The Kanis Family

So I thought I’d give you an update on how the bi-pap is going. Yesterday when I went there he had just gotten chest physio done. Basically they pat his chest & back and do vibrations to get the secretions out. Then they suction him which is really gross! They stick a suction catheter down his throat and nose to get all the secretions out. Poor guy!! He really doesn’t like it and I don’t blame him. After he had the chest physio done he fell asleep right away and slept almost the whole time I was there. Usually he is awake and up in his chair so this was a big difference for him. He also seemed to be working a lot harder to breathe with his nostrils flaring and him doing indrawn breathing. So I mentioned that to the nurse and she said she’d keep an eye on it. They started doing chest physio more often and that really seemed to help him. I was told that they really need to do chest physio often. One of the reasons for this is because there is a part of his lung that normally clears out the secretions but because he had a ventilator tube down there for 62 days this function stopped working. It’s like it said “I know the tube is there and the nurses can suction so I am going to stop working.” Now that the tube is out, this function needs to kick back in. It usually takes a few days though

This morning when I called the nurse said he was doing great. He is still really tired but his chest x-ray this morning looked “fabulous”. So obviously he is starting to clear more secretions. This afternoon when they do chest physio they are going to try him on some high-flow oxygen to see how he does. So hopefully he can get through these next couple days on bi-pap so that he can stay on it.

Today I’m home for the day and hope to get a bunch of stuff done like laundry/cleaning/baking muffins etc. Since I have been at the hospital Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday of this week not much has gotten done here. I’m really thankful for the meals that have been made for us this week by different people. You know who you are and a HUGE thank you to you! It has made my week a little less stressful not having to worry about what we’re going to eat when I come home from the hospital. Anyway I better get back to laundry etc. I’ve already done 4 loads but I think there’s about 4 more to do today.