Thrown For A Loop

Well, so much for going home. As is usual with Jordan, she turned on a dime and threw us for an unexpected loop.

Jordan had a good night and all was looking well. The ENT was in at 8:30, happy with her progress, and in the hall writing orders to discharge her. Then things went downhill -- fast. The nurse removed the tiny amount of oxygen she was getting in her nasal canula, and bam! she tanked. We ended up with a rapid response (~15 people in the room), and within 15 minutes she was in the PICU & they were getting ready to intubate her! Luckily they were able to pull her back by "bagging" her and they didn't have to stick a tube down her already painful, scabby throat (or even hook her up to CPAP for that matter). The forced oxygen from bagging her for ~30 minues, and a little Narcan perked her up and brought her back from the brink.

The problem was that she was acidotic (her pH wa 7.1 instead of 7.4). Her carbon dioxide (CO2) blood level was at a 100 (very high, should be 35-45) because she had been breathing so shallowly for so long. She was building up CO2 by not expelling it, and not replacing it with O2 because she wasn't sucking it in like she should have been. This can be a brutal cycle, because the more CO2 that builds up, the more "sleepy" you become, and the more shallow you breath. So intervention is necessary. I'm just happy we caught it while we were still at the hospital, instead of in the car or at home -- even if it is ruining our weekend with grandpa Earl & grandma Linda!

So, needless to stay, we won't be going home today. We might be going back to the regular floor (out of the PICU), but it'll be at least one more night in the hospital to make sure she's breathing strongly enough on her own and on room air before she heads home. Otherwise still she's hydrated & her mouth is moist & the tonsillectomy site seems fine. It's just this other tricky breathing stuff we have to make sure is okay!