All about Abby

Abby is trying to follow in her sister's footsteps. They moved her from the vent yesterday and put her on BiPAP. This is a little different from CPAP as it gives breaths to her at a specific rate. She started out well, but she was showing signs that this change wasn't something she liked. Her rate of breathing was increasing, and you could tell that she was really working hard. While I was 4 steps away in the parent lounge eating lunch, she had a really bad spell, because when I walked out she had a team in there. One of our favorite nurses was bagging her with help from the RT and the rest were discussing reintubating or what. They decided to move her to the CPAP which would eliminate the breaths that would automatically be given to her. They started her on the CPAP at a 100% oxygen, but she seemed to settle in and by last night, they had her around 58%. She is still doing some of the drifting she has always done, but they keep a watchful eye on her. This is such a great move because the ET tube causes a great deal of irritation and inflammation to the trachea the longer it is in. With the tube out we hope her body will be able to rid the ecoli that is colonizing in her trachea. As of this morning at 5:30 when I called they both were doing "average" and had a good night. Today they have eye exams, but I think they may cancel Abby's today and reschedule for next week. They just want to give her a little time, and the exam would be a bit of extra stress she doesn't need right now.