Update #170

The first number on the first machine with the first alarm that I ever understood in the ICU was the oxygen saturation level. Normal, healthy individuals generally have a saturation level of 95% or so. When Sarah and I first arrived at 4:00 a.m., we sat and watched that number climb from 79% (it had started in the twenties when Dave first arrived) to 90%, which is almost within healthy limits. That was the first sign of progress and the first critical step in Dave's recovery.

Before I go any further, Dave is fine and is being monitored closely. With that said, among the multitude of tests that Dave has endured today, his pulmonologist ordered a study of his oxygen saturation level while he sleeps. As a result, now, almost a year later, I'm sitting in a different hospital room almost as late at night (or early in the morning) watching the same number and listening to the same alarm on the same machine. Talk about deja vu. Partially because of his pneumonia and partially because of the damage to his lungs, it turns out that Dave's saturation level drops to the mid-80s when he sleeps. Yikes! We have been working with Dr. Hardin and the insurance company for weeks trying to get approval for our own saturation monitor at the house so we would know when his level was low. This may be the proof we need.

So Dave is not sleeping, I'm not sleeping, and that stupid alarm keeps beeping. The Respiratory Therapist was hoping to hold off on giving him oxygen to preserve the integrity of the study, but he's been running 83% to 85% for ten minutes, so on with the oxygen we go.

The good news, of course, is that unlike a year ago, Dave is awake, happy (well, aside from the lack of sleep) and looking forward to being released in the next few days. I guess, keeping that in perspective, we can probably deal with the annoyance of one alarm.

That being said, please do be praying for Dave's breathing. From the sounds of it, the drop in saturation may mean yet another night in the hospital. Again, so much better than last year, but I think we will both be glad to see our own bed again sometime soon.