Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Today was a tough day. Charlotte was working very hard, too hard to breathe on the CPAP and at about 12:30 p.m. the doctor and nurses decided to intubate her again. The doctor then requested an x-ray of her lungs and an ultrasound of her heart. More blood was drawn for another culture and she was started on an additional antibiotic as a precaution.

Her heart looked "perfect" but her lung x-ray showed that the ventilator tube wasn't situated quite right and it was a little fuzzy due to the air filling her stomach from the intubation. They then readjusted her ventilator tube and hooked her up to a little pump that pulls the extra air from her stomach.

Throughout the afternoon her blood-oxygen saturation dropped to the 60s (90-95 is desirable) multiple times for no apparant reason, but an additional x-ray showed that the ventilator was too low and blowing primarily into the right lung. After pulling it out slightly she was able to rest more easily.

Her skin looks paper thin with her veins highly visible. The nurse said that happens when she feels sick. Hopefully the readjustment of her tubes, pumping air out of her stomach, and a second blood transfusion will help her recover quickly.