In order to wean Ma off the ventilator, it was necessary to withhold her sedative and painkiller. The ventilator was set to CPAP (the same CPAP that's used for sleep apnea). If I understand it correctly, Ma was breathing on her own with a little assist from the CPAP. She was in a lot of pain though. And today she had a lot of thick secretions from her lung. The doctor thought it best to wait another day. But he didn't give her enough painkillers, only 12.5 mcg/hr of Fentanyl when she was on 35 mcg/hr the day before. After watching Ma suffer for several hours, I got the nurse to call the doctor and get approval for a bigger dosage. The doctor okayed 25 mcg, but it still wasn't enough. Ma indicated the pain was 10 out of 10. The doctor finally okayed up to 50 mcg, and the nurse set the IV to 35 mcg. She also put Ma back on the sedative. Ma was finally able to sleep around 7pm.
Tomorrow she'll have to go through this all over again.
2 comments:
Lou, thanks for all the updates. Wish I could be there to help you. SOrry to hear your Mom is in so much pain. Fentanyl is a good medication. I think the goal right now is to keep her comfortable. I don't think she can handle another dose of chemo. WEaning off the vent is a step process. The Cpcp wil give her a breath if she doesn't breath after a certain amount of time. If her PO2 goes below 90%, they may not be able to have her come off the vent and also if she continues to take adequate breaths on her own. I hope she has an arterial line for the blood gases and to monitor her BP.
Lou, thanks for all the updates. Wish I could be there to help you. SOrry to hear your Mom is in so much pain. Fentanyl is a good medication. I think the goal right now is to keep her comfortable. I don't think she can handle another dose of chemo. WEaning off the vent is a step process. The Cpcp wil give her a breath if she doesn't breath after a certain amount of time. If her PO2 goes below 90%, they may not be able to have her come off the vent and also if she continues to take adequate breaths on her own. I hope she has an arterial line for the blood gases and to monitor her BP.
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