I'm sure that through either work or extensive broadcast education (a.k.a. TV watching), many of you will be familiar with the terms "crash" and "code blue". If a code is called, it usually means that a patient is in cardiac arrest and needs attention right now. As in, RIGHT NOW.
However, I say usually, because occasionally things go a little awry. Like when a code was called on Petrina last night at 10 pm. She was fine, sleeping peacefully after drifting off in front of the TV. But the telemetry unit she had to wear for 24 hours was informing CCU that her heart had stopped beating. Well it was certainly beating strong when she woke with a start to see half a dozen people bursting into her room.
For those who missed it the first time, it happened again at 8 am this morning. There she was, sitting in a chair doing her nails, blissfully unaware that the telemetry unit was again reporting no heartbeat.
Well, an hour or so after that they changed the patches where the electrodes are attached, and as far as I know there were no more codes for the rest of the day. Another downside of wearing the telemetry unit is that its range is restricted, which meant that Petrina was confined to a small portion of the ward. What better way to celebrate than to take a tour of the whole ward again?!
Ahh, like I said, moments of levity.
The moment of light is a second hint that we may be reaching a milestone in the treatment. Petrina felt some increased movement again this afternoon and when she asked for a doppler, it showed that baby's heart was indeed in sinus rhythm at the time. Lots of skipped beats, but that's a relatively minor issue.
Praise God for these signs that the medication is starting to take effect. Pray that it will be fully effective and that baby will grow stronger and be able to clear the fluid in time for delivery.
In other news, if anyone wants to hire a 2 year old mowing and whipper-snipping contractor who knows how to follow previously unseen hand signals, let me know. It's not child labour if his mower doesn't actually cut anything is it?
No comments:
Post a Comment
We would love to know what you think of this post.
Here's how to add your comment:
- Enter your comment in the box below.
- Click on the triangle next to the 'Comment as:' box to tell us who you are. You can sign in if you have a google or other account, enter your name and URL if you have a website, or just click 'Anonymous'.
- Click 'Publish'.