Coma Stimulation

I got to do something really cool today. Multisensory stimulation for disordered consciousness, also known as coma stimulation. We have a man on our unit who is in a "coma" after an organ transplant mishap. There are different levels of consciousness, which is why coma is in quotations. This man is actually not in a coma, he is in a vegetative state. Surprisingly, a vegetative state is a better level of consciousness than coma. It is not, however, the greatest state to be in.

I've never done multisensory stimulation before, but went to a presentation on it at our national convention. The presentation was very informative and had demonstration videos. The unit that I work on is not a brain injury unit by any means, so I felt sad that this man was getting no kind of arousal therapy. Hence, my eagerness to try multisensory stimulation.

Though my man didn't magically wake up, which is what all the nurses thought would happen, he did show some promising signs of arousal. Multisensory stimulation doesn't have much research behind it yet, so the techniques can seem a bit strange. Have you ever scrubbed a patient with a ScotchBrite pad or pricked their toes with a seam ripper? Yeah, me either until today. But, it was pretty cool to see the responses those techniques elicited. I'll keep you posted on his progress.

If any of you speechies would like a copy of the presentation, just let me know!

Goodbye Baby

Our beloved Toby went to dogie heaven on Saturday. He was exactly 6 months old. Who knew you could fall in love with a dog so much so fast. My heart is in a million little pieces just thinking about how much I miss him.
Toby was sick ever since we got him. He got a tape worm 2 weeks after he came home with us and things just went downhill from there. He got giardia after that and was never able to shake it. Over the past 6 weeks or so, he started losing weight and not acting like his happy self. We initially thought it was just another bout of giardia, but it was much worse.He was supposed to have "little boy" surgery on Tuesday. We took him to the vet early in the morning and had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to have the surgery, since he obviously wasn't feeling well. The vet called us later that morning to tell us that he was in pretty bad shape and was septic. His white cell count was 600 (normal is 7,000 to 10,000) and he had zero infection fighting cells.We spent the next 5 days trying everything we could to nurse him back to health. He spent a few days with the vet but came home with us at night. We had to give him subcutaneous IV fluids, antibiotic shots, and try to get him to eat. He was just skin and bones. I took off work on Thursday to take care of him so Jon could get some work done and I'm so glad I did.On Friday, I knew he still wasn't feeling better. Jon took him to the vet and he stayed all day getting IV antibiotics. His white cell count had improved to a measly 900. I met Jon at the vet with my mom and we told the vet we just wanted to take him home.We spent his last night letting him eat peanut butter toast and sleep with us under the covers. It was a very sleepless night and we thought he would pass several times. In the morning, my family came over to take him to the vet with us. He rallied a bit and at a whole piece of peanut butter toast and walked around before we left. His increase in energy and eating gave us a bit of hope, so we had his blood drawn again. His white cell count was only 1,300, even after strong antibiotics. His leukocytes were also misshapen and immature.
It was then that we knew it was time to let him go. With my family surrounding us and Jon and I holding him, he went to sleep and was finally not suffering.Jon and I are taking it pretty hard. We cry a lot. It just baffles me how much we love and miss him. Though he was just a dog, he was our family member. We love him so much and miss him terribly. Please pray for us for healing, especially for Jon.

Funny Patient Quotes

Patient sitting in an ancient wheelchair in my office, looking very uncomfortable.

(Me) Are you in pain?
(Pt) Yes.
(Me) Does your bottom hurt?
(Pt) Yes.
(Me) Is there anything I can to do make you more comfortable?
(Pt) You could rub it.

Patient just admitted to our unit. Another patient, down the hall, is screaming.

(Me) Mrs. H, You're in the hospital. Remember, you had surgery.
--Blank stare from the patient, who looks very scared.
(Pt) Am I on the maternity ward?