Monday, June 1st - Update

An update from the docs!

Moms bronchoscopy went great today. The inside of her lungs are looking clear with little to no secretions. The team was super happy and optimistic about what they saw. They felt that the secretions were being managed well with the aggressive breathing treatments as well as her ability to cough and clear the lungs. 

In terms of being liberated from the ventilator it is still a long road. There are three major factors contributing to her situation. One is the breathing muscles / mechanisms. The breathing muscles are still pretty weak and will just take time to strengthen. They are encouraged by the progress she has made but cautious about taking her off the ventilator too quickly. It’s still a fine balance between conditioning the lungs and over stressing her body. They will be carefully scaling back the ventilator time. 

The second factor is the c02 retention. Same issue as before, but with the weak muscles after a few days of little or no ventilator her body is unable to expel the Co2 and it builds up. Symptoms can be the tremors, brain fog and muscle weakness. This may have been a big factor in the “episode” last week. (Along with the bacterial infection that has been treated)

The third factor is the fluid retention. The more fluid that builds up the more the lungs have to work. They are trying to keep the fluid levels as low as possible to help minimize fluid build up in the plural space. The diuretics and movement are helping. 

Overall mom is doing really well and getting stronger by the day. They have also moved her breathing treatments back in the day so her treatments start around 8 am versus the 5-6 am start now.