Ooey Gooey

We've been riding a roller coaster lately. Norah has had ups and downs with rhinovirus (common cold), and she has been having a hard time with it. We had a slumber party on Friday night, but it was more "party" and less "slumber". Well... that is only if you consider a party to be holding Norah, trying to help her sleep, and comfort her during coughing fits. I know, I know, I shouldn't complain about something as minor as a cold, but it really has taken a toll on her. She spent much of Friday night coughing and crying in my arms... Her soundless cry has to be the saddest cry ever. I only got 3 hours of sleep. My poor sweet girl.

The discomfort continued through Saturday, when her respiratory therapist thought it might be a good idea to do a trach change (they swap out the one in her for a clean one). Sure enough, there was a big ooey gooey mucus plug stuck in her trach. It had been interfering with her breathing/ventilating, and causing her to cough non-stop. Imagine having a big glob of something stuck in your airway. Not fun. Not comfortable.

The last time she had a crazy plug like that, it dislodged into her lungs and she went into cardiac arrest at South Davis. It was the single most frightening experience of my life, with Jeff's pulmonary embolism after his back surgery (5 years ago) being a very close second. She was gone for nine long minutes that continue to float around in the back of my mind. I can't tell you how grateful I am that we caught this plug before it did something super scary.

Since then, she's continued to have some ups and downs. She had a difficult day yesterday, but has perked up a bit today. She tries so hard to be cheerful and ignore the routine pokes and prods. She's such a tough cookie.

What are fail-safe ways to cheer up Norah? Playtime with Harper, cuddles with mommy or daddy, or watching the Winnie the Pooh movie.

She really wants to play and be cheerful, even when she feels crummy. This girl loves books.