Just spoke with Helena. Here is what I know so far from talking with her - Peggy was having trouble again last night with the trach - lots of gurgling. It started on Marvel's shift last night and continued on into Helena's at 10pm...Peggy was complaining of an "air leak". The VTE was going down so low that the vent was alarming. So they made the decision to call 911. The EMT guys came and tested the cuff/trach with some type of connector and said that it seemed OK. They left, but 45 minutes later Helena says that it started up again. So they called 911 again at Peggy's request.
They took her to Queen's where she was seen by a respiratory specialist in the ER that told her that some gurgling and air leakage is inevitable because of the tracheal malasia. They asked if she needed another trach, but he felt that there was nothing technically wrong with the one she has, the problem is more the loss of integrity of the tissue/muscle inside her throat, where the balloon is. According to Helena, he stressed that every time the cuff gets inflated and deflated, or even if you squeeze that outside balloon too much, it exacerbates the problem. It may solve it temporarily, but it will eventually lead to more of a problem. Peggy and Helena returned home and things have been better with the trach. Helena said that Peggy was resting when I called at 6:45 this morning.
I will talk with Cory and Dr. Davis today to follow up today. Of course, the most troubling fact is that the vent was alarming. We can't have that continuing, so while a certain amount of leakage is understandable, it seems that we need to find out what our options are. I'll post more info as I get it. Thanks Team!
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