Questionable Advice

I've learned to question all of the advice that I get about caring for Brave Baby's trach. Every nurse and RT (respiratory therapist) has a bit of wisdom to pass on. This being strange and frightening territory, I am anxious to absorb every piece of knowledge that will help me take the best care possible of my baby. Based on their experience and credentials, you'd think these would be the very people to learn from. Well, sometimes they are. Usually they are. But sometimes not.

Case in point. Several have told me it's okay to reuse the trach. Just clean it and save it. But I just read the abstract of a study yesterday that found that children whose parents reused trachs were considerably more likely to have had pneumonia in the previous year than children of those who didn't reuse trachs.

Dang, we just put in a recycled trach the other day! So I get to spend the next two weeks worrying that I have put my daughter at risk for pneumonia. Yeah, I need that guilt.

She ended up with this trash-pile trach because the medical supply company sent over the wrong one because the neonatalogist who discharged her from the hospital just wrote "trach" on the supply order, so they sent over their default. Just like he ordered size 14 suction catheters, which would not even fit in her neonatal trach. And just like he ordered trach ties that are, like, twice the height of her squishy little neck. See what I'm saying?

Ultimately, it's my bad that Brave Baby didn't have a brand spanking new size 3.5 Bivona Flextend. I should've carefully checked everything we received with our supply order. I'm giving myself a pass this time. I'm a neo. Lesson learned. I'm learning a lot of lessons lately, and praying I don't screw up in some irrevocable way.