Tuesday, October 4th - Day 107 Update

Good evening,

Since Tori had a 6:30pm dilaudid dose Monday evening, she ended up sleeping until about midnight and then she couldn't sleep for the rest of the evening... So she took several small naps throughout the day Tuesday to compensate. We also instructed the nurses to NOT give dilaudid without asking either Maria or I personally beforehand. Valium or loretab are fine to give her in the interim for agitation.

This morning the respiratory technicians tried to button her existing trach even after we informed them it would not work. So just like the last time we tried this at the Health South Hospital in Sandy, Tori did fine for a little while but eventually her breathing rate went to 40-50 breathes per minute and her blood oxygen level dropped in to the 80's. Her heart rate also increased to 140-150 beats per minute of course. The problem is that her current trach has an inner cannula or tube that takes up valuable space in her her throat. Tori simply cannot get enough air around it to her lungs when she is plugged. Once we put the button trach in she did fine because there is NO obstruction with that type of trach. So I'm not sure what the plan is tomorrow but the button trach needs to go back in before we can make further progress. Hopefully we can make this happen.

Tori was pretty agitated after the plugged trach test this morning so she had to be given a dose of valium and loretab to calm her. Guy also made it to the ICU around 2:00pm and spent some time with Maria and Tori. Tori was much more relaxed during the afternoon.

Tori is doing very well tonight!! She is diligently watching me type this update and she is turning her head and tracking nicely. She is also swallowing great tonight as well and it doesn't matter whether it is phlegm, nothing at all or lifesaver breathmint flavoring. Yes, I took a breathmint tonight and asked Tori to open her mouth so I could rub it all over her tongue and lips. I also told her that a finger would NOT taste good with her breathmint... ;-) She opened her mouth wide each time and once I was finished she would immediately close her mouth, move her tongue and jaw around before swallowing several times. She was without a doubt - tasting it. I repeated the process many times until half of the breathmint was gone!! Tomorrow we will sneak in some more treats for her to try. With her looking at me, I could also ask her to look at the breathmint in my hand as I placed it in front of her face. Tori would look right at it and I could watch as her pupils refocused to it.

Tori had one PT therapy session today and Maria is finishing up giving Tori a sponge bath. Hopefully she will sleep well after her 10:00pm medications are given.

Thanks once again and that is the quick update for tonight,

-Tim