Well, you know Colby. He does his thing on his time. We are STILL in the PICU, with no discussion of leaving anytime soon. It's amazing at how quickly things can turn around. A lot has happened in the last couple of days. Luckily I have my notes in front of me because right now not all my brain cells are firing. Not that they ever do, just really lagging today.
So by Saturday afternoon, Colby's tummy had decided hey, I'm not in the mood to work. They call it an ileus. I call it miserable for Colby. His stomach became so distended, I couldn't believe how bloated and stretch out his tummy looked. Poor kid, being bloated, having gas pain and being constipated will make you miserable, let alone having surgery a couple days before. So we had to throw things in reverse. Took Colby off feeds, put him back on TPN. Backed off giving him meds by g-tube, went back to all IV meds. Now we wait. Wait for his tummy to de-ileus itself and start working again. I've tried home remedies-warm compresses, rubbing his belly. I even had Child Life bring me a little vibrating toy that I've been running over his belly. I moved his legs a little, or I should say leg. They also reinserted his Foley catheter, so with that running down one leg I was scared to do much moving/range of motion. Long story short, Colby has had 2 good bowel movements on his own today. I know everyone is probably tired of hearing about Colby's poop, but trust me, the PICU takes poop very seriously! His stomach is still distended today, but is looking much better. In other PICU news, they did a respiratory culture that shows Colby is growing gram rod negative cultures. Booooo, time for antibiotics. So trust me, once he has a couple doses of these antibiotics, the no pooping will no longer be any issue.
Colby gave us quite a scare last night. During his CoughAssist treatment, he started getting that funny look about him. I knew things were getting ready to hit the fan quickly. Sure enough, his oxygen dropped down into the 30's. Really, Colby, really? Is all that necessary at the moment?! And of course it was during a shift with a respiratory therapist who had never worked with Colby. She was moving way too slow for me. Trying to do this, or that, and I was like, uh honey, listen to me, we're doing a trach change, NOW. I know my kid. I've been with him 2 years with a trach, she's been with him 20 minutes. And if you think I won't shove somebody out of the way to get to my son to help him...well, we all know I would and yes, I practically did. So yes, his lungs are a little junky, but today he has breezed through his cough treatments. I think this is the price we pay for him having to lie completely flat and being unable to do IPV for 3 days. Just a lot of old junk that needs worked up and out. We're increasing his cough treatments from 3x daily to 4x daily in an attempt to clear him out.
What else? Ortho came by yesterday and took out the HemoVac. Love getting tubes pulled out, not put in, Colby. They also removed the Foley today. I'm sure Colby was pleased about that. Colby is on no narcotics for pain management. He can get an as-needed dose of morphine if I think he needs it. He sat up in his bed at 45 degrees this morning for a little over an hour. He sat up in his chair today for almost an hour and a half. They've had to put some TPA in his PICC. I swear, this child is the world's worst for keeping and getting vascular access. We started out with a port, PICC, arterial and 2 peripherals. Now we're down to his port and a questionable PICC. They may run some more TPA through it tonight.
No mention of when we'll get down to the TCC. Not until his ileus resolves on its own and he can once again start home feeds. We (my mom is here with us currently) have been lucky enough to get a sleep room the last 2 nights in a row. Don't know if we'll get one tonight or not, but you can bet I signed up for one. Still no word from Ronnie Donnie House. Booooo. I hear it's a longer waiting list to get in there than it was when we were here 2 years ago. Double boooooo. But what can you do? Nothing. Just wait our turn I suppose.
Overall I still think Colby is doing well. Sure do wish his GI system would get with the program. A little progress today, but not enough for me of course. I want to be able to walk out of this Family Resource Center, roll Colby's hospital bed out of that PICU, and get the hell on out of here. All in good time, right? All on Colby's time, that's for sure. More later, blog readers. Thanks again for all the calls, texts, prayers and good thoughts coming our way. It means a lot to my family and me. I'll give that sweet boy's face get well kisses from everyone. Bye for now.
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