It is 4 years now since I was in hospital with respiratory failure from high CO2 retention. It was February 24 2007 when I was back in the hospital for the third time and in critical condition in intensive care. I was intubated to help my breathing with a ventilator and then on February 28th I had surgery to put in a trach tube. I have continued to use a ventilator at night which has helped to stabilize my CO2 level.
I recently had my 35th trach change which is hard to believe. At first I was back for a appointment to get my trach tube changed every 4 weeks. Then it was lengthened to every 6 weeks. It is done at ambulatory care by a respiratory therapist (RT). Elaine has assisted with every one of those trach changes including at the beginning when it was done by a ENT specialist. Once the doctor got Elaine to do the trach change herself but she would prefer to assist. After 35 times they are becoming fairly routine but I am a difficult customer due to the extreme bend in my trachea caused by kyphoscoliosis. I have custom Bivona silicon hyperflex trach tube that can follow the curvature of my trachea.
I also recently had a checkup with a respiratory specialist and he was quite pleased that my lung condition is remaining stable. So I have a lot to be thankful for. Again I thank God for his goodness and everyone for their prayers.
3 comments:
Nice to have Someone to thank, isn't it?
How many more times did you figure you had to breath in order to reach 100?
I was looking at your countdown to retirement. Three months will go by pretty fast.
That is very true.
About 275 million breaths should get me to 100.
Once you hit retirement, you can set your clock for 100. Grandpa always said very few people died after the age of 100
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