Re-Intubation...

I could use a Valium about now...

Another rough night starting about 3am. Mom was in an obvious discomfort and looked as if she was in a lot of pain. At 4:15am she had a fever of 100.6. At 5:35am, it was 101.9 with an elevated heart rate and blood pressure. She was administered extra Fentanyl, Cardizen and Tylenol and eventually settled down, albeit hours later.

Mom's day nurse from yesterday was back and I was, and am still, so thankful. He paid such close attention to her, checked on her constantly, pro-actively monitored and treated her for pain and just in general was amazing.

I left for a short time just before his shift ended at 7pm. When I got back from dinner at about 8pm, her night nurse was just coming in to change her. When he rolled her to her side, her intubation tube came out. All hell broke loose about then and I am not going to lie, I was scared. The respiratory therapist came in and "bagged" mom while she ordered an emergency intubation kit and called for the doctor. He had already left for the evening and she simply said "Get him back here. Now." A scene right out of ER errupted right in front of me as the room was filled with people. Joseph (her day nurse) came in too - already changed and with his jacket on ready to walk out the door, he quickly got right into the mix and started helping.

We waited in the hall while they worked on mom. Joseph came out with an update telling us that the tube had come out and they would have to re-intubate her. He assured us that she would be okay. An hour later, Dr. Patel (the day hospitalist) and the night doctor, came out and let us know that the re-intubation had been completed and that it appeared to have gone ok. Mom's vital stats stayed steady throughout the procedure. They've taken an xray to check that placement is correct and should be able to tell if she aspirated as well. Not sure when those results will come back but we were told it would be sometime tonight.

She was heavily sedated for the procedure with Versed, Fentanyl and Succinylcholine and appears to be resting okay. We're definitely keeping an eye on her.

As always, your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

xox,
Tommy