Day 3 Post Op

Yesterday Joey stayed at 21 percent, but by 9 PM, his oxygen needs kept increasing. His upper right lobe showed some of the same adelectisis. I was of course internally freaking out, because this is just what I do.  Grace got him down to 40 percent, and then this morning he made it back to 65 percent. His primary decided today that we were going to have to put him more on his side to get his secretions moving around and his lungs popped open. I also decided that I was going to have to pull out my facial massagers, back massagers, and some percussion therapy to help Joey move things along while he is paralyzed.  So far, we are down to 40 percent.

I have a new saying for Joey's care-"Move, Loosen, and Suction." That's the key to getting him to a good spot.

I also had to write on his window how many days we are going with the paralytic.  With each day, I get to write a mark! It will nice to see Joey be able to move again and mobilize his own secretions and just wiggle around. The drug wean will be the next challenge.