ChloeWatts.com

New Year’s Day 2010

New Year’s Day. Hope it feels like a Happy one to all of you. We’re doing our best to make it that way.

Dana says things were pretty good last night, although, as she quite accurately pointed out, the person who spends the night Never gets good sleep. Chloe can be sound asleep but we are so programmed to hear a small beeping machine or a different sound in her vent or the nurse coming in or the person next door having a bad night. But that’s what we’re here for. It’s to protect Chloe, not to get a great nights’ sleep.

This morning she was a wee bit puny and actually needed some bagging as her numbers crashed. We never like to see that but are glad we have the option to help her out. She also had some cough assists that produced some good results. For those who don’t know what a cough assist is, it’s a machine that puts air into the lungs and then, quickly, sucks it back out, thus simulating a cough. We then suction any gunk. Chloe has a good huff with her diaphragm but it’s not the same as a deep cough.

The latest concern is with her heart rate. It should hover around 80 but it’s been at 135+ for quite some time now. It could be directly related to the brain stem trauma but they are going to do an EKG to try and pinpoint it. That will happen tomorrow morning most likely, as her PT and OT will start around noon for a few hours.

There wasn’t a workout scheduled for today so Dana had her sit at the edge of the bed, looking out the window. She did well but didn’t last a long time. We’ll try and get her up again for a few minutes before I leave here. We did play catch again. She is getting so much better with that and it’s obvious her eyesight has also improved or she wouldn’t be catching the ball like she is.

She has been emailing but, to all her little friends, please don’t feel bad if you don’t get a message right away or if the message is short and sweet. She does the best she can but she isn’t fast and her endurance is less that you might realize. Be patient, she’ll get there.

I guess Aunt Sandy and Chloe will be watching Twilight tonight and may even have a little nail polish party. Chloe got some really cool green polish from Celeste the other day and she is anxious to get it on her fingers. The trouble with that is we have to take the polish off a finger or toe in order for one of the monitors to work right. So she may have only four toes painted at a time.

We started the year a little depressed. She doesn’t like Mama going home for the night, no matter who is lined up to take the shift. She may be almost 11 but that doesn’t mean the bond with Mama isn’t strong. She feels very safe with the Mama Lion in the room. Most of the time things go as planned, however, we have caught an error here or there that just don’t need to happen. It’s going to pop up but we’re experienced enough to run interference for her. We do have the nurses trained now to come if the button is pushed and no-one answers on the other end. No voice has to be a pain!

Be well,
Ron