When we arrived at
ICU Jules was still asleep, she woke about 11:30AM apparently she had
had a difficult night, she has a slight temperature and the fluid in her lungs
is uncomfortable. Her breating was being assisted 50/50 by the ventilator.
While we there the ICU doctor decided to see how well she could breathe by
herself and the ventilator was switched off about midday, her sedation and pain
medication had also been reduced by 50%. She breathed well by
herself for 5 hours trying to take deeper breaths to increase lung capacity and
to help the diaphragm and chest muscles do what they are supposed to do.
It was tiring for her but she coped well and tried hard. The monitor
indicated that the volume of each breath increased by about 15-20% while she
was breathing by herself. They
switched the ventilator on late in the afternoon to give her a rest.
Yesterday was a day of fewer
visitors as too much stimulation causes her to get agitated and upsets her
breathing rythym, we mostly took it in turns to sit with her, and let her have
some quiet time for sleeping when she wanted it.
All in all I think it was a positive
day and I feel we have made another small step forward on our journey.
I walked back to the unit at
Kangaroo Pt in the afternoon, it took 45 minutes, to prepare a cooked dinner
for us. Mundane things help with a feeling of normality. Ky and I
both fell asleep by about 8:45 in front of the TV. Hospital visiting and
waiting is very tiring.
We will update you all further
tomorrow.
Kind regards
Val, Norm, Kylie and Darrel
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