Out of the ICU

We have no idea what day it is or how long we have been in the hospital but we do know we are out of the ICU!

The reason we went into ICU was due to the extremely high blood gas issues Laura was dealing with.   In the beginning we thought the cause may be due to the decreased time time Laura was spending on the bipap. In the end, that seems to be the cause.  After a few days of tweaking, the beast of a machine, with the respiratory therapy team she was moved back to the floor.
The ICU team on 13 was AWESOME.  We are very lucky to be under the watchful eye of the best.

Every time we move to a different floor or have a change in the team we need to review what is going on, this includes a review of her meds. This is not a short process.  Laura is taking 40-50+ pills a day.  Her blood sugars continue to be all over the place for her insulin needs make that a very complex process as well. While I was there today three Endocrinologists came into the room to discuss her case.  There is probably a good joke there. Three Endocrinologists walk into a bar....   Anyway, managing her blood sugars while on 24/7 tube feed will continue to be a task as well as all of the other meds.

In order for Laura to go back onto the main floor (For clarity, main floor is not a normal floor in a hospital. There are 20 rooms or so and all the patients on the floor have either ALD (advanced lung disease) or a cardiac equivalent.  A picture of health) she is on the full face bipap.  Thus far this is going well but we are unsure how long she can go on this.  Once this runs out, we will have to go back to ICU and will be trached.  

As we are the eve of the midterm elections, you should go vote.   Below is Laura completing her ballot.  What's your excuse not to vote?

Thanks again for all of the notes and thoughts.  More to come.  Hopefully lungs are coming soon.

Love,
The Zs