ER Visit

My father somehow (still unclear to us as to how) managed to pull out his trach - yes the entire thing - this morning. Luckily, my mother brought all the pieces to the Northern Inyo Hospital's (NIH) emergency room because they didn't have the correct "parts" in-stock.

The first task was to thoroughly clean the unsightly trach. The doctor, "bless his heart" (as some of my family members would say), was new - not just new to NIH but new to the profession - he just finished his residency a few months ago. The "Hmmm... where is that and what do I do with it" banter between he, the nurse, and my mother was uncomfortably intriguing (in a fearful sense) as I sat beside my dad's cot and observed.

After the doctor suggested my mother be the one to put the trach back in since "she must be a pro at it", she corrected his assumption - she'd never done the outer cannula - we only change the inner cannula daily. Eventually, with the nurse's encouragement and my mom's directions, the doctor figured he'd "give it a go." After the fifth time the doctor had shared that he's only done this once - way back in school, the nurse shushed him, not wanting to freak out the patient! I don't know exactly how my dad felt but I was a bit afraid myself!

The first couple of attempts looked extremely painful, from my dad's expression. Then, luckily, the veteran ER doctor walked in, donned gloves, the other doctor stood back to observe, and within one minute the trach was back in. Yay - sigh of relief. I think we all felt better.