Aug
23
2011
Tuesday August 23, 6:30 AM
Grandpa came and picked Afton up last night. While he was here he took a listen. Lilee sure loves her grandpa!
We decided before the surgery I would take the night shifts. I usually don't have any problems staying up all night and being here gets me some one on one time with Lilee and if things are going well I am also able to get some work done. That being said last night was not a good one. Lilee is not in pain yet but she is thirsty and wants a drink of water. We have sponged her mouth out a couple times in an effort to buy us some time. Ultimately however we are waiting for her insides to start working again so she will actually be able to process the water once it hits her stomach.
Notice the death grip on the medicine cup in the picture below. She is hanging onto that cup in the hope we can put a little water in it.
I think everyone here knows pain management is going to be an issue. For now the morphine she received in her spine during surgery is still working. Slowly it is wearing off though the they have been giving Tylenol every 4 hours to help with the fever and the pain since we don't know when the morphine will wear off. We will ask her if she has any owies and her response is "I fell down" and points to her knee where there is a little almost non-existent scratch. If she could only see the giant incision on her chest she might point to that. I am happy she is not in pain and am not looking forward to the time when she realizes that she does hurt.
Back to last night. Lilee would wake up every 40 minutes and do this coughing try to throw up thing followed by a yank on the nasal cannula to get it out of her nose (she hates that thing). So every 40 minutes I would get up and help console her. Once I did and the nurses came in she would go back to sleep for another 40 minutes. I was already tired from my lack of sleep last night so my 40 minute sleep sessions on the chair next to her bed were not as refreshing as I had hoped.
The X-Rays this morning show a little pooling of fluid that the plural catheter on the right side should be taking care of. They are going to try and do something about that today. Dr. King came in shortly after the X-Ray and said they were going to try and remove most of the tubes today starting with the Foley catheter and get her walking around at best and at worst just get her to the point we can hold her.
Today should be interesting. Afton is on her way back so I can run home, change, and head to work. We appreciate all the help and support from our friends and family. There is no way a family can go through this without some sort of support system and we for sure have one of the best. From food deliveries to the hospital to watching the kids and just being a distraction from the monotony of hospital sitting. You have all been wonderful. Thank You.