Nov 7, 2007

Andrew Deets

When I arrived at the hospital, Andrew was not having a happy time. He was restless, he kept dropping his oxygen saturation, and his CO2 sensor was reading quite high (in the 90s and low 100s). He seemed to be clamping down and not breathing as he is supposed to, and his lung volumes were pretty low.

The respiratory therapist came in and gave Andrew an extra breathing treatment, which involves putting a mist of a bronchodilator (to expand his airways) in-line with his ventilator tubing. When the treatment ended a few minutes later, he was noticeably more comfortable. His volumes were better, his CO2 sensor dropped back down to normal levels, and he stopped desaturating. Most importantly, he seemed much less restless and started sleeping soundly.

I watched him for a while, satisfied myself that he was feeling much better, and headed home.

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