Giffords off ventilator following procedure

Source: Arizona Republic (Azcentral)

Doctors performed a procedure Saturday morning that helps protect Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' airway but frees her from a ventilator that she's been on since being wounded in a shooting a week ago.

Doctors removed a breathing tube from the 40-year-old and replaced it with a tracheotomy tube in her windpipe, according to an update from University Medical Center.

Giffords has been breathing on her own for several days, but doctors kept the breathing tube in place as a precaution, Dr. Peter Rhee, University Medical Center's chief of trauma, said Friday.

Surgeons also inserted a feeding tube to provide nutrition to the wounded congresswoman,.




Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/01/15/20110115gabrielle-giffords-off-ventilator-brk15-ON.html

How long before she'll be able to swallow and ingest solid food and be able to speak?
:applause:
:kick:

From what I have read they don't know how her voice and throat will function due to the bullet damage. It's more of a wait and see. I hope that those functions come back 100%.

Sending best wishes for continued recovery.

I think I heard that once they took the breathing tube out they'd be able to see if she could talk. Her recovery is really amazing.

Placement of a trach tube (that's a tube inserted into a hole cut in her windpipe) and a g-tube (a feeding tube inserted through a hole cut in her stomach) implies to me that the docs believe it'll be a while before she'll be able to reliably do such basic things as breathe and swallow for herself.

It's going to be a long haul. I just hope she recovers her mental function. In all my years working in physical rehab, I have rarely seen anyone come all the way back from an injury comparable to hers.

Sorry to rain on your parade. It is progress that they've taken her off the ventilator.

I know when my mother had a stroke that affected the left side of her body, the Dr.s were worried about letting her eat for fear of choking. It had something to do with the numbness and not being able to control her tongue. Her being able to eat eventually did improve.

As good as her progress, we are still talking a very long course. She will likely need lots of physical therapy to help her with what appears to be right sided weakness and to bring back her motor skills. Talking, moving, walking and the ability to care for herself--these will all be down the road.

and has been since Thursday.

The reason we do both of these procedures following a brain trauma is to protect the airway until we know whether that very sensitive and important area has been damaged by the trauma. Unlike on TV, this whole process ends up going slower for safety reasons. If she gets a G tube at a later date, then yes, we know that nerves in the area of her trachea and esophagus have been damaged. What they did today isn't a step back at all, it's a precaution.

I was hesitant to join the victory parade as she opened her eyes for the first time but at this point, I can say, as a healthcare provider only getting information second hand, things look really good.

interchangeably.

At our hospital we call them gastric tubes versus peg tubes. A peg tube is placed by the stomach as a semi to permanent solution for enteral (stomach based) feeding. A gastric or nasogastric tube is a temporary tube placed in the stomach through the mouth or nose. It allows for nutrition to be given bypassing the swallow reflex, until we're sure the swallow reflex is intact.

but she was in ICU and after the ventilator was removed they had to put in a trach, and eventually a feeding tube.

I am thrilled that Gabby is making so much progress, but she has a long way to go... I just hope people realize that.

and the silver five days. She's done amazingly well, but it will most likely get slower now.

that's where she is now. Progress, but still very guarded.

and it's easy to replace a standard trach with a fenestrated trach that will allow her to try to speak. They'll probably do swallowing studies before that happens, make sure her gag and cough reflexes are intact.

While cutting a hole in somebody's neck instead of having a breathing tube in their mouth sounds like a step backward, it's really not.

Who will Gov. Brewer appoint to replace? Its usually the Spouse in the House, but in this instance he may not be available if he is in space..?? Will there be a special election before 2012?

The Constitution requires that all House vacancies be filled by special election. There is no constitutional provision for the appointment of interim Representatives.

There was an article about NASA modifying their plans.

a backup shuttle commander.

The filth on Fox was sooooo disappointed!

maybe by the end of the year.

This really is a step in the right direction and part of the progress forward, which, for sure, should be part of the longer term care plan for her. The decision to do this now I think is to keep her from regressing with the bugs she may not be able to fight off the bugs in the ICU. After a week, you really need to think about pulling the endotracheal tube and doing the tracheostomy. The trach tube allows you to rehab is IS longer term and more comfortable when you do it right.

That tracheostomy procedure allows them to provide whatever respiratory support (whatever will keep the normal pressures and volumes open in the lung) by almost acting "normal", but using mechanically means. We're really better at doing this these days in what is called a "sub-acute" care setting. She can be monitored there expertly for speech, language, and cognitive pathology by an SLP, while being taken care of by respiratory therapists, physical and occupational therapists. The PTs and OTs want to get the limb and core strength functions back so they don't atrophy, while the SLPs and RT's help assess and maintain the areas crucial to swallowing and assuring good lung functions. It truly is a team effort.

This is after a week, and it's good news in my book as a respiratory therapist many years.

K&R

Effing GUNS. Pisses me off at them even more. We need a total ban so that crazy fux can't get a hold of them so easily.