Trach Removal at Seventy-Five Miles an Hour

Trach Removal at Seventy-Five Miles an Hour

Kim Rankin
Airway and Respiratory

Nathaniel pulled out his tracheostomy tube tonight. A first since airway surgery. The setting was close to what I have always imagined to be the worse possible. We were northbound on Interstate 44 returning to the St. Louis area from visiting our daughter and husband. The highway had just widened to three lanes. I was driving; our van was in the middle lane with semi-trucks on both sides of us. Everyone was traveling around seventy-five miles an hour. Rich was beside me in the front, trouble shooting a problem with Nathaniel's talker. We had just driven trough one of many hard rains. I heard velco and Nathaniel's breathing sounds changed.

An Open Letter to Our Ambulance District Board of Directors

An Open Letter to Our Ambulance District Board of Directors

Kim Rankin
Parenting

I attended your ambulance district board meeting last night. I have visited other local government meetings, but always to help a son with a Boy Scout achievement. Last night was the first time that I participated in something of this nature due to personal interest. On a Tuesday in April, I loaded Nathaniel and his equipment into the van and took him with me to vote. It was a lot of work. But many of the paramedics that work for our district urged local registered voters to show up at the polls. They made recommendations on the election options. I went to your meeting last night to see the outcome of my vote in practice.

May Cincinnati Trip: Fixing the Broken Things

May Cincinnati Trip: Fixing the Broken Things

Kim Rankin
Airway and Respiratory

Today was the sixteenth time in less than three years that I handed Nathaniel to an anesthesiologist for a surgery or medical procedure. That does not count illnesses and lab work. Despite the outward appearance of resiliency and well-being, the chronic need for medical intervention is taking a toll on Nathaniel's body. We are in Ohio for two days of appointments at Cincinnati Children's. Nathaniel was seen by four surgeons in the operating room this afternoon. As a side note, I really like it when doctors play well together and coordinate care; if handled differently, what was done today could have required four separate visits and four more handing overs to be sedated. Thank you Cincinnati Children's!

It Knocked the Bounce Right Out of Him

It Knocked the Bounce Right Out of Him

Kim Rankin
Airway and Respiratory

Nathaniel and I have been lazy all morning. Actually, we've been lazy all week. He was released from the hospital Monday, but it was not until Thursday night that I felt we were on top of his frequent vomiting. Wednesday night was rough. Concerned he was spiraling down toward dehydration again, I messaged our house church (small group at church) and pastors to pray. Slowly over the course of the day, he improved. He felt well enough to join his big brother, Peter, in a hammock outside on Thursday afternoon. Peter will be working in Alaska this summer as a supervisor at a Boy Scout camp. The hammock is newly purchased to take with him. I think the quiet afternoon will be a special memory for both of them.

The Trachs on My Windowsill, Hospitalization, and Lemonade

The Trachs on My Windowsill, Hospitalization, and Lemonade

Kim Rankin
Lessons I've Learned, Airway and Respiratory

I came home from the hospital last night and noticed the two trachesotomy tubes sitting on my windowsill.  Both, one from two weeks ago and one from Friday night, are waiting to be cleaned and sterilized. Seeing them reminded me of the first time my younger brother came to visit us after Nathaniel came home. We keep two trachs, one the same size and one smaller sealed in bags after sterilization, near Nathaniel's bed. At the time of Clint's visit, one of the tubes was stored in a bio-hazard bag; it had probably last been sterilized at the hospital. Bio-hazard baggies are what the nurses use even though the item inside is going home intended to be reused. When talking about Nathaniel that night with my brother, I made a dismissive comment about the intensity of his care. "You have a bio-hazard bag hanging in your son's bedroom," Clint said with some strong emotion. "For crying out loud,  this is beyond medically complex. This is life and death."

Augmented Communication Core Vocabulary with Board Books

Augmented Communication Core Vocabulary with Board Books

Kim Rankin
AAC, Homeschooling

At our last augmented communication team session, one of the therapists asked me how Nathaniel does with books. "Oh," I thought to myself, "we're doing great here. They will be so impressed!" Out loud I said, "Really well! We read ten to fifteen books a day. We get books from the library. We have set times through out the day when we read. And we use the talker while reading too!" They asked for further explanation on my last point.

I have read to Nathaniel since his first day home. Shared moments of reading between parent and child is foundational to my understanding of child rearing. My mother read to me. My Aunt Beccy kept stacks of books in her car for her children and other young riders. My mother's cousin was an elementary school teacher and gave me most of her classroom library when she retired. I was nineteen. I had children's books before I had children. Through our years of homeschooling, reading books aloud has been a pivotal aspect of our curriculum and our family's day.

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