Trach collar a go-go

(guest post by Kate)

Adam spent 11 hours on trach collar today and did fabulously! He was considering trying it out overnight, but decided to go back on the vent to rest tonight and try to go even longer tomorrow. He spent a lot of the day dozing as he tried to make up for the sleep debt and a general yuck feeling that’s been intermittent over the last 48 hours. He continued to have a fever intermittentl overnight, but we now have a culprit. One of Adam’s cultures came back positive for a GI bacteria called Clostridium Difficile, which can develop after a hospitalized patient has been on antibiotics. The antibiotics can alter the normal gut flora allowing C. diff to proliferate. That can explain why Adam has felt crummy the last few days and has had some GI distress. For now, anyone who visits has to wear a yellow gown and gloves while in Adam’s room and wash with special soap on the way out. He’s still on other antibiotics, at least until all of his cultures have come back (maybe longer?). The attending covering today felt that pneumonia was less likely simply because Adam wouldn’t be able to do so well with the trach collar trials and would be more weak. Hopefully, Adam will start to feel better in the next day or so now that he’s being given an antibiotic specifically to treat the C. diff.

His movement is about the same as yesterday, but really exciting all in all. The ease with the trach collar is also fantastic. So I’m focusing on the positives of the day and looking forward to more that come our way.