Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Update 17

He Is Making Great Progress.

The web service I use to send out this update was shut down Sat. for updates. I apologize to those of you have become addicted to regular updates. (I have had several comments about worrying when the updates aren't frequent enough.)
Thaddeus is making amazing progress. Things are moving along so quickly and well that it is hard to imagine that it can continue this well. As I mentioned, he had his eyes open for a little while on Friday. Well, on Saturday he was awake for around an hour. During this time the nurse took a small sponge on a stick and soaked it in breast milk. When she placed it in his mouth, he was able to get a little milk out and swallow it. While this proves nothing in and of itself, it is a great sign that he might do well eating once the tubes are out of his throat. The doctors were talking about removing some things from him on Saturday, but the correct personnel were not available. So, when we walked in his room today we noticed the surgeon working on him. We were told that another of his drugs (I believe one of the adrenaline drips) had been turned off and the other had been turned down. The surgeon was working on taking the line out of Thaddeus' heart. He was also given permission to remove the drainage tubes from Thaddeus' chest. As he was taking the last one out, it got a little stuck and Thaddeus twitched and his blood pressure shot way up. He could feel the pain despite the pain killers and the sedatives. While it saddened me to think of him in pain, it is in a sense a good sign.
They want to get the line out of his navel so that they can begin giving him food through a feeding tube. They tried to put a line into his hand to replace the one in his navel, but the person who tried yesterday could not get it in. Now they are saying that he might just be able to do without that line if they can get him off of enough things. Apparently a couple of the meds do not play nicely with each other and so they try to put them into the body at different places. However, if he is off one or the other there is no issue and the other line is not needed.

So, later today they are hoping to take out the line in his navel, the catheter, and then the breathing tube. There would still be a tube in his nose to supply warm air and some oxygen. This is different than a breathing tube. A breathing tube makes Thaddeus breathe. This tube makes breathing easier, but he still has to do it. The last report I had was that he was resting comfortably after having so many things removed. As such, they are holding off on taking the breathing tube out until he is awake and more alert. They want him wide awake when the breathing tube comes out to give him the best chance to start breathing on his own.

This would leave him with a couple of PIVs (peripheral IV - this means that it goes to the edge of the body and has to work its way through, as opposed to a PIC or central line that goes right to his core), a PIC line, and some pace wires that go to his heart and can be connected to an external pace maker if needed. One of the PIV's lines is capped. They are not using it right now but have it there just in case it is needed, especially when the line comes out of his navel.

I am back home now and planning on teaching this week. (It is spirit week after all.) Dede is at the hospital and giving me regular updates. We hope to go and visit Dede during the week and on the weekend. If all is going well, Dede hopes to be able to come home with us on the weekend. It will be good to have her home, but more trips to Milwaukee will ensue.

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