Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Tuesday Afternoon Update

Isabelle continues to have a so so day. She has been pretty cranky with small moments of funny. She has not needed Benadryl or Morphine so far today which is a plus.

I just spoke with someone from anesthesiology who explained exactly what they would be doing on their end tomorrow. They will be putting her to sleep through her IV like normal. They will then insert a breathing tube and hook her up to the ventilator. They will also insert an IV into an artery in her arm to monitor her blood pressure. Once the surgery is over they will bring her back to the PICU with the breathing tube still in. They will leave it in place until her surgeon is confident that there will be no more swelling in the neck. They do not want to pull the tube out directly after surgery in case the neck or throat swell and cause her to be unable to breathe.

As with any surgery there are many risks with anesthesia and potential breathing problems but this particular surgery makes things a little more difficult. Because she is in the Halo and has the spinal instability they cannot tilt her head back to intubate her so it may be a little more difficult. They may also need to give her blood if she starts to lose to much. The vest that Isabelle will have on also makes it more difficult to perform CPR if needed. So, there are many many many problems that could arise.

Please continue to pray for everything to go well with both the surgery and anesthesia and that no problems come up. Pray for strength and knowledge for all involved and a restful night for all of us.

2 comments:

  1. Amanda: You are in our prayers! Please let us know what we can do for you guys.

    Love you and Belli!

    Doug, Kelly & Katy

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  2. Good luck tomorrow! Just wanted you to know that we are thinking about you two!

    ReplyDelete