Lauren Update. 12/14/09

Shall we dance? The last few days have been baby steps forward, but today we took one step back.

Lauren looked good yesterday. Awake and trying to get her point across, even with a tube down her throat. Dr. Y. told me that the chest x-ray was looking better and that they would hopefully try weaning La off the vent over the next several days. Dr. Y. decreased her vent settings to 40% with a PEEP of 5.0.

This morning I made my daily call to check on La. I usually call around 9 AM, but today the nurse was with Lauren while the Dr.'s were doing a bronchoscopy. Not unusual, so I wasn't worried. I called back around 10:15 to get an update. No news. Finally, about 11:45, I was able to speak with Lauren's nurse and find out what the heck was going on.

Last night was a rough night. Miss La spiked a fever and was breathing shallowly, even with the vent support. This morning she was still running a fever and the nurse found a small amount of bleeding around the ET (endo-tracheal) tube.

During the bronch, the Dr.'s were aggressive - trying to suction out as much junk (phlegm) and any blood that they found. Because a bronch can stimulate the vagal nerve and cause an inflammatory response, it caused Lauren's blood pressure to drop. They are treating with BP meds and watching her closely. She's OK.

I'll be by to check on her later and will post an update. That's all for now, folks.