Today, Taylor had a tracheostomy, which went very well.  She is now breathing through the “trach,” which is through a small hole in her neck, instead of through a tube down her mouth and throat.  She is still breathing with machine assistance, but if she continues to do well, she will eventually not need assistance anymore.  She also had the feeding tube moved from her nose to the PEG tube placed directly near her stomach.  Now that all the tubes and tape are off, we can finally see her pretty face.

Last night, she had quite a bit of movement over the course of the night, but none of it seemed directed.  She is also opening her eyes more and blinks, but her eyes do not appear focused.  She definitely has many wake and sleep cycles through the course of the day.  We are happy to see more activity from her.

Tomorrow, they will be transferring her to neurology ICU.  Since her cardiology and respiratory issues have been more or less addressed, she will get the special care she needs now for the neurological issues related to the ABI.

Today, one of the physicians agreed to let Taylor have a trial off of propofol, which has been keeping her sedated.  As of this post, she has been off of the sedative for about 8 hours, has been tolerating it, and appears comfortable.  She is also breathing well with minimal assistance from the respiratory machine and there is a chance that she may not need the tracheostomy at all and be able to breathe on her own!