My heart is finally beating a little more steadily after the day we’ve had. This morning Tyler’s oxygen sats were dropping, and kept dropping despite being suctioned and given more oxygen. A chest x-ray revealed that the entire upper lobe of his right lung had collapsed. They repositioned his endotracheal tube a little more deeply and increased the airway pressure in hopes of reinflating his lung.
As the day progressed, his gases were getting worse, so they increased the pressure setting again as well as the Delta p. His last blood gas was improved and the latest chest x-ray showed some reinflation. Since his O2 sats are still hanging low, they will increase his oxygen. In addition to a collapsed lung, his arm with the PICC line swelled considerably, his temperature began rising, and he was having problems with his sedation and paralytic. None of this was on my agenda today for Tyler; praying for less excitement tomorrow!