Surgery Planned Tuesday at 2:30 pm
Virginia had her ventilator settings tweaked a little higher on how deep she breathes (tidal volume increased from 600 cc to 800 cc) over the weekend. The pressure support was lowered to 4 (from 6).
Virginia's doctors wish to "wean" her off the ventilator. Due to multiple problems, they feel she is at high risk for needing the ventilator tube re-inserted. Beside the discomfort, risk of ventilator-caused pneumonia and being bed-bound, she also likely has sleep apnea.
The solution proposed to "wean" her off and treat the sleep apnea is to do a tracheostomy. They mentioned that this is the "gold standard" for sleep apnea treatment.
The doctor posed this surgery her and then to me. I talked with Virginia and she is in agreement. Based on the surgery schedule I expect they will be done before 4:30.
The tracheotomy "hole" would most likely be temporary. It will be hooked up to the ventilator if needed. This will get her out of ICU when she can do without the ventilator.
Her right foot post-surgical wound is quite good. There are two spots left to heal over. Hopefully she can begin to bear some weight.
When she can breathe better I expect her walking will progress much better. She will probably gradually build up strength in her foot and lungs at the same time.
When she can transfer from bed to chair and back she can likely go home.
Bonnie (her mom) visited today in the early afternoon for a good long visit.
Virginia had her ventilator settings tweaked a little higher on how deep she breathes (tidal volume increased from 600 cc to 800 cc) over the weekend. The pressure support was lowered to 4 (from 6).
Virginia's doctors wish to "wean" her off the ventilator. Due to multiple problems, they feel she is at high risk for needing the ventilator tube re-inserted. Beside the discomfort, risk of ventilator-caused pneumonia and being bed-bound, she also likely has sleep apnea.
The solution proposed to "wean" her off and treat the sleep apnea is to do a tracheostomy. They mentioned that this is the "gold standard" for sleep apnea treatment.
The doctor posed this surgery her and then to me. I talked with Virginia and she is in agreement. Based on the surgery schedule I expect they will be done before 4:30.
The tracheotomy "hole" would most likely be temporary. It will be hooked up to the ventilator if needed. This will get her out of ICU when she can do without the ventilator.
Her right foot post-surgical wound is quite good. There are two spots left to heal over. Hopefully she can begin to bear some weight.
When she can breathe better I expect her walking will progress much better. She will probably gradually build up strength in her foot and lungs at the same time.
When she can transfer from bed to chair and back she can likely go home.
Bonnie (her mom) visited today in the early afternoon for a good long visit.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home