Steele was finally extubated last night around 5pm and put on oxygen through a nasal cannulet at 3 liters. All is progressing well with him except for the heart arrhythmia. His upper right chamber and lower right chamber are not talking to one another in the correct sequence, so the pace wires are active. This is not an issue until day 7, then they will be talking about a permanent pacemaker. Yes, there is always one more thing, but for what he has been through, he is looking very good with the new remodel.
Steele is really fussy as he weens off the narcotics, so we are giving him pain medications as needed (PRN's). Rachel was able to hold him last night since pre-op, and that was awesome. The machines are slowly coming off and he was given a PIC line to receive the drips. Hopefully they will take out the central line in his neck by this evening. Steele's got more holes in him than a firing range target, he is so freaking tough.
Rachel and I are working our hospital shifts in 12-14 hour increments, and Ryleigh is getting to know her grandmother quite well these days.
The big goals are to get the fluids drained off so the tubes can be removed from his abdomen along with the arrhythmia issue before he can walk around / move out of PICU.
The journey goes on friends! Until next time....
Steele is a great fighter! Hang in there and happy holidays!
ReplyDelete