Yes sir, that's my baby. Look at that million watt smile. This is one hour after the tracheotomy surgery. Clearly she is happy to have the tube out of her nose. (Even though the feeding tube is still in place.) Halo and vest are back on-for six weeks. Kalyn is still on the ventilator for the time being but will begin to be weaned tomorrow. I am thinking that she will start getting up more and more over the weekend. We have to get her moving so that we can get her home. She seems to be moving in the right direction.
Hopefully this weekend she will be able to start having some fluids to drink and gradually progress her diet. She is absolutely ecstatic about that. She has been asking for a drink for the past 4 days. Actually she has been begging for a drink. It was very difficult to say no when she was so dry. I feel like the ICU doctor is listening to us now that we have the plan of care written on a giant post it note on the door. And as ever, we are confident with Dr. Birknes. I think Kalyn is even happy with him right now because she has the collar off! I am actually beginning to wonder if she would prefer the vest for the entire 12 weeks of rehab instead of the collar for the second half of this time.
Discharge planners are in the process of applying for a waiver for Kalyn for Medicaid because of her advanced technological needs that are not covered by our insurance. Apparently the trach supplies run about $1000 a month and our insurance covers only that amount once per year. CRAZY!!! We cannot be discharged no matter how well she is doing until this is in place so that she will have the supplies that she needs at home. And boy are they a lot of supplies. Thank goodness she has that large bedroom. Jeff is thankful as well for the size of her room because he intends on sleeping in there when she comes home out of concern--guess we will just have to put an air mattress in the corner for him. I don't question him about being overly protective--not when it comes to Daddy's Girl!!! But she has definitely went back to her roots as a Mama's Girl during this whole hospitalization. (And I am loving every minute of it)
In the past I have shared positive experiences on this blog as well as facebook-only to have the tide of her recovery change drastically the very next day. I have actually been afraid to share the good for fear that it would jinx her progress. But I am through with that. I was scared to death that she would need the trach. It was one of the most stressful things that I have ever had to deal with. But I was focused on a negative stigma that has long accompanied tracheostomies in general. And it was all for naught. This is nothing. It may change our day to day lives for a while. It may make things take a little longer. It may even require a little more planning before we do things. But all of this has been true for a lot of different things with Kalyn. And every time we have held our heads high and pushed through with smiles on our faces. And this will be no different!
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