ICU Update Day 16 - Another Positive Day

Shirley hasn't been sleeping well, so last night they gave her Seraquil, while allowed her to sleep quite peacefully.  They will repeat that tonight as they try to get her wake/sleep cycles regulated.

Blood chemistry overnight looked good.  Her white blood count is down to 14 and heading back towards normal range.

They tried a breathing trial this morning that was supposed to go for one hour. She did so well, they let it run for three hours and then decided to extubate her. Since around noon, she's had a an oxygen mask pushing 30% Oxygen with added moisture.  As she is becoming more alert, she is trying very hard to take it off. When I returned from a dinner break, they had restrained her arms.  She's pulling against the restraints and leaning forward trying to get the mask within reach.  I've asked them if they can switch to a canula, which she is very used to, so that she doesn't have to fight the mask.

Shirley received another round of dialysis today. They took off another 1.5 liters for excess fluid.  That's 3.5 liters (7.7 pounds) in two days.

Her mental state continues to improve.  She is nodding to answer questions and appears frustrated that she can't speak yet. I feel that's just around the corner however.  She is definitely more alert than she has been in two weeks.

They have also removed her Foley catheter as nephrology says they no longer need it to precisely measure her urine output.

About the only setback as that her stomach began to distend again as she wasn't digesting her feeding supplement as fast as they were administering it.  About 1 am, the went back to a trickle feed to allow her to catch up.  

It's nice to be able to report positive news.  I really feel we've turned a corner and with the root cause issue of the bile leak resolved, I think she'll just keep getting stronger and stronger.