Mixed up

YESTERDAY
Yesterday morning they raised the EVD (DRAIN) 2 cm instead of 1cm.  Then in the afternoon she was sleepy, needing oxygen and then we even had to put her bi-pap mask on for a few hours.  I was worried.  I supposed it could have been the UTI...but I didn't remember last time her getting sleepy with the UTI.  So then I got worried that it was the fluid in her brain.  So I asked them to call her neurosurgery Dr.  The resident came by.  I told him my concerns and asked if we could go back to 1 cm instead of 2.  He said yes.  So we did.  She also started having upper airway (which means nose/back of throat...not lungs) congestion.  We needed to suction her several times.  Respiratory therapy said her lungs sound good however, so that is the good news.  But has she caught a bug here in the hospital?  Will it get worse with her laying on her back for several weeks?

LAST NIGHT
She was awake ALL night.  Talking, happy, trying to get Mom to play with her.

THIS MORNING
I am no longer concerned about her sleepiness last night.  She just has her days and nights mixed up here in the hospital.  It is common in the hospital, plus it is common for people who have deafness and blindness.  If you are not getting visual and auditory clues from the outside world, it is hard to tell your days from your nights.  As a side note...she can see and hear, she just has severe loss in both areas.

PLAN FOR TODAY
Try to keep her awake to get her back on schedule.  Which will be difficult because we can't get her out of bed.  She needs to stay horizontal so that the drain works properly.

They will do a CT scan today to see how her ventricles are looking.

I asked about doing a nasal swab and blood-work for the nasal congestion.  The neurosurgery resident said we could do a nasal swab, but we know that the blood-work will be off because she has a UTI so he didn't see a point in doing that.  OK, that's valid, and I hadn't thought of it.

I double checked that they were going to consult with urology.  They said yes.  I would think that urology would want to do blood-work to look at her kidneys and an ultrasound of her kidneys.  I am also worried that the UTI antibiotic they started her on is an oral (g-tube) med and not an IV med.  So I really want to talk with them.  I left them a message yesterday and I'm sure they will call or stop by, but I am getting anxious.  I don't want the UTI to get into her kidneys if it hasn't already.

OVERALL
Overall I think that she is doing well.  I have seen her smile a few times today.  I really hope that the CT shows some positive progress.

One thing I forgot to share from yesterday is that Dr. Walker (the neurosurgeon following her this week) said that once they get the brain back into position he has never seen it collapse/pull away from the skull again.  That it sticks there.  He said he supposes it could happen, but he has never seen it.