Gabe started out the day not giving anyone any trouble. His left lung continues to be in collapse, so they decided to do an ultrasound to make sure there was no fluid around the lungs that they were missing on x-ray. Luckily they didn’t see any extra fluid and Gabe escaped another needle for now. Gabe being the little fighter, is constantly fighting the oscillator that is breathing for him. He tries to breathe on his own which increases his CO2 levels. This could be because he is either uncomfortable or in pain. So they have continually increased his Morphine and Versed doses significantly over the past couple of days to keep up with his pain. Today the nurse actually ran out of her allowable amount and had to go and ask for more. The poor little guy is on enough pain meds to take down a small rhino. I told the doctor I was worried he may be the youngest NA (Narcotics Anonymous) member ever. She replied his first works may be “Hello, my name is Gabe and I’ve been clean for one week.” We had to have a little laugh out of all this. On a more serious note, the doctor told us this morning that if we don’t see an improvement in his left lung soon we may have to do what is called a bronchoscopy. I probably spelled that wrong but oh well. Basically they send a small tube with a camera down his endotracheal tube and take a look around to see why his lung is collapsed. If they see any blockage they can use the tube to clean and suction out any secretions. Hopefully this will allow his lung to re-inflate and get us back on the right path. As I left tonight Gabe was still breathing too fast and they were contemplating what do we do next. I thought my two year old wore me out but this little guy is really wearing Shannon and I out always worrying about “what do we do next”. They said they may have to completely paralyze him if he doesn’t start to cooperate. Hopefully the medications do what they are supposed to and we hear good news in the morning. Gabe gave me a little half smile tonight, so I hope that means he is going to cooperate.
1 comment:
Jesse and Shannon... Thanks so much for this blog... it helps those of us as home keep up to date with Bubba's progress! It certainly can't be easy writing updates daily but we all like reading about Gabe. I pray for strength for Gabe (and you both) and continued progress! Love you all... Shannon
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