The best news is that Linda is off of the ventilator. She still has the trach, and now they're saying that she probably will even after she's home, but there is no pressure through it. They are giving her a little extra oxygen to help her, but all the power behind the breathing, every time she draws a breath, is all her. That's GREAT NEWS!!!! Sometimes these patients take a very long time to breathe on their own, so again Linda is amazing us all.
With the ventilator gone, she was also able to get rid of the sedative they were keeping her on. If you think about it, it'd have to be pretty unpleasant to have a machine blow your lungs up like balloons 14-20 times a minute, right? So they keep ventilated patients on a sedative so they don't freak out during the process.
The sedative they had her on, propofol, is the same one that supposedly had a role in Michael Jackson's death. So, it apparently has a new nickname in the medical profession, "Jackson Juice." Hee hee! I was glad to see the Jackson Juice go, because it kept her groggy, and because it makes it very difficult for patients to remember anything while it's being administered. There's no way to tell where her brain function is with this kind of drug in her system. So, farewell propofol, I hope we never need to cross paths again!
Because she isn't on the propofol today, she was awake most of our visit, which was a real treat! But it was a little troubling, too. She's still on the painkiller, so that's affecting her memory, and I'm not sure how long the propofol will take to get out of her system, but it was obvious that today, at least, her memory is not at all together.
She seems really sharp on everything before the aneurysm, but nothing since. She doesn't know why she's in the hospital, and she's terribly worried that no one is taking care of her dog. It's very sweet, she asks about Scruffles's care more than anything else, because she doesn't remember that she's already asked and been told that he's safe and living with Davin and the kids and I right now. She's afraid that everyone's forgotten him, and he's in her house alone, suffering. Isn't that a horrible thought?
So, today I took a photo of the kids with Scruffles and I brought it to her at the hospital, so she can look at it. So far, she doesn't seem to remember that the photo is there, but I am hoping that will change as the propofol leaves her system, and hopefully as the painkiller goes, too.
Here's the photo:
Isn't he a cute dog? My kids say he looks like a cloud! :-)
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