11/22/2023 Glycopyrrolate

 11/22/2023

Dr. Hollinger started Jacob on a drug called glycopyrrolate (Robinul) for slobbers. Things are going great, the stoma is healing nicely. The drainage is still present, but it is lessening. Not near as bad as the beginning.

11/15/2023 10 Days Later

 11/15/2023

Jacob's white blood count is down to 17, so we are being discharged! Due to the tracheostomy, he was transported home via ambulance transport. Jacob spent the day in his adjustable bed. We have loads of slobbers and drainage from the trach. They tell us, it will eventually dry up.

Jacob's plans for tomorrow are to spend the day in his easy chair, watching TV!

11/14/2023 The ICU Saga Continues...

 11/14/2023

Jacob's white blood count is down to 18! Mom and dad are getting much better at tracheostomy care. We will get stitches removed tomorrow and likely get to go home!

11/12/2023 STICU - Week One Down

 11/12/2023

We have been in the surgical trauma intensive care unit at the hospital for a week now. The hospital staff is amazing! Jacob is still doing great! His vitals are perfect, and his strength and his fingers seems to be increasing. He is getting really fast on his Tobii Dynavox iPad.

11/09/2023 Trach Day 2

 11/09/2023

Day two of the tracheostomy. Jacob's vitals continue to be perfect. He feels a little anxiety and occasionally thinks he is choking. This is normal. They are still pulling (suctioning) phlegm out of his chest, so he stresses when this happens. 

The Internet says it could take up to two weeks for him to get used to the tracheostomy. One thing is for certain, the hospital staff loves him!

11/08/2023 Tracheostomy Day

 11/08/2023

Wednesday… Today at noon, they took Jacob to surgery for the tracheostomy. The procedure took approximately one hour, and everything went perfect! Jacob had a very good day! All vitals are as good as could possibly be! Pulse – 92, oxygen – 97, blood pressure – 114/79! 

He is still communicating by shaking his head no and blinking his eyes once for yes. After the 5 o'clock visitation, we drove home to get his Tobii Dynavox communication device. This will definitely help with communication.

11/07/2023 Day 3 STICU

 11/07/2023

Jacob continues to recover! Cleaned and bathed by the nurses before we arrived. Tracheostomy is scheduled for tomorrow at noon! He is shaking his head  for "no" and blinking once for "yes". He cannot speak due to the tubes from the intubation. Our baby looks great! God is so good!

Blakelei took great care of Jacob. She played Chris Stapleton music and even styled his hair for him!

11/06/2023 Intubate

 11/06/2023

Over 24 hours a week now. Jacob is returning to normal, but in last night's frantic attempt to save his life, he became necessary to intubate him. This means moving forward, we will need a tracheostomy. Mom and I were able to visit during specific times, because he is now in this trauma area of the hospital. As the day progressed, everything became stable and perfect! Even the pneumonia was reduced to a minor community virus, easily treated with light antibiotics.

11/05/2023 The Worst Day EVER!

11/05/2023

Today's started just like any other Sunday. We got up around 7 AM and headed off to church. After the services, we headed back home and decided to enjoy a day of football. In mid afternoon, Jacob began complaining of some sort of restriction in his throat, but it was way down deep. Closer to his chest cavity. He thought it was a buildup of phlegm. I attempted to suction him, but could not get it out. We called a friend of ours, Nikki Michaels, an RN, and asked for her help. Immediately, she came to our home, but Nikki was also unable to remove the obstruction. Jacob was clearly choking! We made the decision to take him to the emergency room at CAMC in Teays Valley. I could not get him stabilized, and the tests and x-rays showed pneumonia in both lungs. He was finally admitted to the ICU.

Jacob's oxygen and pulse levels would not normalize. His pulse dropped several times, as did his oxygen, into dangerous levels. They put him in a full facemask to help, but his breathing remained extremely labored.

Around 1:30 in the morning, Jacob was in real trouble! All vitals dropped, and the nurses could not hear any activity in his left lung. They tried using an Ambu bag for breathing, but that was not working. Everything bottomed out, and he lost consciousness. 

The attending nurse had started feeding Jacob with a Joey pump. Due to either a faulty device, or wrong settings, Jacob was OVERFED and aspirated, collapsing, his left lung and subsequently stopping his heart... he was gone.

I ran out of the ICU to the waiting area to tell my wife what was happening, when we heard "CODE BLUE, CODE BLUE, CODE BLUE! ICU ROOM 6 CODE BLUE!" People swarmed from all over the hospital into the ICU. As the doors flew open, I heard someone yell. "GRAB THE CRASH CART!" (A crash cart is essential for cardiopulmonary resuscitation as it contains advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), first-line drugs, a defibrillator, a bag valve mask, and a suction device.)

The staff used epinephrine, shock paddles, and chest compressions, in an attempt to save Jacob's life. Our friend and youth pastor's wife (Emily), is an RN at the hospital and was there with us. Jacob was gone for 20 minutes! No heartbeat, no pulse, no life. Mom and I were on our knees, praying and crying harder than we've ever cried! Begging God, Jesus, all that is Holy, to save our son, and not take him from us.

Finally, after the 20 minutes of being gone, they were able to get a pulse, then quickly a full heartbeat, and Jacob almost instantly recovered! All vitals returned to normal! The collapsed left lung was filled with pneumonia, carbon dioxide, and fluids! The attending physician made the decision to transfer Jacob to the surgical trauma intensive care unit at CAMC, General Division in Charleston.

Jacob was transported via ambulance transport, due to his delicate and guarded condition.