A Good Day

Today was a good day--and an eventful day.  J took the exam for his license and passed (whoohoo!).  Now he has his *** and when he completes his clinical hours (4,000) over the next two years, then he will have his clinical license.  We are very excited and glad the exam is finally over.

Kai has also been making some great progress.  Last night they decided to try the trach mask again to see if we can get him off the ventilator and breathing on his own.  The original plan was to wean him off gradually, starting with half hour increments during the night.  Last night he did so well that they let him stay on for over an hour and instead of waiting another day or two, they decided to do it in six hour increments.  So, every six hours he will get the trach mask, and they have increased from an hour to an hour and a half.  He has been doing great!  In fact, all day today he was a little fussy and restless, but when they put the trach mask on, he calmed down, became very content, and fell asleep.  His oxygen saturation levels were at 99% and 100%.  :-) 

I have also been doing the trach care for Kai.  Yesterday, even though I have not taken the class yet, they let us actually take out the old trach and put in the new one.  J took out the old and I put in the new one.  It was a little nerve-wracking because during the "procedure" Kai isn't breathing, but we did so fairly flawlessly and his oxygen saturation didn't dip below 90.  We only have to change out the trach tube once a week so it isn't too bad.  Today, I cleaned around the trach and changed the ties.  The RT said that I am a natural and said I should be in nursing.  Haha.  I remember when Zuri was in the NICU in American Fork that some of the nurses there had similar comments.  Good thing, because with all the care that Kai will require, I will need those skills--so I am glad I am competent!  It is really nice that they are letting us have hands on experience even before we have the class so that we can feel comfortable and competent when we are able to take Kai home.