Trach

It was very nerve-racking to have little time to prepare for reality that we needed to go ahead with the tracheostomy procedure to help Jason's lungs. In the picture, we've taken his face mask off quickly, but he has required continuous respiratory support with his Trilogy breathing machine for more than two weeks. All that stress, question of making the right decision, "what if"....

but now it's done and everything

went exactly as expected.

My mama drove down to Atlanta from North Carolina on Saturday to be with us and be our cheerleader. Jason's parents are planning on coming in about a week, and of course have been updated throughout. We were admitted to the D-ICU on the 2nd floor of Emory on Sunday, April 30. We stayed overnight just getting used to the unit, staff, expectations, etc. At lunch time today, for about 45 minutes, they did the trach placement in Jason's room. Familiar faces (Nurse Practitioner Brittany and Dr. Berkowitz) did the procedure and updated us throughout. It was so quick, Mama and I weren't even able to finish lunch, which was very OK with us. We came back into the room and Jason looked great. Even though he was still on medications and heavily sedated, within minutes of talking to him and letting him know what was going on, Jason was able to squeeze my hand (he can still squeeze with in left hand). He answered my questions with a head nod to say "yes" and "no." He even smiled :) Then we decided to let him sleep while our nurse, Mary Hannah, lowered sedation. At about 2:30, sedation has been weaned, but that IV pain medication is still keeping him pretty sleepy.

We appreciate all the love, thoughts, texts, prayers, prayer chains, church prayer lists....there were MANY prayers and they all worked.

Now for a few days of recovery in the hospital, switching from their ventilator to our at home Trilogy machine, and teaching sessions. We are excited to see our at home Respiratory Therapist, Rob, who we haven't seen since the end of February. He will be coming to the hospital to teach us troubleshooting, settings, and care for Jason at home. SIGH of relief. And sorry it's just me posting....I promise Jason approves all of them except this one. He's still too groggy on IV pain medications to approve this one-I figured the update was more important :)