Saturday, August 25, 2007

BREATHING AGAIN

When Dan's vent tubes come off his trach, it's because he is getting secretions suctioned out of his lungs or changing between his ventilator units [one for his bed, one for his chair]. It's only off for a few seconds, hopefully before his alarm goes off. Yesterday I took his vent tube off and watched along with the doctors as Dan's system was tested out.

IT WORKS ... HE CAN BREATHE AGAIN ON HIS OWN.

He says it feels different, but GOOD or "Sweet!"

Surgery was a success, he was alert and talking AND hungry. He is the 38th Spinal Cord Injury patient [50th recipient nationwide] , to be fitted with a Diaphragm Pacer. He now has 5 special wires that were attached to his diaphragm , one being the ground wire, that are sticking out of his chest. A walkie talkie size control unit hangs on his side, giving him the opportunity to breath "normally" once again. Biotechnology at it's best.

I am headed to the hospital to be further trained on use of this wonderful life giving device, developed by Dr. Ray Onders and Synapse Biomedical at the University Hospitals Case Medical Center. His dual controls [redundant system] will be programed and we will head home early this afternoon, but will not have to return next weekend. Although we have tested and know the units work, regular activation will not begin until next Friday.

Should I sell tickets for the grand activation and unveiling?

This is a gradual activation of pacing with 15 to 30 minutes on and 60 minutes off, to give the diaphragm rest, as it develops weakness within 3 days of not working. Sort of like getting back to the gym after a 5 month absence. The average full time use of the unit takes about 7 weeks.

Dan also is being trained to do "frog breathing" which is gulping air through the mouth, to sustain life. SPI / DPS recipients are taught this method of breathing so they can help keep themselves alive in case of an emergency. Some can do this for an hour or so. Dan did this Friday for 2 minutes, before getting light headed. He was previously told that he had no chance of breathing on his own, but the DPS has actually helped some people to get off any breathing system because of how it works and retrains the diaphragm muscle. Amazing device. [Thank you God for giving men the ability to invent and develop such a wonderful device. ]

More info later, time to rock n roll. Thanks, as always, for being our prayer support during these exciting days.

13 comments:

Your big sister said...

WOW!!! How exciting!! I cannot wait to see you in 3 weeks! I like the "frog breaths" cuz I like frogs - hehe, that makes me laugh! So good to see you moving on up in all that you will be able to have and do the rest of your life! Love you!!!

graceling said...

Praise God!

Was thinking and praying for you yesterday when I was taking care of another SCI patient who is trying to find out about D.P. and if he is a canidate...

Glad to hear all went well!

Blessed Mommy said...

can't wait to see you (soon) and praise GOD for HIS kindness to us, thru these past few days!!!

Papá to the best 2 said...

This is so awesome! Can't wait to hear about your progress in the weeks to come.= as I'm betting you'll be beating the "average" time to be off the vent. Praise God for how everything fell into place.

Unknown said...

Yahoo!! Looking forward to many successes and miracles! Your family is magnifying the power and the love of Jesus. Praise the Lord for His working and for the hope, he gives, of greater things to come! "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 :)

Anonymous said...

Praise God...We're praying for you and can't wait till you get back to Cedarville.

Amber said...

PRAISE YOU, JESUS!! :D

Anonymous said...

What a fantastic development! To be able to breath on your own, DAN! Leave it to the Cleveland Clinic!
Have you looked into the Guardian Voyager Track system for transporting Dan from bed to chair? We have friends who actually have two of them. One in the bedroom and one in the living room by the recliner our friend sits in when he is up. It has really worked well for them, although our friend is not paralyzed up to his head. You can find it on internet if you are interested. From Topeka

Anonymous said...

God is good all the time.....all the time, GOD is good!!! We can't wait for you to make a trip to the 'Ville to see you (and watch you breathe).

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is incredible! Thank You God!

Amanda Martin said...

Wow! I feel like so much has happened in the last week for Dan! Will pray that he will get used to breathing on his own again very quickly. PRAISE GOD FOR HIS PROGRESS! Praying right now,

Amanda

Unknown said...

Wow, Dan--that is fantastic news! I am so happy for you. Think of you often--we miss your smiling face here at RIC.
-Jennifer (your OT)

Anonymous said...

People should read this.