Rhys' nasal gastric (NG) tube has been causing him some problems. Its been irritating him so much that he's been coughing and gagging and bringing stuff up, stuff that his body does need to get rid of but is unable without a bit of external help.
Overnight and during the morning it had been really bad with the NG tube, the doctors didn't want to remove it because it would cause other problems.
In the end the decision was made to remove the tube and replace it with a thinner tube that might not irritate as much.
With the tube out and me away at CLIC House getting some things so that I could stay in overnight and Rhys decides to show that there is still a glimmer of humor in him, even in the middle of everything.
Rhys: "Where are you?"
Me: "At CLIC House."
Rhys: "Are you in the shower?"
Me: "Not really, I don't usually answer the phone when I'm in there. I'm just finishing up and then I'll be back to the hospital."
Rhys: "The nurses have taken my tube out, they are going to put a smaller one in when you get back."
Me: "OK."
Rhys: "Don't rush back! Take your time."
So I dawdled a little bit.
On return we took advantage of the brief period of freedom that Rhys had without the NG tube to give him a wash, clean his teeth and give him a bit of a refreshing clean up. He even allowed a picture of his to be taken.
Although his eyes are closed this is a much nicer picture than the one of him with his eyes open.
Eventually the replacement tube was fitted. The replacement tube still causes him some problems but the liquid that the nurses are draining through it looks more of a normal colour. There's still a lot of it so the tube has to stay in until there is very little being drained. One thing that has changed is that he doesn't seem to be gagging as much with the new tube. Its still an annoyance but he's not coughing and spluttering anywhere near as much as he was with the old tube. In fact Rhys thinks that removing the old tube, giving him an hour without the tube and inserting the new tube is one of the reasons that the fluid is coming out looking so much better.
One of Rhys' cannula finally gave up the ghost today and had to be removed. A new one was fitted but it's in the opposite arm so he has lost a bit of the freedom he did have.
Rest continues to be the order of the day with lots of dozing with some shifting of position. Its slow but sure progress that's for sure.
Late afternoon the nurse that was looking after him popped in to tell us that he was being moved to Ward 35, which is the adolescent ward. Its a new ward on level 7. As much as they wanted to keep in on the ward there was no guarantee that they would be able to keep Rhys in a room of his own and he might have to be moved onto one of the four bed rooms. Something that might not have been appropriate with the number of babies that were on the ward.
35 is a really nice ward that is designed with the needs of adolescents in mind. There's plenty of spaces for them to chill with other patients, individual rooms and no restrictions on where hot drinks can be taken, parents can also eat in the rooms.
Rhys' room has its own bathroom with shower, flat screen TV and even a small wardrobe.
For the first time since the operation Rhys has been awake enough to enjoy watching a DVD all the way through, although we did end up starting it in one ward and finish watching it in the other.
Pain levels have been pretty good with only a few boosts of morphine needed. Even the irritation from the NG tube seems to have settled down somewhat.
The day closed with watching the end of a couple of films on TV.
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