Day 264 - Pulmonology Appointment

Monday, September 20th, 2021

Mom continues being the photographer...

Well our Day Shift nurse canceled. This was just a backfill for a one time only scheduling. Supposedly she got into a car accident ("supposedly" because after being in Recruiting for so long you find that people lie). She called from an international number and left a voicemail. Mom could not understand her voicemail (listened to it several times) because her English was that bad. She then proceeded to text Mom (again incomprehensible) as well as photos of a car. This would have been super dangerous to be training a nurse with that much of a language barrier. She would not be starting with us. 

In the afternoon, we had our pulmonology appointment. Of course loading up the car and unloading the car is the most stressful part about the appointments. When we get there the waiting room is packed and full of little kids and their parents. Not one person is on a ventilator which is interesting. 🤔 As we waited in the waiting room for quite some time James' vent alarm kept going off as well as his pulse ox alarm. We had to turn on the suction machine and suction him several times. It was so loud and everyone was staring. At one point his filter with his circuit got disconnected, James was not connected to the ventilator. Mom and Dad were super stressed. James was getting so upset and turning red and the pulse ox wouldn't read. Mom starting unbuckling him to take him out of the car seat (with not really understanding how this was going to work, being that he is connected to everything in the stroller. But then we were called back. 

Overall appointment was kind of pointless. The only thing that was really done was get an end tidal CO2 on James. Mom had to disconnect his circuit, put in the end tidal, and then reconnect while holding James with one hand, and then repeat process to take out the end tidal. Why? There were 3 other people in the room. It seemed odd. Mom actually broke the wedge used to take apart the circuit; that is how hard she was pushing and pulling while holding James. Kinda ridiculous. The Pulmonologist was able to see James upset but then Mom was able to console James by holding him close. Sometimes when BPD babies are just being "babies" and are upset, it's pretty intense because they bear down and their lungs spasm. It's rarely ever just a cry and everything is fine. We are typically considering a trip to the ER.

Night nurse ended up cancelling/quitting. Yes, she didn't think she would be able to stay awake at night and handle his acuity. So no one showed today. Tomorrow we have a Day nurse scheduled and a Meet and Greet as well.

P.S. If you read the blog and are supporting James through his journey we would love you to participate in our video montage of everyone singing his lullaby. Please see the James Weston lullaby post for more details. ❤️

P.P.S. Thank you so much for the lullaby submissions so far! It's so exciting to have all of you be a part of something so special! 😭