Hospital Admission #5

I think I may have jumped the gun on writing this week's blog. I was about 85% complete with it , when the topics I was writing about didn't seem appropriate anymore

Ryan made it 20 days in the sub-acute facility when respiratory stress kicked in and Thursday afternoon (6/28/12) he was transported back to the emergency room at Loma Linda Medical Center. After taking x-rays it was decided that he had some fluid infiltration in his lungs and the docs said he has pneumonia yet again. Due to the transport ambulance not having a transport ventilator, Ryan had to be hand ventilated from the facility to the hospital. This called for the ambulance and fire department to use lights and sirens. As soon as he was transferred from the ER to his home away from home (the pediatric ICU), Ryan appeared to make a 180 degree turn around. He was back to his happy, smiley self. It was almost like he knew were he was.

His first night back in the hospital was going well until about 4:30am. Ryan's circuit that connects to his trach was disconnected. We are sure that Ryan is not in need of a vent to stay alive, but Oxygen is very important. The alarms that notify us when one of his vital signs is outside of the set parameters was sounding, but not loud enough for anyone to hear. Mom woke up and heard the alarms going off and noticed Ryan's eyes were starting to roll back, his whole body appeared limp and he was completely blue. Where his oxygen saturation level is supposed to be 80%+, it was reading 20%. After mom alerted the nurse and respiratory therapist, they were able to bring him back up and his color was back to rosy pink. Ever since that incident there has been no signs that anything ever happened. Friday, Saturday and Sunday have been progressively better and he is making his way back to where he was a month ago.

Our goal for Ryan is to fix the infection he has right now and get him to the point where we can leave from the hospital and go straight home. The sub-acute facility was an OK idea originally, but after being exposed to one for three weeks it is not the type of place that Ryan needs. We are positive that being home in the care of mom and dad is by far the most practical solution for Ryan's well being.

This was another stressful week, but mom and I are much more comfortable having Ryan in a place that the staff and doctors know him and are able to react to his fragile needs.