So here's what happened....part 3
To finish up this story, she had pneumonia, and then apparently had a heart attack while in the hospital.
She was on a ventilator, vent for short (also called a respirator, apparently the same thing in medical speak) for something like 5 days, and a feeding tube for 7 days. The vent keeps your airway open and forces air into your lungs. The machine can be adjusted as to how much work the machine does, vs how much your lungs do. Apparently now the standard protocol is to leave someone on a vent through the mouth for no more than 2 weeks, and if it is still required, do perform a tracheotomy and insert this through the neck.
Anyway, Lilian kept trying to pull it out, so they had her tied down and sedated. Even being tied down she would scoot her upper body down so she could reach the tubes to pull them out. She was quite a handful, so the nurses kept sedating her. The Dr. wanted to wean her off the sedation, so they could get her off the vent...but the nurses kept sedating her so they would have to keep pulling her up in bed to keep her away from the tubes.
Only because we were there all the time, seeing what went on, did we get the Dr. to give instructions for no sedation (the Dr. wouldn't give a drip, only "as needed", but apparently "as needed" is as needed for the nurses, not for the patient, LOL). When we learned the nurses were giving her Ativan every 2 hours, which was as often as they were allowed, we informed the Dr., who then gave instructions for no sedation. The next time we came back, they had additional staff watching her, to make sure she didn't pull out the tubes.
Anyway, she finally got off the vent, but was so confused due to all the drugs they thought she had a stroke. They sent her for an MRI, which did not show any sign of a stroke.
She was extremely confused for the next week, but now, about 2 months later, she has recovered enough to make a previously planned trip.
She was on a ventilator, vent for short (also called a respirator, apparently the same thing in medical speak) for something like 5 days, and a feeding tube for 7 days. The vent keeps your airway open and forces air into your lungs. The machine can be adjusted as to how much work the machine does, vs how much your lungs do. Apparently now the standard protocol is to leave someone on a vent through the mouth for no more than 2 weeks, and if it is still required, do perform a tracheotomy and insert this through the neck.
Anyway, Lilian kept trying to pull it out, so they had her tied down and sedated. Even being tied down she would scoot her upper body down so she could reach the tubes to pull them out. She was quite a handful, so the nurses kept sedating her. The Dr. wanted to wean her off the sedation, so they could get her off the vent...but the nurses kept sedating her so they would have to keep pulling her up in bed to keep her away from the tubes.
Only because we were there all the time, seeing what went on, did we get the Dr. to give instructions for no sedation (the Dr. wouldn't give a drip, only "as needed", but apparently "as needed" is as needed for the nurses, not for the patient, LOL). When we learned the nurses were giving her Ativan every 2 hours, which was as often as they were allowed, we informed the Dr., who then gave instructions for no sedation. The next time we came back, they had additional staff watching her, to make sure she didn't pull out the tubes.
Anyway, she finally got off the vent, but was so confused due to all the drugs they thought she had a stroke. They sent her for an MRI, which did not show any sign of a stroke.
She was extremely confused for the next week, but now, about 2 months later, she has recovered enough to make a previously planned trip.
Labels: congestive heart failure
posted by Confessions of a Caregiver at
9:26 PM
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