Getty Owl Foundation

The Sweet Sound of the Word Discharge

From Kate:

So here we are, it is Friday afternoon and we are now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Getty is doing fantastically. Yesterday she completed two successful attempts off bi-pap. For 45 minutes each, Getty was off bi-pap and holding strong. It was so wonderful to see her beautiful face free of a breathing apparatus. She smiled, cooed, and just kind of took everything in.

It was decided Wednesday that for Getty’s night treatment, she would go to Q6, or every 6 hours instead of every 4. That would be a good test to see what her lungs sounded like after the 6 hours. So this morning when the Intensivist listened to her breathing, he was very impressed. He was under the impression that she had already received her morning treatments, and when we told him that we were just about to get started he was even more excited. The nurse, RT, and I just smiled and celebrated. 6 hours without wheezing or crackling coming from her lungs is a huge step in the right direction. I know that giving Getty the full 6 hours in between to sleep has also made a difference as well. This girl sure loves her sleep.

Then the discussion went to “well then let’s get this little lady out of here.” I couldn’t agree more.

The plan is to continue to monitor Getty on her baseline bi-pap settings of 16/4. We will be doing another blood gas test today to see if she is at the right ventilation levels. Then next steps is to see if she is ready to be, dare I say it…….discharged. Oh that felt good to say. 🙂

So if all goes well we may be getting home this weekend. There is one technicality that might have us stay until Monday. Getty will be getting her own vest for her CPT treatments. She has been getting them with each treatment in the hospital and now we will be able to have the same system for home use. We are very excited to have this added element to Getty’s routine. The vest does an amazing job of knocking around all kinds of mucus that might ordinarily stick to her lungs. If we cannot get the needed training from the manufacturer tomorrow morning, we will need to stay in the hospital until Monday when they can do the training then. we should know more very soon.

Getty’s progress has been remarkable. Every day she has shown progress and every day she has fought like the little superhero she is. We are so proud of her and we simply can’t wait until we can bring her home so we can establish Getty’s new routine. We also cannot wait to get home quick, just so we can slow down and get back to being a family without all of the interruptions, the x-rays, the blood tests, and the baby crib. 🙂 Mommy and Getty naps need to resume asap.