Brendan rocked his sleep study like a champion. He did awesome! There are enough pictures to make it a whole post, so here it is for everyone wondering about him this morning.
Brendan may be packing lighter to go to doctor’s appointments, but when he has to go to a sleepover, he comes with some extra stuff.

Brendan did a good job in the car, right at the end of the trip in both directions, he spit up a little bit. I was relieved that I did not have to stop on the side of the freeway to suction though. 20 miles each way made me nervous, but it was all ok!
He got scared of the ER entrance, but we were just passing through.

We had to sit in the waiting room a short time. There was another little boy there for a sleep study waiting. He was around 4 and he was running in circles like a spazz. Brendan at least had entertainment while he waited.

He also had Brobee to keep him company.

It took THREE HOURS to get Brendan all hooked up to all the different things they had to plug in. He had 2 sticker sensors on each leg, 6 on his torso, 2 sensor belts strapped around his middle. He had one sticker on his chin, 16 probes glued to his head and 3 sensors taped in to his trach, plus the oximeter on his toe. Fortunately he was so worn out, he fell asleep in the middle of it all.

They wrapped him all up in gauze to keep the probes in place and to make sure he didn’t pull things off. They also wrapped the bundles of wires up to try to keep him safe from getting tangled up.

To my surprise, he slept like a rock through the night. I thought for sure all the wraps and stickers would bother him, or he would wake up and be scared. I was able to get a little sleep too, he was so good. They let him sleep through until 5am and collected all the data they needed.
He was pretty upset about getting unwrapped and peeled this morning, but he calmed down fast and played in the big bed while I got him packed to go home.

Tongue depressors and sterile water bottles are fun.

Home, straight to the tub, do not pass go, do not collect $200. He had lots of probe goop, adhesive, sweat and blurp to get cleaned up.

He is happy to be home, but this was very disruptive to his routine and he is showing signs of anxiety still, scratching and being a little clingy. Trevor was in bed when we left and still in bed when we got home, so he has no idea what went down! He is just his silly self today.
Hopefully Independence Day means independence from ventilator for Brendan, permanently! Happy 4th everyone!
Time for more coffee!


YAY, Brendan!!!! What a great job you did! What an ordeal for you and Mommy. I am so happy to hear that you are home safe and sound, and that you did so well. I will keep all of my fingers and toes crossed that this means you can say bye-bye to the ventilator for good!
Lots of love to a very brave little boy from a Gramma who is so proud of him! 🙂
Great news! Is this a step toward trach removal?
It should have been a bigger step. This last illness and hospitalization set him back a few months. This sleep study was initially set to monitor him sleeping with his trach capped. Instead, we aren’t capping yet and the study last night was done to monitor his sleeping off the ventilator so that we can get rid of it.
The whole reason he has a trach is so that he could have the ventilator. So no vent = trach will come out. He just has to do all the steps.
Good job lil B….Hope the good news keeps coming…..So great that you got some sleep as well. Sure has been a tough month…..He is a trooper though and it won’t be long he will be chasing Trevor down the hall with nothing trailing in the rear. Happy 4th and much love
Here’s hoping that this will be a true Independence Day for Brendan! How cool it would be for him to lose that big tube and be able to explore more freely!
” So no vent = trach will come out. He just has to do all the steps. ”
Li’l B, do all the steps, and do them well. I’ll keep hoping everything goes quickly and smoothly.
The day will come when you will be able to read this blog, and come to know just how spectacularly you were cared for, and cared about.