It has been a couple of days since we last posted anything. Since then Kate has been busy getting well very quickly. Saturday brought some great improvement as they took Kate off of both meds that were helping her blood pressure. She did great!! Then they tried a spontaneous breathing trial where they shut off the ventilator for a period of time. This tests to see how she can do breathing on her own, as well as test her blood bases and see what they are after the trial. She passed with flying colors and was that much closer to getting off the ventilator. This was welcome improvement after waiting a week with very little change.
Sunday morning we did another trial and she passed again, so the doctors felt it was time to remove the ventilation support. This was a rough period when they actually removed the ventilation. After 10 days of being on the vent, Kate's airway was inflamed, swollen and didn't react great to having the tube pulled out. She was coughing, choking and throwing up. This went on for about 4 hours while trying to console her and calm her down. We tried giving her sugar water on a Binky....what a brilliant idea :) She took to it and seemed to soothe her throat and she started to calm down and relax again. She was wide awake, which is the most she has been awake since the surgery. In fact, she stayed up the entire night for the nurse. They finally had to gave her a sedative in the morning to get her to sleep. It's amazing how much Kate has changed in looks since her vent was taken out. She's looking more and more like herself.
Today has brought more good news. They removed Kate from the pace maker early in the morning and she hasn't gone back on it all day with great success. Her heart seems to be getting back on track. They still have the lines in her for the pace maker and she still has a few meds helping her heart function better and easier. Unfortunately she can't leave the ICU just yet, but she is much closer than she was Friday. It is amazing what a couple of days will do for healing.
Sunday morning we did another trial and she passed again, so the doctors felt it was time to remove the ventilation support. This was a rough period when they actually removed the ventilation. After 10 days of being on the vent, Kate's airway was inflamed, swollen and didn't react great to having the tube pulled out. She was coughing, choking and throwing up. This went on for about 4 hours while trying to console her and calm her down. We tried giving her sugar water on a Binky....what a brilliant idea :) She took to it and seemed to soothe her throat and she started to calm down and relax again. She was wide awake, which is the most she has been awake since the surgery. In fact, she stayed up the entire night for the nurse. They finally had to gave her a sedative in the morning to get her to sleep. It's amazing how much Kate has changed in looks since her vent was taken out. She's looking more and more like herself.
Today has brought more good news. They removed Kate from the pace maker early in the morning and she hasn't gone back on it all day with great success. Her heart seems to be getting back on track. They still have the lines in her for the pace maker and she still has a few meds helping her heart function better and easier. Unfortunately she can't leave the ICU just yet, but she is much closer than she was Friday. It is amazing what a couple of days will do for healing.
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