We had kind of a rough night - which is to be expected and not out of the ordinary. Here's a quick recap:
* Hannah was nauseous last night, which was rough because of the breathing tube in her mouth. It was stomach bile, which may have been caused by the iron supplements they were giving her because of the extreme loss of blood. We asked to stop the iron, as on an empty stomach it can cause discomfort and nausea.
* We had to re-tape the breathing tube because the tape was covering her mouth - hard to breathe when your mouth is covered and exasperated by the vomiting.
* She was feveral, so they gave her tylenol to help with that.
* She was puffier in the face and hands, so they are continuously giving her lasix (sp?) to help her void (pee) the excess fluids. They were just giving the lasix periodically.
* She was stiff and resistant to any movements to her neck - hello, she was through a big surgery and has rods in her spine!
* They are redusing her pain meds to get her more alert and breathing more on her own and less dependant on the breathing tube.
* Because of the lower meds, she is showing us more discomfort and pain. She refused to sing the sister song or look at a picture of Carly, the dead giveaway that she wasn't feeling well. Tim was hitting the pump, unfortunately none made it into his bloodstream.
* She has an incredible amount of thick, bloody mucous (sorry if you're eating while reading this one - bile and mucous, the Larkin's in ICU!) in the back of her mouth that needed to be suctioned out; this was too much for Katie to watch. Unfortunately, the suctioning would induce Hannah's gag reflex, which produced more nausea.
* So, how ending on a good note Tim? She just passed a breathing test for lung power, so perhaps today they may remove the breathing tube.
*Also, they have some special "socks" and a "therapeutic tube" on her legs to help her circulation. They're a pain, but helpful.
That's about it for now. We're hoping for a quiet day.
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4 comments:
Let us review the virtues of vomit...this may be Hannah's way of removing all of the anaesthesia from her system so that she can enjoy all of the new pain medication that awaits her in the coming days. With increased alertness comes the awareness of pain and discomfort and it takes a little time for your body to get used to it. Katie, you gave me the same speech 6 weeks ago, so I'm going to give it back to you. With each few steps forward, there will always be bumps in the road toward recovery.
Things not to forget:
Eating
Sleeping
How much everyone loves you
Hopkins is the best place to recover from spinal fusion
Hannah will recover beautifully because she has the most wonderful parents on Earth.
Big hugs to all,
Team (Rubin) Spine
Sorry to hear about the bump in the road. You have been through this before and I know you have the fortitude to deal with it now. I honor that virtue in you and Tim. Hannah is one lucky lady to have such loving parents and sister. Hang in there. You are never far from my thoughts.
Nancy
Geeze- Those breathing tubes are such a blessing, but so very invasive for people. I will send up prayers that her lungs continue to pass those tests, get stronger and have a greater capacity... so that the tube will be removed and the gagging and nausea will be done with.
It seems like a finely choreographed healing dance... All the steps are so linked... breathing to nausea to pain to pain management to fever... I know you are in the best possible hands there at Hopkins as Hannah's doc's use their vast knowledge of timing and medicine to step toward progress...
Bless you all...every second of the day.
Lotsaluv,
Rena
Wow, what a hard night for our sweet Hannah. But you are right. It isn't surprising given what her body went through. I am sure a step forward, a step back, two steps forward, a step back, etc is very common. But a week from now you will reflect on where you were last night and see the progress. I hope things went a more smoothly today. Thank you so much for keeping us all "in the loop". I will continue to pray for peace for all of you, continued healing for Hannah and wisdom and excellent judgement for the staff there. Love you all, Barbara P.
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