Congrats on your Dad..if you dont mind me asking, hiw old is your Dad. My 53 yr old brother still in icu..88 days. About 40 days ago went from vent to tracheostomy. The past 2 weeks he has been getting much stronger but was dealing with a pneumothorax. Cognitively doing well and in better spirits. While the left lung seemed to hve finally healed , we are waiting on him to be transferred to a rehab facility. Unfortunately this a.m he suffered a pneumothorax in the right lung and they put in a tube this am to drain it etc. Constant set backs causing prolonged vent time. While his trials have been going well, apparently they wont remove completely bc of the collapsed lung.
Im so desperate for him to get off machine and move on.
No don’t mind you asking at all, my dad is 65. My dad also had the chest drain in and once all that fluid was drained he did seem to really come on a lot.
My dads had many set backs even having another chest infection a couple of weeks ago.
Only last weekend he was having 4 hour periods off the ventilator , so this last week he’s really just got stronger .
Such a long time 88 days but am sure alot of that time he won’t remember, my dad been in 11 weeks only really remembers the last three.
Am sure your brother will get there and be ready for his nxt stage of recovery xx
It truly is..all we can do is keep our faith and pray and pray. Thank you for always posting words of wisdom..they truly have been so helpful to me these past few months!
I was nervous about the step down, the recovery ward was amazing, he was checked on by the nurses, doctors and the critical care team several times a day . He is doing so well if he is walking already - amazing .
It’s such a good feeling , I am keeping everything crossed 🤞 that he gets that tracheotomy removed Monday as that will be a huge step for my dad he hates it xx
oh the tracheostomy got my dad down so much he really hated it too!
once removed they left a little trach in with a tiny tube and it was purely just there for them to remove secretions via a little suction.. this didn’t bother him at all he said he didn’t even know it was there really & his voice got stronger every day !
your dad is doing so well , all these little victories are one step closer 💪🏻🙏🏻x
Oh man the day I got rid of the last feeding tube, catheter, drain - I knew at last I would get home. There were moments when I feared that another infection in hospital would finish me off.
Just the feeding tube to go now , had the catheter out last week . Already up and walking to the toilet himself with his walking frame . Am confident we will get him home , he himself starting to see how far he’s come also he a fighter 💪
That is fantastic - yes that pesky feeding tube - with a great lump of plaster stuck to your nose to keep it in place, hated it. No wonder I had some many dreams of being restrained in some way
It good to hear things are improving. I was sedated from before Christmas for 6-8 weeks and unexpectedly have passed my 72nd birthday. Everyone will talk about how good it is to that our experiences for both patients and family are normal and they will add what ever normal is. Every one is different and so to are hospitals. I wasn’t bothered my trachy. When I was using a voice box I wasn’t allowed to use it for too long and therefore it became very frustrating when I didn’t have it. Once it was removed I think it took about 3 weeks for the wound to heal and because my hands and arms were weak I had difficult in locating the dressing to hold it firmly when speaking so the staff attached a stud to the middle of the dressing so it was easier to locate where I should touch. Because of swallowing issues my feeder tube wasn’t removed until the day I left hospital.
Wonderful news! There could still be bumps ahead but they will be much smaller than those experienced in the last 72 days. This is a massive step, so happy for you x
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