Saturday was quite stressful.
I got up at 6am to take over from the night nurse. She reported that Sadbh had a quiet night and slept the whole time. She did mention that she felt that the Oximeter was not picking up the correct readings. Our particular oximeter not only measures the oxygen saturation levels in the blood stream, it also measures the heart rate. According to the oximeter, Sadbh's heart rate was quiet high all night. Typically when Sadbh sleeps, her heart rate is anywhere between 120 and 140, during the night she was sleeping with a heart rate over 165. Our nurse was determined that the oximeter was picking up an incorrect reading and that there was nothing to be worried about. She recommended that we contact the equipment rental company and get a replacement or have this unit re-calibrated.
Shortly after the night nurse left, we realized that the airway in Sadbh's trach appeared to be a lot more congested than normal. We figured that a quick suction would do the trick, however she still seemed to be working harder than usual to breathe. We tried adding drops of saline into her trach to loosen up her secretions, and when we used the suction catheter it sucked out some thick mucus. Unfortunately it wasn't enough as she was wheezing when she took a breath.
Katie suspected that the trach collar wasn't pumping out enough moisture and decided to call the equipment hotline. Sure enough, the settings on the compressor were a lot lower than where they were supposed to be, and it seems that these settings were off for the past couple of days.
Since the level of moisture being administered to Sadbh's trach was a lot lower than it should have been, we figured that this resulted in her airway drying out causing her to have to breathe harder. Hence the high heart rate.
Using sterile Q-tips, we carefully cleared out the area of the trach that was easily accessible. By adding more drops of saline into the trach, we were able to remove more dry secretions allowing her airway to open up more. As I write this, she is still slightly wheezy, but she is improving.
What annoys me, it that this could have all been prevented very early. Rather than thinking that the oximeter wasn't functioning properly, and that her heart rate was fine, why not check all the equipment to see if there were any other causes. When you think of it, Katie is not a medical expert, however after looking over all the possible scenarios, she figured it out. My confidence in our nurses now has dwindled dramatically and it's going to be hard to sleep knowing that our baby is in their care.
I try to be as optimistic as possible when I write these daily blogs, but the truth is that our experience since Sadbh was born has been really difficult to deal with. Both Katie and I are emotionally wrecked and our stress levels are through the roof. We often find moments of solace in how beautiful, strong and wonderful Sadbh is, and also from the kind e-mails that people send. But often, and I am ashamed to say this, we also find resentment as we know that our lives should not be like this. We love our little girl so much, and we are dedicated to to her recovery. But this sucks and it's going to be a long time before it will get any better.
That's all for now, take care,
Wayne, Katie and Sadbh.
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