Linda is still off the ventilator, and they will move her into a smaller trach today or tomorrow. This is good news because this means that soon she will be able to eat and (trumpet fanfare) TALK!!!!
The hospital has a couple of boards she can use, one has a series of useful phrases she can point to, and the other has the alphabet, kind of like a ouija board only it's for brain injured people instead of dead people :-/ She doesn't like them, though, and waves them away preferring to write us notes, and mouth words and do some pretty talented pantomime. If there is a World Series of Charades, I'm putting my money on Linda, because she can get just about any idea across just by acting it out, it's pretty fascinating to watch!
Even so, I'm sure she'll be glad to put her inner mime back in the invisible box and resume regular speech with people. Hopefully that will be really soon, because she gets frustrated when we don't understand what she's trying to say, in spite of her talent. :-( It would bug me too, so I really try, but some concepts are just too complicated.
Today she is also off of the painkiller they've had her on, and her memory does seem to be improving. Also, she seems less agitated, which I was noticing really seemed to go hand in hand with the painkiller.
As she asked the nurses questions, the information seemed to "stick" better today. One of the nurses told her that she'd be in the hospital for 21 days at least, because that's the risk period for the vasospasms. That really stuck in her head, and later when her minister came by for a visit, she indicated it to him. That was AWESOME to see, because I feel like we're starting get a handle on where Linda is actually at in her head, without all the medications messing her up. I imagine we'll get an even better picture when she starts talking.
She's having a few issues with her day/night cycle. The nurse says that's really common, and they'll probably start giving her medication to help her keep them straight. Hopefully it will not affect her like the other meds did. They say that at night she agitated and wound up and doing odd things that aren't like her during the day, and that this is pretty normal for neurosurgery patients in the ICU for as long as she has been and will be. That can't be easy to deal with for her, and I hope that as she can do more things for herself this will alleviate some of the stress she's experiencing, right now she's pretty powerless.
Showing posts with label medications. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medications. Show all posts
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Monday 9/21 (Last Day of Summer)
Linda's new room has a nice view!
Today they are working more on getting her off of the ventilator, so between the CPAP trials (trying for 4 times a day) and getting her standing on her own (!) she was pretty worn out. Most of my visit was spent trying to keep quiet and not bug her.
Linda didn't write any notes today, but there were some from last night. Some of the time she seemed pretty well connected to reality, other times less so. Her nurse today said that's very common with the medications she's on. Two in particular can cause these problems, and they will go away when she can get off of the ventilator.
So, when she's off of the vent she can get away from the meds that can be causing a little loopiness, AND she will have the kind of trach that will allow her to talk. No more of this note-writing nonsense! Two excellent reasons to pray for her to have the strength for that, and to keep rooting her on. :-)
I got a chance to speak with the hospital social worker today, too, and she helped me to sort out what insurance issues we need to pin down right away, and what questions we need to ask at Linda's work. That was really helpful. If you have a loved one who's going to be in the hospital for a while, ask to see the social worker, they know all the ins and outs and can point you in the right direction!
Other news for today, the nurse told us that they may keep her in the ICU until the risk for vasospasms has passed, usually 21 days after the surgery. Since the surgery went so well, the vasospasms are now the big worry. Any time in the next 3 weeks, the blood vessels in her brain could clamp down and cause a stroke, which could lead to brain damage or even death. They're watching carefully for signs of that happening, and taking every precaution, because that could undo all the good news she's had so far.
So, we're just praying and waiting.
THIS JUST IN!!!! Just got word from Brian that he's located her glasses and he's taking them to her right now. We've been looking for them for days. Brian's a HERO!!!! Hopefully he'll tell you all about it when he posts next :-D
Today they are working more on getting her off of the ventilator, so between the CPAP trials (trying for 4 times a day) and getting her standing on her own (!) she was pretty worn out. Most of my visit was spent trying to keep quiet and not bug her.
Linda didn't write any notes today, but there were some from last night. Some of the time she seemed pretty well connected to reality, other times less so. Her nurse today said that's very common with the medications she's on. Two in particular can cause these problems, and they will go away when she can get off of the ventilator.
So, when she's off of the vent she can get away from the meds that can be causing a little loopiness, AND she will have the kind of trach that will allow her to talk. No more of this note-writing nonsense! Two excellent reasons to pray for her to have the strength for that, and to keep rooting her on. :-)
I got a chance to speak with the hospital social worker today, too, and she helped me to sort out what insurance issues we need to pin down right away, and what questions we need to ask at Linda's work. That was really helpful. If you have a loved one who's going to be in the hospital for a while, ask to see the social worker, they know all the ins and outs and can point you in the right direction!
Other news for today, the nurse told us that they may keep her in the ICU until the risk for vasospasms has passed, usually 21 days after the surgery. Since the surgery went so well, the vasospasms are now the big worry. Any time in the next 3 weeks, the blood vessels in her brain could clamp down and cause a stroke, which could lead to brain damage or even death. They're watching carefully for signs of that happening, and taking every precaution, because that could undo all the good news she's had so far.
So, we're just praying and waiting.
THIS JUST IN!!!! Just got word from Brian that he's located her glasses and he's taking them to her right now. We've been looking for them for days. Brian's a HERO!!!! Hopefully he'll tell you all about it when he posts next :-D
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