She slept well through the night besides a few drops in oxygen. At home I have the oxygen at 5 liters (at night only) because that is as high as my machine goes and I am not willing to get up during the night and adjust it to her lowest (most optimal) setting. So they thought they would try it lower (1 liter) last night and it obviously wasn't enough.
They raised the EVD (External Ventricular Drain) (The bag that the fluid from her brain is draining into) 1 cm. They plan on raising it 1 cm per day.
I want them to send a urine culture, I have not been getting as much urine out when I cath her for 2 or 3 days now. I will talk to them when they round.
Here are the questions I asked the neurosurgery residents yesterday...
Where is CSF (Cerebral Spinal Fluid) (The fluid in your spine and brain) created? Brain? Spine? Both? the answer is brain
Can your body stop making CSF?
No
When are we going to repeat CT scans?
Thurs or Fri
How much raise the EVD?
1 cm/day
Not draining much CSF yet, are you worried?
No
Can we do her vibrating vest with the EVD?
yes
Have we sent a sample of the CSF?
no, it looked pristine, there is no reason to send it
Is the tubing coming out of the belly the exact tubing coming down from her brain, or is there a connector in her belly?
Same tubing
There was a little stuff leaking out of wound in belly (where tubing is coming out), could that be CSF?
No, we had to cut through fat and fat is juicy
END OF QUESTIONS
Sometimes I hate that this is a teaching hospital. OK...a lot of times I hate that this is a teaching hospital (It means you have medical students here helping/working/learning how to be a Dr.). I understand Dr.'s have to get their experience somewhere I just wish it wasn't on us. For example, Ellie's surgeon is out of town this week and so she is being followed by a different neurosurgeon, but neither surgeon stopped by to see how she was doing last night...they sent their residents. If the Dr. following her doesn't stop by today, I will have to get proactive.
2 comments:
I wish I was as "with it" as you are! I can never think of the right questions to ask. ;) I think it's cool that it's a relatively low-tech solution to fluid drainage. Our fingers are all crossed that it works well and works fast. <3
You always ask such good, thorough questions! And that applys in all kinds of situations. Definitely a strength that Heavenly Father blessed you with because he knew you'd need it to help Ellie.
Sorry you feel like a walking case study. Glad you put your foot down when needed.
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