Last night I was thinking about weird things perspective does. I have resigned myself to the fact that I probably wont ever ride a roller coaster again due to my neck issues. But I had been very unhappy about it because I love them. However, last night as I was thinking about the day and what an out-of-control roller coaster ride it had been, I thought good riddance. In the middle of the night, with Andrew occasionally resting, I decided I hated them now. I did not ever again want to experience the ups or downs like the day had been. Today was a little like that...again. But it has been a little more even-keeled and well worth the ride. Blood pressure has been higher, BUT heart rate is down. Whether or not they do a heart workup will depend on his numbers the next day or two. Temperature has finally stepped down to the 98.something range. He was evaluated today for swallowing issues. He had pulled the feeding tube out two or three days ago and they had elected to not reinsert it. But after todays FEES, liquid, whether water-like or thickened pools and starts to run into his windpipe. That would mean possible aspiration, and most likely another round of pneumonia. I watched all this by camera and it was pretty amazing. One of those times you thank God for the wonders of technology. So they put the feeding tube into his nose and X-rayed him to verify proper placement to avoid possible complications. An hour later he pulled it out. He had worked off the white boxing gloves he has to wear for stupid moves like that and back to reinserting. But they couldnt get it in....so they had to use some type of muscle relaxer spray to relax things. They got it back in and here came Mr. X-ray man again to verify effective placement so we had to leave. We came back 20 minutes later and he was all balled up in the crease of the bed. But the mitts were off. So I went to get his nurse, Simon, to pull him up to a sitting position. What Joe and I failed to notice... I repeat, we failed to notice.....wait for it, wait for it, waitttt forrrr itttttt..... ANDREW HAD PULLED OUT THE FEEDING TUBE AGAIN!!!!!! I thought Simon might stroke out. He had been strapped at his wrists, had a six inch band that went over his waist and wrapped around and connected under the bed, plus he had the mittens on again. The reason he was balled up is because he had scooted down, and then worked around (think of a question mark) and then got hold of it and pulled. When we asked him why the hell he did that, he looked at us and said, It just fell out. We told Simon to be sure and jab him a couple of times as the inserted a tube for the THIRD time this afternoon. Ill end with really great news. Despite todays irritations, he has made enough improvement to be moved to an intermediate unit. Either later tonight or tomorrow we will say good-bye to an amazing group of nurses. I will cry and Joe will ask why I am crying---arent I happy? Then I will cry harder. My yin and his yang will prepare for what comes in a week/two weeks? We really dont know yet. There is a LOT of rehab for Andrew....cognitive, behavioral, physical, occupational.....the wretched tenacity he used to pull out the tube will be a gift from God to do something most of us have no experience having to do. To end on a purely Andrew note. My brother-in-law, Matt, a lifetime Dallas Cowboys fan, was sitting with Andrew and I on Sunday. Matt, thinking he could sway Andrew, asked him how was he loving the Cowboys this season. Andrew looked at him and said, Hell, no, Ill never like them. He couldnt remember his whole name, but he knew what was important. Once a Packers Fan, ALWAYS a Packers Fan!
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 23:20:23 +0000
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