Today was a short day for me. No, nothing is wrong, I just came home early.

Bill was still sleeping when I got there this morning, roused up long enough to get his blood pressure taken and a breathing treatment started and then went right back to sleep. He even slept completely through an exam by Janet for Dr. Threlkeld.

Stephanie came in and said that the trach would be changed this morning during rounds and ordered the vent turned down to 4! So, he made it to the magic number! A bit later she was back with Dr. Henderson and they got the trach changed, easy as anything...for them. Because the tube is longer it kept triggering Bill's gag reflex and even suctioning didn't help. It was alarming enough for me and the respiratory tech, who is new and was on her own for the first time today or all days, that she went to get a supervisor. He kept coughing up a little bloody mucus from around the trach collar. It's a good thing I don't mind gloving up, so I got some gauze and started trying to clean it up a little. I didn't want it to just lay on his chest. He's already got an area that is quite sore from secretions that weren't wiped up. They are supposed to keep an absorbent pad under the collar, but it was gone this morning.

The supervisor came in and he had started to calm down some and was going back to sleep. But, he was doing great at 4, with his sats at 100% most of the time. I was trying to figure out why he has wanted to sleep so much the last 2 days and I finally thought to see what time they were giving him his Seroquel. It's ordered for 9 and last night it was given at 11! So of course it hadn't gotten out of his system. I told his nurse we had to play with the timing last year and she was going to tell his night nurse to give it by 8. That may also be too late, but we won't know until tomorrow.

Since he was sleeping so much, the next time he roused up, around 1:30, I asked if he minded if I came home to get some things done. He said that it was OK, if they would just leave him alone. He said that his throat hurt and he just wanted to sleep, although with the longer tube he can't actually talk anymore. So, I told his nurse that I was leaving. I didn't tell Bill that he was still going to get his bath, but hopefully they got it done quickly.

I didn't do much after I got home. I did stop and get a few groceries and then came home and fed the cats and me and got the trash out to the curb. Then, to think of something other than medical stuff, I did our taxes! Or, at least as much of them that I could do. I still need a couple of forms to come in or be ready for download, and one of our forms isn't released yet but will be Friday. But, the bulk of them are done. I'm going to just kick back tonight and watch as much of the "Chicago" shows as I can stay awake for. 

Weather could be a factor in the morning. It's supposed to rain, but it may start as sleet or snow. So the commute could be fun. I won't need to stop anywhere in the morning so I can just hit the highway.

That's it for today. Hopefully he'll go to CPAP tomorrow, if not tonight, and maybe he'll be off the vent by the week-end! I'll let you know!