Trach Day

In my last post I talked about Jerry being extubated and how difficult it was for him to breath, it was scary and painful to watch him struggle so hard just to get air. Jerry labored for about 30 hours before he began to fade and his C02 levels started to increase to a non acceptable range, it became clear at that point he needed to be back on the ventilator. Wednesday around 6 pm he was intubated and sedated to give him time to recover and rest. The original plan was to keep him off sedation to allow him to awaken from the comatose state however it's more important at this point to keep him comfortable so he can rest and regain the strength he spent while extubated. Jerry goes into surgery today at 2:30 to receive a tracheotomy. My concern was if they are giving him a tracheotomy it was because they believed he would be ventilator dependent for life and they would no longer attempt to get him off the vent. I've learned that is not the case, the trach just makes it more comfortable for him so he does not have the tube down his throat, and will make it easier for him to try and communicate when he's ready. My understanding is it's easier to wean off the vent with a trach then it is with intubation. There are risks and complications that can occur with this type of surgery and Jerry's case is complicated because of the hardware (rods & plate) in his neck so please keep him in your prayers this afternoon that the procedure will go well with no complications. The doctor assured me that of all the potential complications she has never had any of them occur and she's done this procedure hundreds of times, she feels confident that she won't have any problems with Jerry.

Jerry will be sedated until tomorrow to keep him comfortable while he adjusts to the trach, however Sunday or Monday they will begin testing his tolerance for being off the vent. The benefit of the trach is you can easily remove him from the vent and put him back on to give him opportunities to breath on his own. Once the sedation wears off he will hopefully get back to that baseline of awareness he had prior to being extubated. We still have not been able to set up a form of communication with him because he's not following commands of blink or nod. There are moments when he looks in your eyes and you know he's there, you feel his presence and sense he's trying to communicate with his eyes and other times you see in his eyes he's not there. I feel like he fades in and out of awareness but he's in there.......he's in there!!!

Katie