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After a day of showing she could "hold her own" in the blood oxygen saturation department, it looked good for Patty to depart the hospital. On March 27th we'd brought her to Srinagarind Hospital, with about a week in Intensive Care and the time since that in the moderate care ward. Before that, Patty had experienced nearly a three month stretch of hospital stays, with perhaps just a week break at home during that time. Most of the time she spent at Khon Kaen Hospital, with two stints in ICU there, and the rest of her time there in the pediatric "mix" ward. So getting a green light for her to go home was a big "Whew!" Were we all glad to get her back home!
The level of anxiety for Lak and I had too often been too intense for comfort. During Patty's first stays in ICU, we saw several children succumb to their illnesses. It was pretty sobering, especially given that with only ten beds in the two rooms of ICU where we saw what was going on, this was not a really low percentage mortality rate--not low enough to feel that Patty was clear profound danger.
I learned that the blood oxygen saturation percentage was a very important figure, and seemed to be a very visible indication of the condition of each patient in ICU, with the vital signs monitor showing that, pulse rate, and other signs, in big, easy to read figures. Seeing that figure drop, in several instances, lead to an empty bed upon our arrival the next morning. Thus, that very visible figure on the vital signs monitor became very loaded with potential for me, and it was never out of sight, out of mind for very long.
There is where my writing stalled, getting into the more grim side of what can happen when a kid is in ICU. I decided to perhaps come back to that writing in more detail at a later date. For now, we are on an upswing. Patty has been at home for about ten days now. Ironically, life has been all the more demanding now that she is out of the hospital. Here at home my appreciation for the nurses, and all that they do, comes into clearer focus, as we've needed to be doing many of the things that they routinely have taken care of for Patty.
Patty is still dealing with respiratory issues, as they don't easily or completely clear up following such an illness. So it's been a demanding time at home, though certainly lacking the intensity of her being in ICU or the regular hospital ward. Phlegm continues to hang in there tenaciously, and we've been trying to deal with that issue in various ways-- with diet, with medicine, and with mechanical means of just clearing it out for her.
I called a shot, for a change, last week, and bought a good phlegm suction machine for a couple hundred dollars (6,000 baht). It's been making the job of clearing her airways a lot easier than using the rubber bulb device that Lak had been using. Lak had thought that was fine, but having the suction machine is like having gone from hand washing to having a washing machine. (Perhaps Lak could be liberated from doing Patty's laundry washing by hand, too! But some things are hard to change.)
The day before yesterday was a marathon for us at the Srinagarind Hospital clinic, with three doctors appointments in the same day: one with a neuro clinic, one with an endocrine clinic, and one with the rehabilitation and physical therapy clinic. The night before had been full of wake-up calls for milk feedings and suctioning sessions, and in order to try to get there early, I'd gotten up before four a.m. in order to do my morning market run earlier than usual. The temperature was soaring, with the so-called "comfort level" well over a hundred degrees. Somehow we all made it through the day of mostly sitting and waiting, and now have some reduced medicine dosages (good!) and a few simple exercises for Patty (exciting!). I went to Big-C to buy an exercise ball today, for her to do her balance exercises, and we'll soon have our front room turned into a gymnasium. :-)
Oh, and here are a few recent pictures:
Slide show: Patty back at home.
Well, that's my blogging for the moment. Please stay tuned! (subscribe! and don't miss a post!)
I learned that the blood oxygen saturation percentage was a very important figure, and seemed to be a very visible indication of the condition of each patient in ICU, with the vital signs monitor showing that, pulse rate, and other signs, in big, easy to read figures. Seeing that figure drop, in several instances, lead to an empty bed upon our arrival the next morning. Thus, that very visible figure on the vital signs monitor became very loaded with potential for me, and it was never out of sight, out of mind for very long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is where my writing stalled, getting into the more grim side of what can happen when a kid is in ICU. I decided to perhaps come back to that writing in more detail at a later date. For now, we are on an upswing. Patty has been at home for about ten days now. Ironically, life has been all the more demanding now that she is out of the hospital. Here at home my appreciation for the nurses, and all that they do, comes into clearer focus, as we've needed to be doing many of the things that they routinely have taken care of for Patty.
Patty is still dealing with respiratory issues, as they don't easily or completely clear up following such an illness. So it's been a demanding time at home, though certainly lacking the intensity of her being in ICU or the regular hospital ward. Phlegm continues to hang in there tenaciously, and we've been trying to deal with that issue in various ways-- with diet, with medicine, and with mechanical means of just clearing it out for her.
I called a shot, for a change, last week, and bought a good phlegm suction machine for a couple hundred dollars (6,000 baht). It's been making the job of clearing her airways a lot easier than using the rubber bulb device that Lak had been using. Lak had thought that was fine, but having the suction machine is like having gone from hand washing to having a washing machine. (Perhaps Lak could be liberated from doing Patty's laundry washing by hand, too! But some things are hard to change.)
The day before yesterday was a marathon for us at the Srinagarind Hospital clinic, with three doctors appointments in the same day: one with a neuro clinic, one with an endocrine clinic, and one with the rehabilitation and physical therapy clinic. The night before had been full of wake-up calls for milk feedings and suctioning sessions, and in order to try to get there early, I'd gotten up before four a.m. in order to do my morning market run earlier than usual. The temperature was soaring, with the so-called "comfort level" well over a hundred degrees. Somehow we all made it through the day of mostly sitting and waiting, and now have some reduced medicine dosages (good!) and a few simple exercises for Patty (exciting!). I went to Big-C to buy an exercise ball today, for her to do her balance exercises, and we'll soon have our front room turned into a gymnasium. :-)
Oh, and here are a few recent pictures:
Slide show: Patty back at home.
Well, that's my blogging for the moment. Please stay tuned! (subscribe! and don't miss a post!)
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