Back to the operating room yet again.  My crappy asthmatic, COPD lungs were not well equipped to deal with the trauma that my body was receiving at this point.

I was still unconscious and having sedation vacations daily (not that I remember) and I was still dependent on the ventilator.  They advised my husband that I needed to have a tracheostomy in order to get the breathing tube out of my mouth, as they had no idea at this point if or when I would be able to breathe without.

He gave consent for the surgery as well as for a bronchoscopy to be done.  They found that my lungs were full of mucus plugs and infection, which was already be treated.  All of that was suctioned and cleaned out and I was brought back to ICU with a tracheostomy in my neck to connect me to the ventilator.