Today they decided to see how Lynn would tolerate his nutrition through his feeding tube. Right now, that is the only thing that he has still been getting through his IV. They barely started it this afternoon, so we may not know for a day or so. They will continue to check his ammonia levels as well as his other labs. He is still not waking up and he is still breathing on his own through a trach. He does cough up secretions very well into the trach, and he swallows well so we really don't have to suction his mouth anymore. This leaves us in somewhat of a predicament. If Lynn tolerates his feeds well, all we really need him to do is wake up, with does not necessitate the ICU. His doctor, Elaine, approached me today with the question of have I thought about which long term care facility I want him to go to. It took me by total surprise because I assumed that he would go from ICU to Acute Care to a Medical Floor. She said that he needs to be somewhere that is set up to handle trach patients and suggested South Davis Hospital. I have never been there, and the thoughts of sending him to a long term care facility is very scary for me because I've worked in too many of them. I have an appointment with the Director of Nursing tomorrow morning to see the facility. South Davis Hospital is in Bountiful, which is closer than the U, but I would prefer a facility closer to Ogden. Does anyone know of a facility in the Ogden area that is more like a step down unit that can adequately care for trach patients? I told the doctor that I would prefer to bring him home and care for him myself, but she said she wouldn't let me since he would need 24-7 care and there would be no way I could provide that by myself. I have the nursing skills, but I don't have the ability to do it 24 hours a day. Lynn could solve the whole problem by waking up so he wouldn't need the trach and I could just bring him home and we could get home health rehab in. So let's continue to pray that Lynn will wake up! More later.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
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