Day 21- Wednesday January 4, 2012

They were waiting to start feeding Bridgett again until the vena cava filter was removed today.  That was supposed to happen at 10:00.  They never actually took her in until like 3:15.  So, it was all the way until 4:00 before they started the feeding up again.  They will have to increase the feeding gradually until they reach goal.  Frustrating.  At 4:00 the speech therapist came in to check how Bridgett was doing regarding swallowing.  Apparently the speech therapist is the one that works on that.  Anyway, he tried having her swallow cold water, but put it really far back in her mouth and she kind of choked.  The nurse mentioned that the sealant had come off her sensitive tooth and maybe the cold water was bothering it but he said cold works best.  He tried once more and she choked again.  Then they brought back the pressure at the trach cuff and tried a piece of ice.  She chewed it and presumably swallowed.  He thinks she has some swallowing ability intact.  He recommends that they give her ice chips from time to time in order to work on the swallow reflex.  If she gets some water in the lungs, it won't hurt anything.  He said he'd want to wait before trying anything more than water.  The vena cava filter did finally get removed successfully.  They said usually they can retrieve 90% of the filters without problems, and luckily she had no problems.  There was a clot in the filter, but they got it out OK.  At 5:30 the dentist came out again.  As I said, the sealant had come off the tooth with the exposed nerve. I thought that she was sensitive yesterday, and by today you could see the exposed nerve again.  I called Dr. Peacock and he came after work.  He was concerned that it would be much harder than it was last time since she is moving so much.  The nurse was very concerned that it would be difficult.  Right before he started Arrianne said we should explain what is happening.  So, when it was explained to Bridgett they asked her to open her mouth and she did (she's been doing that lately) and she held it open for a quite a while so that he could do a really good job of getting that exposed nerve covered as well as re-doing the tooth next to it.  Now we just have to find someone who will take care of the root canals and caps at an out patient surgical center, as it will be a while until she can actually go to the dentist's office.  I talked to the brain injury people from the rehab and asked if there was something I could get for Bridgett to hold to keep her occupied and keep her hands away from the tubes.  They suggested stress balls, which is what I was thinking.  I had Arrianne and Stephany go to the store and they got an assortment of fun to squeeze balls.  That was such a great idea.  Most of the time she is busy and doesn't bother any of the tubes or wires.