After nearly five months of driving 140 or so miles a day, the coppers finally got me. It was inevitable, I suppose. But the worst part about it? NO PAPERS IN THE CAR. I'm sure every last one of you reading this is far more responsible than I am, but I am asking you all to go out right now and make sure your registration and proof of insurance are IN YOUR CAR. I've never gotten a speeding ticket before (I promise, Mom!), so he let me off with a written warning, and I have to mail proof of insurance and registration to the staties' barracks. I have never felt so stupid in my life.
Having got that little bit of bad karma out of the way, I spent the day with Jane and got puked on. Twice.
Having got that little bit of bad karma out of the way, Tom, Sarah and I went to his work Christmas party tonight and had a thoroughly enjoyable time with the excellent people he gets to spend his days with. (VCFA in the house!)
Back at the hospital, I changed the trach ties myself again today (with help from Awesome Nurse Donna and Awesome Tech Deb), and it went pretty well. How about a little tutorial?
This is a pretty good shot of what I have to clean under and replace. The blue collar with the white arrow (which is a velcro tab) is the actual trach tie (here's another image -- Jane's trach tube is different, but that's the exact tie). It's in two pieces, so what you do is undo one side, clean and dry the neck and wound on that side and put the new tie in place, then do the same thing to the other side. Then you sit her up and attach the two pieces with another strip of velcro in the back. It isn't difficult at all, except that Jane squirms and silently wails and fights most of the time. You just have to ignore all that and trust whoever's helping to keep a firm grip on the baby. And the trach, of course. Musn't forget to hold the trach. And THEN I tuck new foam stuff (it's called mepilex; it's the beige patch under Jane's chin) under the collar so that it's around the tube and absorbs moisture and protects the skin from being irritated by the ties. That's the hardest part, by far. By far. That chin and neck is so thick it's hard to see anything.
But we're getting used to it. I've been telling Jane "chin up", in the hope that when she's older she can tip her head back herself and I can do the ties on my own.
That's what I have to look forward to. We've totally fallen down the rabbit hole.
4 comments:
Oh, Tia...I can so outdo you on "the feeling stupid being nabbed by a cop" scenario. Similar story but I was nabbed going down a major street right by my house doing 65 km/h and my first thought is "boy, this guy is pissy, I'm only 5 km over" until he looks at me and says "this is a 50 zone". Really??? Wow, I have been driving down this road for 3 years!! (In my defense, it changes to a 60 zone very soon after where I got nabbed). So then I give him my registration and insurance and he says "uh, this insurance certificate expired 6 months ago". Ooops...forgot to put my new one in the car but smart me says "don't I have 24 hours to produce proof of insurance" at which point he looks at me and says "they changed that law...oh....5 years ago" at which point I thought he's going to give me a bigger ticket just for being stupid. There..do you feel better? (BTW, he didn't give me a speeding ticket but did fine me $100 for not having insurance so I was not as lucky as you)
Tia - I've found that my kids have introduced me to rabbit holes that I've gone down that I had no idea existed, had no interest in going down, and yet down we went because that was the next step in my kids' lives ... so it was the next step in mine.
Not all of them were fun. Many of them were scary.
But I wouldn't have missed a one.
My guess? You'll be able to change those trach ties with a laugh and a joke and a twirl of your hands, turning your squirming girl into a princess with special necklaces!
Would you choose it? Heck no! Will you master it? Hell yes!
(Please excuse the enthusiasm, those of you with tender eyes!)
Precious picture, by the way!
Cindy
Oh, that's me with my other account (artandsoul and jacobscindyj are the same person)
Cindy
Tia I am sorry to hear that the local law enforcement felt the need to introduce themselves but seems that you found a nicer one....I suggest a photo book of Jane and all her cuteness so the next time you can whip that out with the insurance card and registration located in the back of said album...when law enforcer has to look at all the cute pics...there is no way they could give a ticket...ofcourse you could always just slow down...I tried the outrun..oh you were after me one time and it didnt work out well at all...thought I was going to have to make a bail call and a get the kids out of state wellfare...thanks for the drive by Tom....and some kudos for you as well...I don't think that you are getting enough credit from the readers for all that you are doing...I am sure that there is a load of behind the scenes things that you are doing...other than coordinating care and meetings....without your love and support Tia wouldn't be in a position to give as freely and to the extent that she does on a daily basis...Hugs and love to you both as you slide down the rabbit holes created by kids...I agree some rides are better than others! Regardless just hold on tight and keep your heart open.
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