Tori's Blood pH has Improved...after a scare.

Just over an hour ago, they took out the foley catheter.  That means she pees in her diaper.  It's the little things that keep you going in the ICU.

Shortly after, we had a bit of a scare.  The ICU staff is continually monitoring Tori's blood pH levels.  They do this to evaluate how well she is exchanging oxygen during her breathing.  Good deep breaths equal less acidic levels (somewhere around 7.3-7.5.  Shallower breaths drop the pH since she's not breathing out enough CO2.

At about 11:40, a combination of a couple of factors turned our room into a little scene from ER, or Grey's Anatomy, or...well you get the picture.  We were looking at her monitor and noticed Tori's blood oxygen levels started dropping a bit.  Her lips began turning a little bluish.  Then one of the ventilation techs came in with Tori's lab reports letting Bonnie (our nurse) know her blood pH is too acidic.  Then Tori started drifting off into a deeper sleep -- probably due to the sedation effect of the meds and her regular nap time overlapping.  She wasn't breathing on her own anymore.  The tech put a mask and pump on her and started calling her name trying to wake her up.  Some lights and beeps went off, then all the sudden we noticed that there were something like 5 nurses and techs in the room around her bed.  Bonnie was calling for some drug called Nar-Con to help counteract the sedative narcotics.  Another ventilation tech came in and started pumping a mist based steroid into her mouth to increase her airway.  A wave of fear surged through me starting at my head and shooting out my toes.  It was like electricity.  They paged Dr. Kyser, but he was in the middle of a procedure in the cath lab, so a couple of other docs came in.  This was not looking good.  She still wasn't breathing on her own.  In a matter of about two minutes, our room had gone from quiet and peaceful to frighteningly busy.  The staff was handling everything beautifully.  Calm, but fast, focused and no-nonsense. Christina and I stayed in the room and prayed quietly while staying out of the way.  

I walked out of the ICU to send a text to Mom to let her know Tori needs prayer that she starts breathing on her own.  I walked back in and one of the other docs said that he and Dr. King would be watching over her for the time being.  Just then, she took a breath and came back around.  Thank you, thank you, thank you God.  Thank you Mom and others for praying in that moment.  Hello guarded relief, goodbye dread.  They kept administering the steroid through gas mask for a while to help open her airway more.  She started whining a little bit, which is good.  Whining=breathing.  Her body shook for a while as the withdrawal effects associated with the Nar-Can took effect.  Eventually, the nar-can left her system and she relaxed again.  Dr. Kyser came by right after his procedure to check in on her.  He decided that she should remain in the ICU overnight again. 

That was all at about 11:45. Tori has been breathing well on her own since then. Her blood pH level has actually gone up over 7.3 for the first time since her surgery. This is great news. Right now I'm looking over at her bed and her eyes are actually open and she is looking at Christina. She's more awake now and there are removing a couple more lines and tubes so that Christina will be able to hold Tori for the first time since they wheeled her away yesterday morning.

Thank you for keeping Tori in your prayers.