Monday, January 30, 2012

Home vent to no vent?

Last week our little grandson Clay tired when he was switched to the home ventilator, so he was switched back to the hospital vent.

The doctor let him rest for a few days, but she told us on Friday that she wanted to administer a round of steroids and then begin to aggressively wean Clay off the ventilator. 

We thought the plan was to try the home vent again, but the new plan is to try to take him completely off the ventilator--tomorrow. 

That is obviously a big step, but wouldn’t it be great if Clay is ready to breathe without mechanical ventilation?  The trach will still be in place, in case he needs additional oxygen support or vent backup.   

These are big steps for our big boy, but he’s handled today’s changes well. His oxygen was turned down to 23 percent—room air is 21 percent.  His vent rate was halved and the pressure support was halved. 

Maybe it’s time.  We sure hope and pray so! 

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