As expected, the call came early afternoon to return to the hospital. So far, so good, although it was certainly a rough afternoon.Smart girl, Hope didn't take kindly to nurses sticking tape on her head, wires stuck to her legs or residents barking asinine questions.
As outlined yesterday, Hope is in to monitor how she'll do with small amounts of supplemental oxygen while she sleeps. The thinking is it could relieve her apnea.
The protocol is to start with high levels of oxygen and monitor her effort, or breaths per minute, then slowly wean her off. If all goes well, the small strip that's pumping air into her nose will be weaned completely to room air. Her pediatrician, a gregarious and thorough dude known as Dr. Moleman, thinks the force of air could be enough to loosen her larynx. Tomorrow, Hope likely will be transferred from Pediatric Intensive Care to a regular room in the pediatric ward. There's a chance she could leave late Friday. If not, we proceed with the plan to go home on Saturday.
Only one parent can sleep in the room, so Big Mo curled up in the fold-out couch and I left shortly before 11. Hope was sleeping contently and doing well.
It was a stressful afternoon. Hope cried a lot. But it did pay one big dividend: Hope's new nickname is Pippi for the short, high-pitched pips she's increasingly using to communicate. All credit to Mo. I think it's a keeper.
Back to the hospital early Friday. More details about Pippi and company on Saturday.
2 comments:
Sorry to hear about your rough day in the hospital. I hope that the oxygen titration is relatively uneventful and that you all can go home as quickly as possible.
Pippi! perfect! love it!
Mo, sorry you missed WW, I know you were looking forward to it. Maybe I'll call you, and we can have glass of wine on the phone, then it'll almost be like we're there!
Hang in there guys!
xoxoxo
Pam
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