Kayli is off the Bypap Machine! Original blog date Sept. 7, 2009

Kayli is off the Bypap machine!

by Kelly Essem Whistler on Monday, September 7, 2009 at 11:32am

I just spoke with the doctor. Kayli is doing very well off the Bypap machine! He admitted the team didn't think she'd ever do this well. He said they certainly didn't expect her to be where she is at.

Rob and I asked for a probe (camera) to go down her bronchial tube for her left lung, to make sure her problem with her left lung a couple of days ago isn't because she has weak muscle tone.
He said they don't want to do the probe yet, because she is doing so well, they don't think it is still a problem (if it was low tone). It might have been a secretion that blocked her airway. The respiratory team is doing BD treatments, and suctioning her as needed and every 4 hours.

Kayli is now on a high pressure air canula (nose oxygen). She is only at 40% oxygen. It appears she is needing a flow of air to help her keep her saturation rate up, but not necessarily the oxygen. If she never improved from this point, she wouild still able to come home with minimal care.

We asked for an EEG on Kayli to check her cognitive brain function, because she is continuing to gain more activity clinically ( when looking at what she is able to do physically). The doctor said they will before she leaves the hospital, but it says more to them when they see her doing the things she's doing than looking at an EEG. She comforts herself by putting her feet together (like she used to do). She closes her eyes when she sleeps again, and when the light is in her eyes (room light or flashlight). Kayli moves her head and focuses on us most times now. She squeezes our finger when she is scared, mad, or in pain. She will not let go until she is calm again. Kayli cries when she is in pain, and stretches her hands above her head when she wakes up. She stretches her legs too. Kayli is showing signs of "Kayli" before surgery. The medical team is impressed with her, especially since they thought she would show NO signs of cognitive recovery after the first 4 days.

Kayli is leading her way to recovery. We are praying and hoping we make the "right" decisions for her. We continuously ask God for guidance, keep our hope intact, and check ourselves to make sure we are following Kayli's lead.

I, personally, can't wait to see how far Kayli is taking this miraculous recovery! I'm loving that I get to be in a front row seat for this miracle!

The plan is to keep her in the hospital for a couple of more days, to help her sustain her good health, and to make sure she is stable and healed completely.

I brought her car seat in her room, and told her it's here for her. We can't wait for our baby girl to come home and spend some more quality time with her!