ventilators, trachs, feeding tubes...oh my!

[dana]

I wanted to know if anyone out there has a ventilator/trach. Dad will be coming home from the hospital in 1-2 weeks with the ventilator/trach, and it seems so overwhelming trying to learn the ins and outs of how it works. He has had a couple of scares with it over the last two weeks. Three nights ago the trach started to bleed and they found that a blood vessel had burst. He is on blood thinners because he had a blood clot the week before, so of course the burst blood vessel bled a lot. Scared my mom half to death, but he was still in the ICU and they easily took care of it. Then, two nights ago, they were doing a scope of his lungs to clear out some fluids, and his trach got clogged and they had to replace it. When it was clogged, he was not breathing. They said that if we had been home, it would have been an emergency. My brothers, uncle, and I interviewed two great nurses that we are going to have help us when we get home. It is going to be so expensive, but at this point we feel it is needed. It seems so much is on our plate at once, but we are handling it fairly well. I am amazed at how strong my family really is. Anyways, back to the point, does anyone else have a ventilator/trach? If so, I have some questions for ya!
Thanks everybody,
Dana

[A Daughters Love]

Dear Dana,
I don't have any experience with those things. But just wanted you to know that I have been thinking of you all and wondering how you were doing. I can't believe how much you are dealing with all at once. You must be a very strong woman, with a very stong family. Please remember you are in my prayers. Keep the faith!

[Granny]

Dear Dana,
I do not have any experience with vents either, but wanted you to know that I will be praying for your family. What a lot of changes so suddenly.
It is great that your family has been able to work together, it makes the burden so much lighter.
Thanks for sharing, and blessings to you!
Leah

[Carol Deboer]

Hey Dana,

Glad to hear that Dad is doing better with the trach. We did not have one for Henry, so I am not of much help in that area. However, I am sure that once you get used to it, it will be nothing to maintain and manage. We did not think we could do some of things that we had to do for Henry, however, after some training by the nurse and hospital staff, we became quite confident at taking care of everything we had to do. It is scary having to take care of things that we do not even know what they are or have never seen before. You sound like you are doing okay and I am glad for that. We will continue to keep yu in our prayers and I am sending out hugs to all of you. Keep us posted.

Stay Strong, Love, Carol xoxo