14, 2009

    Ron:

    You brightened the day for all of us with this encouraging report. Thanks.

    Maybe any visitors Chloe gets after she is moved out of the PICU could wear face masks and wash their hands before entering her room.

    Hugs,
    Laura

  3. By ronhorton on Dec 14, 2009

    Laura,
    I think that is a perfectly respectful request. No chances! No gambles!

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