The Voice of Celine

It has been a very pleasant Saturday morning and afternoon with Cathy. She was on the trach collar until after 11:30 last night, thirteen and a half hours. She was put back on the trach collar at 6:30 this morning: only 7 hours on the ventilator. We have been sitting together (in real chairs) watching the tube.

Cathy was a little disappointed when I came in this morning. Evidently the speech therapists do not work on weekends (imagine that).

A little while ago I took a few moments to stretch my legs and go down to the cafeteria and grab a cup of coffee. Wouldn't you know it, while I was gone Dr Saggar dropped by to see Cathy. As it turns out, it was Dr Saggar that put the smaller trach tube and speaking valve in Cathy the previous day. He was 'upset' to see that the valve had been removed. When I returned to Cathy's room she was sitting in the chair with the 'cat who ate the mouse' grin on her face. Then she spoke, in a high pitched and squeaky voice, but she spoke. She was so tickled with being able to talk, it was like watching a little child with a new favorite toy. She even serenaded me with a few "la la la la's".

Just when I was feeling overjoyed with being able to really talk to Cathy again, I was reminded of the reality of the situation. While sitting and chatting, Cathy began to "desat" (her blood-oxygen saturation began to drop). The nurse began to scurry about, increasing the oxygen flow, attempting a little bit of 'bagging', and attempting to suction out the trach tube and her lungs. It was discovered that, since the trach tube was switched to a smaller diameter, they did not have a catheter small enough available in the room to fit down the smaller trach tube. So, off the nurse dashes to get the proper supplies. Cathy was not struggling, but she was beginning to feel a little lite-headed. The nurse returned with small catheters and more trach tubes. It turns out that, not only is the new trach tube smaller, but it is also replaceable. It just snaps out and a new one slips back in. The nurse popped out the old trach tube and there was a clot of blood blocking the tube. Within moments of putting the new tube in, Cathy's blood-oxygen saturation returned to 100%.

So, its been a pleasant day, broken up by moments of extreme joy and heart-stopping concern. We are still on that roller coaster, the inverted loops and sudden drops are just getting smaller.

David