My mom had a stroke part 13: Four steps back.
On Thursday night, my dad called me, slightly breathless.
“They had to put Mom back on the ventilator,” he told me.
At that point we didn’t have many details, but eventually they filled in, all various shades of gray. The soft tracheostomy tube had kinked, partially collapsing on itself. She had been panting, struggling to breathe.
And that was one reason why.
She also has asthma and somewhere in her transfer the order for her steroid to control was dropped. So between the tube collapse and the asthma, one has to take a second to marvel at the resolute toughness of my mother.
When I said she was obstinate, I wasn’t kidding.
Yesterday we met the nurse practitioner who placed the new tube and learned they were having issues suctioning my mom. As you may or may not know, depending on whether you’ve been following along, suctioning, for my mom, has proven crucial. I watched the respiratory therapist’s face as she told us that she managed eventually, something hesitating behind her eyes.
The nurse practitioner told us she’d had trouble placing the new trach, that she’d had to maneuver it into place. That there was “something” that made it hard to position. My skin prickled.
