Well, there is never a dull moment around here! We had a little incident (Gracie is fine!) on Saturday night that really got our adrenaline pumping. And not in a good way. We had our first "emergency" trach change. Oy. Not bad for seven months at home with a trached baby, but not how we had planned to spend the evening. Now, the only things that would cause such a situation would be if the trach gets plugged (which wasn't the case) or if the trach accidentally comes out (which was the case). Gracie was getting a little fussy. I had stepped into the next room and Ramsey was on the couch in the living room with Gracie in her swing beside him. When a trached baby gets fussy, they get "junky" so you need to suction them out (kind of like blowing their nose when they cry). Well, there is a little filter called an HME over her trach to keep dust out and moisture in and it got STUCK! Eeeek!! She is so active that it must have gotten pushed further over the trach as she was playing/rolling on the ground. So I am in the bathroom and Gracie starts coughing because she's all junky so when Ramsey went to pull the HME off to suction her, he couldn't get it off. Obviously this is not good as poor Gracie is hacking away trying to breathe. So Ramsey pulled harder (which is the only way to get it off) and the whole trach came out! AHG!! I hear "help!!" from the next room and I come running down the hall and collide with Ramsey as he is running Gracie to her room. She is bigger and stronger now so she can still breath, but she is making this horrible gulping/gasping sound- seriously, every parent's worst nightmare... Fortunately we are a good team and well trained, so he was cutting off her trach tie as I was opening a new one. Poor Gracie gagged on whatever she was trying to cough out and barfed which just adds a whole new level when you have an open hole in your neck. But Ramsey knew what to do- he flipped her on her side so she didn't choke further and then I was right there with the new trach. And scene.
So Ramsey and I are sweating and buzzing from the adrenaline and Gracie just looks at us, smiles, and goes about her evening. Seriously, she was over it in about two minutes. I am still winding down....
So I am writing this not to scare people, but to illustrate how we must be ready to jump into action at any moment with a special-needs child. And although things are going very well, having an airway issue is a very big deal. It's like how surfers have to respect the power of the ocean waves, we have to respect the trach!
So Ramsey and I are sweating and buzzing from the adrenaline and Gracie just looks at us, smiles, and goes about her evening. Seriously, she was over it in about two minutes. I am still winding down....
So I am writing this not to scare people, but to illustrate how we must be ready to jump into action at any moment with a special-needs child. And although things are going very well, having an airway issue is a very big deal. It's like how surfers have to respect the power of the ocean waves, we have to respect the trach!