Saturday and Sunday for Andre has been relatively quiet except for short bursts of V-tachs and SVTs everytime he was agitated. The docs have held off on the Haldol since it can exacerbate his arrhythmia.
He was able to breathe on his own for 35 min yesterday until he started getting agitated again which made his breathing labored. They'll do another one today but the docs had already concluded today that a tracheostomy is warranted for three reasons: 1) they expect Andre to require some ventilator assistance with his breathing until the dead space in his lung resolve itself; 2) longer term ventilation is best done with a tracheostomy tube than an endotracheal tube, and; 3) the tracheostomy tube will probably lessen his agitation everytime they take him off sedation.
The tracheostomy will likely happen early this week since the July 4th weekend is coming up. The risks are the same as in any surgery--bleeding and infection--but the procedure itself is relatively minor as it can even be performed in his hospital room.
Everything else about Andre's condition--his kidney and liver functions, the infections--are moving in the right direction albeit in baby steps. He recognizes me and he responds to questions during those few minutes when his sedation has worn off. He's still there which is the most reassuring thing in this whole debacle. I hope that on July 3rd, he'll be more cognitive so I can greet him a "Happy Anniversary".
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7 comments:
sending healing thoughts/prayers your way for continued improvement for Andre...
Tracie
I hope once Andre gets the tracheostomy he can rest easier. Positive thoughts continue.
Ed, you are doing a great job there! Hugs.
Happy early Anniversary to both of you!
We are thinking of you both and know if anyone can make it through this, Andre and you can. You are an amazing supporter and wonderful husband to him. He is a true fighter and courageous man. I adore both of you.
Let him know we are thinking of him and hope he can use this agitation to heal as quickly as possible.
We need him to show us how to lane share in California! (let him know that too)
Just found your blog today and read about the difficult time you are having. I will say a prayer for you two. My husband was diagnosed with myeloma over 2 years ago and I have been blogging for most of that time. In reading your blog, he has had a relative easy time. 2 stem cell transplants but auto not allo. They were not successful, but we choose not to have allo for the GVHS reason.
Will try to keep up with what is going on with you. My blog is Reaching the Plateau or kaputman.blogspot.com
I will be thinking of Andre and hoping for his fast recovery. My father is about to go through his first bone marrow transplant in August, and I can only hope he has the strength Andre obviously posesses. He is a fighter!
This blog is a great source of information which is really very useful for me. Thank you very much for this important information.
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