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Mydad

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Joined
Apr 12, 2017
Messages
26
Reason
Loved one DX
Diagnosis
03/2017
Country
us
State
TX
City
ooooooo
Hi everyone,

Well, yesterday my dad got his Peg tube put in and everything went ok, but was in pain and could only take children's tylenol. Around 5:30 yesterday night my mom had to call an ambulance, because he had a fainting spell. Mom was taking him to the bathroom and he fell over into her arms and they got him on the bed and put the BIPAP on him, but he wasn't coming out of it, that's when they called 911. They believe he was dehydrated and that's what caused the fainting. They did a CAT scan of the Peg tube and everything was fine. They got to go home last night and he's resting today. For some reason when my mom was telling me they had to put him on the BIPAP it was like she hesitated for a second and I said mom?? Did he stop breathing? She said that the BIPAP tells you when he's breathing and when the machine is breathing for you and she said the machine did the breathing for him a couple of times....Hopefully I am saying this right about how the BIPAP works....This disease is horrible!

Thanks for listening!
 
Has your Dad started using the tube yet? I get all my meds By tube and at least two syringes of water in the morning and at least the same at night with my meds plus what ever I drink through the day as I can still drink normally.
Al
 
No not yet. He can still eat and drink and swallow his meds. It's not easy for him, but he still does.
 
That sounds like it was really scary. I am glad the tube surgery is over and hopefully he is on the mend.
 
The BiPAP machine can be set with a "backup rate." It sounds like that kicked in. If you do not breathe often enough to meet the rate set, usually 8-12 breaths per minute, the machine starts one. If he was dehydrated, it is certainly possible that his breathing slowed or wasn't strong enough for the machine to perceive.

But when the backup rate kicks in, breathing still requires involuntary effort on the part of the person to move enough air to sustain life-- it is not like invasive ventilation, where the machine does all the work.

It is worth remembering that if someone is having a hard time with coughing or choking but does better on BiPAP, the backup rate and/or target volume settings can actually prevent their getting back to baseline, and often should be turned off. Of course, that does not apply in the situation you describe. I'm glad your dad is doing better.
 
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Thank you so much for this information!
 
It sounds like the whole situation may have been caused by dehydration, might not it be a good idea to start giving him four or five syringes of water every day to stave off dehydration, he may be able to drink fine but apparently he is not doing it. This would also get everyone used to the idea of using the tube in case it becomes necessary in the future.
Al
 
How scary. Something similar happened to us the night after my PALS got the PEG he woke up with horrible stomach pain, we thought something had gone wrong and had to rush him to the ER, wait hours for CAT scan, etc. Well, it turns out that the anesthesia meds somehow caused his spleen to become irritated. It happened the second time when he had the PEG tube replaced with a button. This brought back memories for sure.
 
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