Messing With Karma

The support that the Bi-Pap is giving Cathy was increased twice today. She was a little more alert this afternoon, however by this evening she is becoming 'blank' again.

For a short while this afternoon, while she was alert, Cathy was put on the trach collar so she could try and eat some real food. I managed to get her to eat about half a portion of plain bow-tie pasta and a little under a half a portion of couscous. The amount of nutrition she is receiving by the tube was decreased in an attempt to have her build an appetite.

Just before 6 pm, a blood sample was taken to test for her blood gas levels. The results of this sample were so bad, a resident from the ICU came up to Cathy's room to conduct an assessment in preparation of a possible transfer back down there. An additional blood sample will be drawn around midnight. I am packing thinks up tonight to avoid the middle of the night rush and confusion like we experienced during the last transfer to the ICU. Of course, since I have gone to the trouble of packing things up, she probably will not be transferred. (This is my hope, doing the old reverse psychology thing on karma).

A different type of dressing was applied to Cathy's pressure sore this afternoon. This one is a thick silicone pad that is meant to stay in place for several days. The location of the sore puts the dressing in the way of conducting proper 'sanitary procedures', so the dressing will likely need to be changed frequently anyway. We'll see how this works out. This sore stopped bleeding today. The bone marrow biopsy wound is a different story. This would is bleeding so much the dressings are being changed several times a day.