The Pay-off
Hello All,
One of Aaron’s nurses was with him all day today. When I returned home from work around 3 p.m. she reported that Aaron was capped (his trach completely sealed off) all day again; he has been doing this for almost a week now. He’s breathing normally all day through his nose and mouth with no extra oxygen. The new pulmonologist that we saw last week directed Aaron to use his spirometer at least 10 times every hour while he’s awake; this is how Aaron can strengthen his lungs and the muscles around them in order to eventually wean from the vent and get rid of his trach. We’re really seeing the results of that! The even bigger step that was made today was that as of this writing, Aaron has not had to use the coughalator, a machine that helps him to cough up secretions, nor did he need to be suctioned. Suctioning consists of putting a thin tube down his throat via his trach to suck out excess secretions that he can’t cough up. It also creates some additional secretions because it is invasive… a real catch 22. This is huge as it’s the first time since his accident that he has not had to coughalate or suction almost first thing in the morning. It wasn’t that long ago that he could spend quite a bit of time especially in the morning trying to get his lungs cleared using these aids. He was also able to move all 3 balls upward on his spirometer today. Awesome! We’re all soooo proud of your determination Aaron. Keep it up!