I've noticed a trend among mother' named Anita with crazy curly hair. Ok Me. This is all me. This all crazy me. This is all crazy me and why people with mild anxiety should not have data producting instruments that can freak them out.
So when Bridget first gets sick, I worry because her O2 numbers start to hang around 96. I generally consider this a "B grade" amount of oxygen. I'm a professor. I think in terms of grades. I prefer As. I'm a professor! As I tell my undergrads, Bs are not a problem, but I also know it's not typical for her and something is going on in her lungs.
Then as she starts getting sicker and her numbers get lower, I get so excited when I see a 96. When 96 makes me relieved instead of worried, then we have problems. That's when I turn into some kind of reverse auctioneer trying to will her numbers higher.
Can I get a 95? 95? 95? Sold at 95! At least it's not a 94.
Oh, I see a 94. 94? 94? 94? 95!!! Oh, back to 94. And holding. Well, we're still above 93.
Oh, I got a 93. 93. 93. 94. 93. 93. 93. 96!!! 95!! 94...93. 93. 93. At least it's not 92.
And so on.
Sometimes I try to sneak up on the numbers. Usually this game is going on during the night and I'll close my eyes for a few minutes and then sneak a peak. This is good when I spot a 94 or a 95 and pretty adrenaline shooting shitty when it's a 91.
We are doing all the right things we can do at home. We started prednisone at the right time, definitely not too soon and definitely not for shits and giggles. Yesterday was great. Bridge had lots of energy and great numbers. And she wasn't coughing much. ((Cue the foreboding music.)) I had to teach last night and just before I left she had a coughing fit that caused some 80s to show up on her pulse ox.*** ((again, haven't seen that since the last hospital visit)) Dave texted me in class that her numbers were all high 90s!!! ((He is not a crazy, curly headed, slightly anxious woman))
She was in bed by the time I got home and when I checked her numbers they were an extremely steady 93. When asked how he could explain the discrepancy from the texts and the numbers, Dave shrugged and said "You?!"
Probably.
She spent more time in the low 90s, even with all my reverse bargaining. This morning when I woke up she was hanging in the upper 80s and low 90s. We did a full treatment at 4:30 am an now she's back asleep, ironically at 96.
I'm not excited about that number (Still!! So difficult to please) mainly because it's the max now, not the min.
I don't know what's going to happen. We've never been here before. We've either started the prednisone in the hospital or used it when there was no need. We are definitely doing the right things here at home. I just don't know what's happening inside her lungs and whether her funky hypsersecreious asthma doesn't give two flying fig newtons about that extra prednisone as it fills her lungs with gunk. ((That is what I think happens when she stops coughing for a period of time. The gunk is filling up her the bottom of her lungs and causing atelectasis))
And now you know.
Still hanging at 96. Sold! To the whackadoodle mama in her Hello Kitty pjs.
UPDATED: And as is what always happens when I'm bargaining/bidding, the numbers are still going down and I should have locked it in at that better price. I'm sure there will be more updates in the future.
***Please! Someone draw me a pulse ox!!
No comments:
Post a Comment