Eiche fam

Late yesterday and this morning, Namine has had a lot more secretions than usual. In addition, this morning her secretions have been mucusy (is that a word?) and yellow-green, and she’s been coughing and hacking. So Jess called Namine’s pediatrician and her pulmonologist for advice on what to do. Of course the first thing that pops into our heads is trach infection. We’re no stranger to them, of course, but trach infections are nothing to trifle with; they can easily be life-threatening if not treated quickly.

So we heard back from the pulmonologist, who said to increase the breathing treatments. Normally Namine gets breathers every 12 hours; we’re increasing them to every 6 hours. We’ll be able to get Namine in to see her pediatrician tomorrow; I guess they’re pretty booked today.

Namine is in okay spirits, all things considered. She can’t scoot like she usually does, because her ankle hurts, and that’s sure to frustrate her. She’s also used to keeping her trach cap on all day, which she can’t do when she has increased secretions. That’s the other thing; she’s used to not having secretions (and not needing to be suctioned) for hours at a time. She’s gone for more than 6 hours without needing a suctioning, and here she is needing suctioning every 5 minutes. The very act of suctioning, not to mention frequent suctioning, irritates the throat and causes more secretions. You see the vicious cycle? And it makes her throat hurt, too. If we’re not careful, it can even get abrasive and cause bleeding. So we’re trying to let her just cough it up as much as possible, only suctioning when we absolutely have to.