Yesterday my dad was given a tracheotomy. He is now being ventilated through the hole in his neck instead of a tube down his throat. This was a difficult decision. The trach is not permanent. It can be healed over if it should no longer be needed. But it is more permanent than the tube in the throat. My dad agreed to it. He is still alert for periods during the day and he's aware of what is going on. It is for this reason that we, as well as many of the hospital staff, do not think that this breathing problem is a result of the aging process. It is disproportionate to the rest of his health.
Anyway... back to the tracheotomy. The trach has the advantage of being more comfortable-- no tube down the throat. And it's much safer. The throat tubes can cause trauma over time to the throat and vocal chords, especially if they're removed and reinserted many times. With the trach they can turn down the vent, even turn it off for hours at a time and then restart it. So he could build up breathing ability gradually without any risk of trauma to his throat. He may also be able to eat regular foods with it if his swallow ability is OK. Right now he's getting tube feeding. He may even be able to talk with it during the times when the vent is off.
Then today he had a muscle biopsy done to gather more information about where this muscle weakness may be coming from. It will hopefully result in a diagnosis--and, even more hopefully, a treatable diagnosis. The biopsy was from his thigh which was the first place he felt like his strength was being affected.
These last two days were pretty tough. I was at the hospital alone most of the time. It's such a relief to have these two procedures through and to see that he's still OK. So far, it does not appear to have been too much for him. He is much more alert than when he first went on the vent.
Thank you all so, so much for your prayers. They are sustaining me. I thank God for my dear blogging friends. May the Lord return to you in grace all the love you are sending my way in the form of prayers.
Must get to bed....
4 comments:
Rosemary, don't the doctors have any idea what is causing this?
Praying for all of you,
Esther
My prayers for your father and for you and your family continue morning and night.
Ruthann
Hugs and intensive prayers.
Take care of yourself, sweet Rosemary.
Esther, right, there is no diagnosis. His only serious health issue is his heart and his cardiologist does not think this is being caused by the weakness of his heart. He seems like he should be able to go off the ventilator but when they try he goes back into respiratory distress. The doctors are calling it very "atypical." God has a plan.
Thank you so much, Ruthann.
Mimi, thank you. I love it. Intensive prayers in the intensive care unit. (smile)
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