Off again - On again

Today started off with great news. When we arrived in the morning the nurse told us that the long plastic tube used for the tracheotomy would be removed and a shorter metal tube or “metal-tracheotomy” would be put in its place. This makes the patient more comfortable and allows the patient to speak. It is the last step before closing the tracheotomy all together. As you can imagine Mom and I were super excited, and we were looking forward to eventually hearing Dad speak again. Dad on the other hand looked exhausted. He did not sleep at all during the night and he was very anxious and angry during our morning visit. He was extremely inpatient and argued with us for the whole visit. When we arrived for the afternoon visit the nurses had just installed the new metal tracheotomy and Dad looked extremely uncomfortable. He was coughing a lot and he had broken out in a cold sweat. As we walked in the room the nurse asked him to relax since he needed time to adjust to the new equipment, but he didn’t pay any attention to what she said and began mouthing words a mile a minute. He then became extremely agitated when we couldn’t understand what he was saying. After we attended to him and made sure he was comfortable, Mom and I decided to leave the room so as to not agitate him again. We felt that this would allow him to relax and better cope with his new set up. When we returned for the night visit not only did they re-install the plastic tube, but he was also back on the ventilator! Needless to say, it turned out to be a very disappointing day. The Dr. came to speak with Mom and I and he was equally disappointed. He explained once again that sometimes it can take up to 3 to 4 tries before a patient comes off the ventilator. This was Dad’s second try. Let’s pray that the next one goes better. The doctor said they will try again in approximately 2 weeks. When we left Dad this evening he was very drowsy, hopefully he’ll sleep tonight. If he doesn’t they will give him a sleeping pill.