This is around the time that nurses and doctors were hurriedly trying to get my stuff right and rolling so I can be discharged on time.
At this point it's overnight. And most of the time I've had my sleep/wake cycle reversed! So, they are of course encouraging a proper sleep/wake cycle. I've had TCT setups on the trach twice for three hours. And then they let me comfortably rest on the vents.
During one of my exams my eyes open spontaneously for them. They examined my trach wonderfully and facilitated communication.
Daily I have to get out of bed and tour the floor in the Stryker chair. Mind you this is completely done by the nursing staff. Given that I should have had the PEG placement at this time, they are deferring it at the moment until I get rid of the leukocytosis. They were able to successfully complete the VATs and decortication. All three of my chest tubes have been removed and pleural effusion has remained stable.
I have been resting comfortably on the vents and the trach. The type of trach I was given was less invasive and not the surgical trach The past two to three days I have been on the trach for two 3-hour sessions with a total of 6 hours. After and in-between I have been resting comfortably on the vents.
I'm going to switch to the birth of Jesus right now. Because, you know, I met him.
Luke 1:42
"Blessed are you among the women and blessed is the child you bear...Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her."'
They have been trying to treat me for thrombocytopenia. It's honestly quite rare with less that 200,000 people who have been reported to have it. It's basically a low-level platelet count that causes a ton of undesirable things. Today I had been experiencing headaches to the degree which I cannot stand them. They gave me a dose of oxy to try and make me feel better for the day.
My labs showed I had low Hemoglobin, Platelets, Creatinine, and Glucose. I believe I had talked about it in an earlier post! As for my physical exam I am still ill-appearing, and my mouth is dry.
For PT (I know I had a lot going on today!), I worked so hard I became lethargic by the end of the session. To test my cognition, they asked me what month it was, so I told them I don't know. They said it was June so I was able to tell them that it must be hot then.
My eyes were noticed during this test. I couldn't track horizontally, and my eyes kept rolling upward. I had no verbalization and just used my hands during this session to answer questions. I am able to lift my knee. But I cannot bend my right elbow. When it came to wash my face, I weakly grasped onto the washcloth to dab it on my face.
OT had wonderfully described me. I am doing things below the baseline of "normal" and I follow "simple" commands. Well, what do you know.... I am doing so much more than anyone had thought! Today they had tested my speaking valve! They had only tried it for three to five minutes as it was the first time. My O2 levels had changed, and my airflow was decreasing. Not sure how they know, but they said it caused increase pressure in my lower back. They did do a suction of my secretions and noted they were liquid. So huge difference from being thick! They also did 5 solid hours on the trach! And then I was able to rest on the vents. They are going to do 5 more hours and keep me on the vents for the rest of the night. Before I could only do 3 hours on the trach at a time. So that is HUGE!
"Oh, fear, he is a liar
He will take your breath
Stop you in your steps
Fear, he is a liar
He will rob your rest
Steal your happiness
Cast your fear in the fire
'Cause fear, he is a liar"
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