Not The Wake Up Call We Were Hoping For...

This morning, our nurse woke us by pounding on the door and hollering for help because Ben's trach had come out. This is something that we were trained to handle, knew could happen, but thankfully hasn't happened - until today (this instance is a perfect example of why Ben needs a trach and CPR trained caregiver or nurse by his side 24 hours a day, even when he is sleeping). As soon as I heard the words "trach out", I darted from my bed and ran into Ben's room - Mike was right behind me and for those of you who know what a heavy sleeper Mike is can appreciate how amazing it was that his fatherly instinct overrode his heavy sleeping habits.

As soon as I approached the hall, I could hear Ben struggling to breath - I don't think I will ever forget that noise. It was louder than I would have thought and it sounded like someone having a bad asthma attack. His trach was lying in his bed next to him with his trach ties attached, Ben was starting to turn blue and he was thrashing around in a panic. I grabbed the trach and restrained him the best I could and pushed it in. I asked the nurse to suction and she said the catheter wouldn't go in. Ben was now dusky gray and lethargic. I checked the trach and realized it wasn't in right. I tried again and got it in this time - thank you God! The nurse suctioned while I held the trach and Mike pulled out the oxygen. Luckily, we have a high flow oxygen meter in case of emergency and we started give him 8 liters of O2. We didn't need to give Ben CPR, he was able to come back with the high flow oxygen. He needed O2 for about an hour, but was able to get back to room air after that.

This incident was a reminder to us of how precious every day with Ben is and how quickly something horrible can happen - and not due to neglect or anything on our part... just due to the fact that Ben has to wear a trach to survive and with wearing an external piece of medical equipment to breathe, life or death accidents can happen at any minute. I'm so glad our nurse didn't waste any time and just ran in and got us because she figured we could handle the situation the best. Our hearts go out to those families who have lost loved ones because of accidents with the trach. It only takes a few seconds for a trach to slip out and not all kids make a noise to let you know it is out.

This morning was a reality check for us that maybe we needed. I always take Ben's suction and emergency trach bag with me when we go out - but I don't always take his oxygen... now I will. I am now going to insist any day nurse who may be alone with Ben do a trach change with me so they can see how Ben's trach goes in.

We have no idea how Ben's trach came out. Either the Velcro on his ties got caught on his shirt and pulled apart, or Ben's little busy fingers found them. Either way, we are keeping a even closer eye on him.