April 27, 2006 (4:10pm)
The 2:30 visit left me agitated and worried. Gary was completely wiped out from the “bronching.” The doctor told me they had suctioned a lot of gunk out (“gunk” evidently being official medical jargon), and that hopefully that would speed the weaning process (before Gary dozed off, he did tell me he was breathing easier). But the doctor also told me there was pus in one lung and that Gary was in the early stage of pneumonia. Hospital + pneumonia = frightened Peg. The doctor said that it wasn’t uncommon for pneumonia to be induced by the ventilator, and that that was one reason they were trying to wean him off of it as soon as possible and get him out of ICU, a place that in itself increases one’s chances of infection. But the doctor said it is now something of a Catch-22, because the pneumonia makes it harder to get weaned from the ventilator. *Sigh* They have put Gary on an antibiotic to hopefully wipe out the pneumonia quickly – the cleaning out of his lungs should help with that too.
Another unwelcome bit of news is that the bottom staple in his back is draining, meaning there is some infection there. The neurosurgeon who assisted at Gary’s second spinal operation told me the antibiotic would also help with that, but they would keep an eye on it to see if they need to remove that staple; they feel the infection is superficial. The nurses’ orders are to keep him turned to keep pressure off that area, and to keep a dry gauze bandage on it.
I talked to the neurosurgeon again about the hearing situation, but he didn’t tell me anything new. He did say he would pass on to the audiologists that the hearing loss had surfaced after that second surgery.
Well, at least Gary’s new glasses came, so he’ll be able to see better.
The 2:30 visit left me agitated and worried. Gary was completely wiped out from the “bronching.” The doctor told me they had suctioned a lot of gunk out (“gunk” evidently being official medical jargon), and that hopefully that would speed the weaning process (before Gary dozed off, he did tell me he was breathing easier). But the doctor also told me there was pus in one lung and that Gary was in the early stage of pneumonia. Hospital + pneumonia = frightened Peg. The doctor said that it wasn’t uncommon for pneumonia to be induced by the ventilator, and that that was one reason they were trying to wean him off of it as soon as possible and get him out of ICU, a place that in itself increases one’s chances of infection. But the doctor said it is now something of a Catch-22, because the pneumonia makes it harder to get weaned from the ventilator. *Sigh* They have put Gary on an antibiotic to hopefully wipe out the pneumonia quickly – the cleaning out of his lungs should help with that too.
Another unwelcome bit of news is that the bottom staple in his back is draining, meaning there is some infection there. The neurosurgeon who assisted at Gary’s second spinal operation told me the antibiotic would also help with that, but they would keep an eye on it to see if they need to remove that staple; they feel the infection is superficial. The nurses’ orders are to keep him turned to keep pressure off that area, and to keep a dry gauze bandage on it.
I talked to the neurosurgeon again about the hearing situation, but he didn’t tell me anything new. He did say he would pass on to the audiologists that the hearing loss had surfaced after that second surgery.
Well, at least Gary’s new glasses came, so he’ll be able to see better.
posted by Peg Daniels at 3:17 PM
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