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| "My fist tastes like justice!" |
Since the last time I shared details of our young hero's awesomeness, he has been crowned King of the NICU and has chosen the boppy as his throne. He has earned this title by being the biggest baby in the NICU, cornering the market on Desitin, and easily defeating all who opposed him in open battle. You may now refer to him using any of the following honorary titles: His Royal Diaperness, The All Seeing Scowl, Grand-master Granuloma, Colonel Sausage Arms, or Darth Zeke: Plague of the Premature. I've asked him which of these honorary titles he prefers, but he simply stares in quiet reflection. The stresses of rulership weigh heavily on his chubby little shoulders.
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| His justice is swift, but fair |
His first royal decree was that he should be on his very own home ventilator. After all, a King cannot be seen as weak in the eyes of his subjects! He's been on the home vent since Wednesday of last week and hasn't had any issues with it. They've even begun weaning some of his settings as he tolerates it.
We had another care conference last week, the focus of which was Ezekiel's path to discharge. At this point, he's almost medically ready to go home. There are a still few other things standing in his way, however. Jenny and I need to finish all of our training, we need to procure all of his home equipment, and we still need home nursing. We've made some progress on all these fronts, but there is still more to be done. The home nursing situation may very well be the one piece that takes the longest to sort out. We've had a home nursing company on the case for a couple months now, but that won't stop me from adding a shameless plug here. It seems that an overnight nurse is the hardest to find, so if you're a nurse and interesting in chilling with a sleeping baby a couple nights a week, let me know!
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| He's in a bulk phase |
I must admit, I first thought a night nurse was unnecessary. I figured that all new parents have to get up in the middle of the night with their kids, why should I expect someone else to do it for me? Sadly, it's not quite as simple as that. Something happened last week that highlighted why this piece of the puzzle is an important one. On Monday, Zeke's trach either became blocked or was dislodged and he couldn't breathe. His oxygen saturation and heart rate dropped quickly. Jenny was in his room at the time and rushed to get Zeke's nurse, who was already responding to his alarms. Even with that immediate response, Ezekiel stopped breathing and his heart rate got dangerously low before they got his trach switched and started giving him manual breaths. They had even called for the code cart, which is a cart with all the supplies needed to resuscitate someone who's life is in danger. The worst was avoided, thankfully, but only because of the quick response from the medical team. If something similar happens when he's at home, we will need to respond just as quickly. We've been trained to do all the things that they did to bring him back, but training and execution are two different things, especially if you've just been awoken from dreamland. I feel pretty good about our ability to respond to a situation like that, Jenny is a respiratory therapist after all, but someone who is awake and already at his beside could make all the difference.
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| Mama bear and her cub |
But let's not get down, things are progressing wonderfully. The All Seeing Scowl is a whopping 4 months old and still exceeding expectations. Jenny and I cannot wait to have our whole family at home. And who knows, maybe we'll even get our dog back at some point... maybe.
Until next time!
Caleb
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