We found out this morning that Chris has a mild case of pneumonia. The fluid in his lungs causes him to cough pretty often. The pneumonia has caused a fever and Chris is complaining of being very hot. Despite all of this, the doctor’s say that if he can keep his blood pressure and heart rate down they will remove the tube this afternoon!
Most of today was spent taking turns visiting Chris two at a time and spending the remaining hours in the waiting room. Danny, Cassie and Alyssa came to see him for the day. Also, Ellen and Mariah visited. Occasionally we were all kicked out so that Chris could get some undisturbed rest. This meant that the waiting room was full, but it was nice to visit with everyone and be distracted for a little while.
Chris’ room is not very private, nor very big, so we are all hopeful that they will soon be able to move him across the ward to a private room. Until then, everyone does the best they can by adding a lot of cards, drawings and pictures to his wall. Chris’ friends do their best to entertain Chris with stories, jokes and pictures. Chris wants to know who is coming to visit and when, so his mom makes him a calendar listing who has visited and who will be coming in the next weeks.
At about 4:15 pm, the nurses kicked us all out of his room so that the doctors could evaluate whether the tube could come out and, if so, remove it. We all waited rather impatiently in the waiting room, praying that they would remove it and knowing how much the tube had been bothering Chris. About an hour after kicking us all out, the nurses came to get Tiffannie and Earl. It turns out that they had removed his tube, but that Chris was taking more breaths in a minute than he should, meaning that his breathing was shallow. For this reason, they monitored him for a while after removing the tube just to make sure they weren’t going to have to put it back in. Luckily, his oxygen levels were fine. After a brief visit, the staff suggested that we leave him alone for a few hours to allow him to remain calm and work at getting his breathing under control.
Relieved that his tube was out, but worried about whether they might have to put it back in, we all went out to dinner for a little distraction time. After dinner, Tiff called the hospital and was told that he had managed to get his breathing under control. This was great news! We all visited him one more time before turning in for the night.
Most of today was spent taking turns visiting Chris two at a time and spending the remaining hours in the waiting room. Danny, Cassie and Alyssa came to see him for the day. Also, Ellen and Mariah visited. Occasionally we were all kicked out so that Chris could get some undisturbed rest. This meant that the waiting room was full, but it was nice to visit with everyone and be distracted for a little while.
Chris’ room is not very private, nor very big, so we are all hopeful that they will soon be able to move him across the ward to a private room. Until then, everyone does the best they can by adding a lot of cards, drawings and pictures to his wall. Chris’ friends do their best to entertain Chris with stories, jokes and pictures. Chris wants to know who is coming to visit and when, so his mom makes him a calendar listing who has visited and who will be coming in the next weeks.
At about 4:15 pm, the nurses kicked us all out of his room so that the doctors could evaluate whether the tube could come out and, if so, remove it. We all waited rather impatiently in the waiting room, praying that they would remove it and knowing how much the tube had been bothering Chris. About an hour after kicking us all out, the nurses came to get Tiffannie and Earl. It turns out that they had removed his tube, but that Chris was taking more breaths in a minute than he should, meaning that his breathing was shallow. For this reason, they monitored him for a while after removing the tube just to make sure they weren’t going to have to put it back in. Luckily, his oxygen levels were fine. After a brief visit, the staff suggested that we leave him alone for a few hours to allow him to remain calm and work at getting his breathing under control.
Relieved that his tube was out, but worried about whether they might have to put it back in, we all went out to dinner for a little distraction time. After dinner, Tiff called the hospital and was told that he had managed to get his breathing under control. This was great news! We all visited him one more time before turning in for the night.
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