Monday, October 12, 2009
63 out of the past 101 days in the hospital (43 straight)
The scope today showed that Gabe's airway is really swollen and raw down to the cartilidge. The ENT doc said that swelling of this extent is related to the intubation tube being too large. This is extremely frustrating. We voiced our concerns to the surgeon and again to the Cardiology Attending. The Attending said that he thinks they chose to use a 3.5 instead of a 3.0 endotracheal tube b/c they wanted to make sure it didn't have a leak and be too small and lead to an unstable airway immediately after heart surgery. I personally think that is a little far fetched since a 3.0 gave him a perfectly solid fit 2 weeks earlier for his Gtube surgery and he had hardly grown between then and heart surgery. I'm having a hard time with it. I'm really hoping someone's error in judgement doesn't lead to a long term consequence. I'm sure they meant well in making the decision of a larger tube in a floppier airway, but it was the wrong one for my son. In the mean time, they're giving him steroids and antibiotics in hopes to extubate on Thursday. He has a 2.5 ET tube in. They purposely wanted it to be a little smaller so it's not rubbing up against the raw tissue around it. The down side to a smaller tube is you can hear a hoarse cry when he's upset. Hopefully the swelling will be down for Thursday. I don't know if I"ll be able to be in the room for it this time. I'm so sick of Gabe being sick.
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I feel terrible that you are going through this as well as Gabe. I will continue to pray for him and that this swelling will go down and not have any long term effects.
ReplyDeleteOh, that is just terrible! I don't blame you at all for being upset! I pray that there are not any long term effects for the mistake. Gabe has been through so much, i can't imagine how you must feel knowing that this could have been avoided. Hoping things will improve by Thursday. I know you are ready to just take him home and hold him!
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear this. You must be so tired and emotionally drained. I am praying that things get better. How unfortunate that they choose a larger size. For Wysdom's heart surgery I was very concerned about the size of the tube as well. I spoke to the anesthesiologist about it and had them write it down, but ultimately it's their choice. It is their role to choose and monitor the tube. With children with ds they sometimes need to use a smaller size. However they want it to fit so snuggly because they don't want the leakage of air that could lead to more damage. It's a fine line. I hope the swelling goes down. I truly do feel your pain. This reminds me of how angry and frustrated I was and still am about Wysdom's pressure spot and scar on his head that came from the cpap used after ohs. Let's pray that you are not dealing with their mistake in the long term!! Our little ones are dealing with so much that we really don't need more to deal with. Big breath. and big hugs to you.Hang in there!! We are all thinking of you and praying for little Gabe.
ReplyDeleteOh, poor Gabe. And poor mom and dad too! Hang in there you guys, we're thinking of you all the time. Per usual, if there's anything we can do... bust knee caps or anything, we're there.
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