It’s basicly a splint, it keeps the ribs less mobile. Here’s a very quick video that demonstrates it.
Here is a (very old) nursing journal article, that goes into more detail.
Hope this helps.
How about a stuffed dinosaur?
-D/a
Good news or bad, we appreciate the updates. Keep your chin up and take gentle care of yourself.
Better today - which just means he wasn’t gasping like a goldfish out of water, but hey! Progress, right! He was so tired last night he doesn’t even remember me coming over, and he drifted off this morning again while I was holding his hand, so he’s clearly a pooped puppy and deserves some sleep. He hasn’t had an unbroken eight hours in a row in who knows how long; all his sleep is in short naps now. I don’t care at all if he doesn’t remember me coming by, as long as he doesn’t think I’ve abandoned him. I’m just glad to see him get some rest, any rest at all.
His X-rays and blood work came back with mostly positive news, so now I mostly have to deal with him pleading with me about how badly he wants to come home …
Poor guy. I’ve always quipped that “a hospital is no place for a sick person” but in his case, it is the place he needs to be right now.
I’m glad he is a little better (not gasping), hopefully he’ll inch upward even more today. No swallow test yet, I gather?
Good news about his bloodwork. I hope he’s able to get some good sleep soon.
Man, that brings back too many unpleasant memories!
Here’s a continued wish for recovery!
This is such a rough point. He’s no longer so sick that he doesn’t even know or care what’s going on, but he’s still feeling plenty crappy.
Definitely get someone to show him the pillow trick, I can’t believe they haven’t done that already. Or maybe they did and he’s forgotten.
Sending healing vibes your way.
Hang in there, it IS getting better, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the moment.
Or thought that someone else told them. TOS has been there for so long and PHS has been so involved that they probably expect her to know about that.
When Bill had his heart surgery, I knew about the pillow, but nobody told me about that I needed to make him breathe through the tube to make the balls stay in the grooves.
PHS, I’m so happy that it seems that your other half is there now. Your ordeal isn’t over yet, but I think it will be easier now that TOS in in the harness with you.
Get off the bottom, Flatlined!!
I wonder if maybe a set of earplugs and an eyemask could help him extend those naps into something more restful?
When I was in the hospital, it seemed like every 5 minutes there was someone coming in to bug me about something. When I had the eyemask on, they wouldn’t even talk. They’d just go about their business, take my blood pressure, and be gone.
His chest really hurts. (“Excruciating” and gave it an 8 on a 1-10 scale. Dude’s no wuss, so I believe him.) He says the fentanyl is barely helping anymore. High heart rate yesterday evening (it was IIRC 157 bpm when I walked in, was down to about 138-140 when I finally left). He tells me repeatedly when noone else is around to hear that he wants to die; he asks me to please just kill him already; and this morning he said he’s ready to just pull out all his tubes, hoist himself into a wheelchair and roll on out.
The rational part of me knows that would kill him rather quickly and unpleasantly. A very different part of me wants to push the chair myself, yelling “WHEEEEEEEE!” and running as fast as I can with him to the elevator.
That sounds awful and frustrating, I’m so sorry! He’s sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Is the fentanyl a drip or patch?
So, do the doctors still think that this is all a complication of West Nile?
Wish I could give you a real hug.
I’m sorry he feels this bad. 
Gah that sucks. BTDT, hoping to avoid doing it again for a long, long time.
Has he/you talked to the docs or nurses about the pain? If no, do that! if yes, do it again!!
Sometimes it takes more than one try to get them to listen, but they should be able to do something. Especially if it’s driving him into depression, which will definitely hinder the healing process.
The high heart rate and BP (I’m betting his BP is up too) should also be a clue to the med folks that his pain is not controlled.
Is fentanyl the only pain med he’s getting? What dosage and how often?
One thing with chronic pain (and I think his qualifies, at this point) is getting totally on top of it to start with. Once you get the pain level knocked down, you can take smaller doses to keep it under control. But those same small doses won’t do anything if you’re starting from the original OMFG level of pain.
Of course, the small doses need to come regularly to work. Which can be a problem when they’ve made the pain med “as needed”, which requires a patient request. If the patient isn’t cognizant (or awake) enough to request the meds BEFORE they’re in agony, then you’ve just started the whole cycle up again.
I hope things get better soon.
Aaaaand, the roller coaster continues… He was in fairly good spirits this time around, and seemed a bit more comfortable. Heart rate was 115-120 bpm, oxygen at 30%, 5 PEEP and 18 pressure. All in all, not bad.
We’ve had several reports that the lab tests are coming back completely negative for the acenobacter. throws confetti in air But, we’re still supposed to do the whole mask/gown/gloves/booties routine, and are getting conflicting answers as to exactly why we should. sweeps up confetti Roughly speaking, the higher up the totem pole you go, the more cautious and conservative about potentially spreading it, so since El Head Honcho Top Cheez says “Gown up,” that’s what we have to do. I understand it’s a CYA thing, but it would be nice for him to see that precaution being dropped so he doesn’t have to feel like a leper all the time.
That said, when nobody was looking I pulled off the gloves and mask, and held his damn hands. And gave him a smooch. 
El Head Honcho, if you’re reading this out there, I washed my hands immediately upon leaving his room into the high-pressure anteroom next door, and I did not make out with any other patients, so I’m pretty sure I’m not the next Typhoid Mary.
Neither. It’s injected via his PIC line.
Sort of, but not in the way you probably mean. The WN laid him low (and we have yet to find out the full extent of what if any nerve damage it might have caused) and then while he was extremely ill with the viral infection, a secondary bacterial infection (the antibiotic-resistant acenobacter) took up residence in his lungs and stubbornly refused to leave, causing major inflammation and mucus buildup. The WN virus is no longer an issue, and apparently the acenobacter infection isn’t either, but his lungs are still quite gunky.
Oooh, update: X-rays for the last two days showed that his left lung is A-OK, and that the cloudiness is restricted to the lowest part of his right lung. Unfortunately, the lowest lobes are the hardest to clear out …
He’s also getting hydrocodone, which he says does exactly diddly squat. (When I had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled some years back, that’s what they prescribed for me, and I had the same results: a little bit of nausea and absolutely no pain relief. Only thing worse than painful gaping holes in your mouth is painful gaping holes in your mouth while vomiting… ) Anyway, they gave him Motrin today, partly for pain and partly for the anti-inflammatory properties.
El Head Honcho thinks the chest pain is due to the fact that the physical therapists are moving him more, having him sit up and so forth. Mr. Shoe says bull honkey and thinks it stems from a resp. tech using a hand-held bag/balloon thing to manually inflate his lungs the night before last. Me? The fuck do I know… 
Both you and TOS need to hang in there.
We are all pulling for you guys.
Yeah, I think it’s all that HAIR! How it got over HERE, I dunno, but dang.
Don’t worry about the squid, we’ve got him so busy crossing all his appendages that he’ll be a pretzel for quite a while.