Wakey, Wakey, Just a Little Shakey

Last night was a rough night, and I'm not sure tonight will be any better. Withdrawals are tough and not having enough sedative on board makes it tougher. Mason was up most of the night last night a movin' and a shakin' nearly every hour. Clearly the paralytics were not working, and unfortunately, the sedative dose was not sufficient to help him stay relaxed. So, today, we talked to the doctors about cutting out the paralytic all together and figuring out a way that he can be a little more relaxed. So, without further ado, Mason's paralytic was turned off at about 2:30 pm today. Starting at about 3 pm, he woke up. Overall, he's been doing well, but has had a couple of times when he became really agitated and has desaturated into the 60's. He has needed 100% oxygen since waking up because of those times when he becomes agitated. Thankfully, when he is calm and sedated, he saturates in the mid to high 80's and appears very comfortable. We have needed to give him boluses of Versed nearly every hour to help him stay comfortable as his tolerance lasts about that long. After resting for a bit, though, he is ready to go again. So, after lying down and being paralyzed for 3 weeks, Mason was finally sitting up with support and able to read a book with Staramama, watch TV with Mama and Papa, and visit with the people around him. I even was able to hold him for about an hour during one of his sedative induced breaks (it was quite the sight to see, Mama propped up by pillows in the crib holding a very tuckered out and drugged Mason).

We talked with the doctors quite a bit today about his sedative levels and he is going to go up on his Neurontin in hopes that the sleepiness side effect will help Mason to get through some of his withdrawal and getting used to the trach. If it doesn't help immediately, it should be an interesting night with lots of wakeful spells and hopefully an hour or so break every now and then for a little sleep. I gotta say, though, ITS TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!!

Sucking on that wet towel during one of his awake times.