As of now we are waiting on a transport so that nannie can have a private room that is no longer under 24 hour supervision. This is good news! They've already begun unhooking her from some of the tubes to prep her for transport.
We've spoken with the anesthesiologist again and she is confident in the epidural working efficiently in the next few hours. This will keep nannie from having to take the pain medicine which makes her drowsy.
She's already wanting to jump up and run out of here ;-). Not really physically ready, but mentally!
Just spoke with Warrine... Nannie now has a number to her room but she respectfully asks that people wait to try to talk to her until tomorrow or so... They will be checking on her every 4 hours now, rather than the hourly schedule. But all is going really well!
ReplyDeleteShe is resting peacefully after a bout of pain. The nurses and doctors discovered that she isn't responding to the original epidural medicine that they had her on. She is now on a bigger dose and is feeling 100% better. She has agreed to closely monitor her pain levels ;-) She is expected to sleep through the night at this point so I will be going home in a little while.
ReplyDeleteWe seem to be having problems this morning with pain... I will write as soon as the pain team finishes talking to her...
ReplyDeleteOn another note she has stood up today! And wants to stand up again, so this is good.
Ok... The pain nurse just left. Apparently the epidural wasn't reaching one side of her body due to the way she was laying. They have adjusted her so that now she is on her side and is relaxing well. If any changes arise I'll post.
ReplyDeleteShe walked!!!! She did the entire nursing circle!!! She is now sitting in her chair and will stay here for about an hour before going on another circle around the nursing station. She is expected to walk 5 times today and sit for 2 times...
ReplyDeleteYAY! I'm so glad she's gotten up and around. I called my Granny last night after I got your message and found that she'd already found you! She's not one to sit and wait. :)
ReplyDeleteTake care of yourself while you're there. Hospitals can drain the energy out of you.
Big hugs,
Elissa
Thanks Elissa!
ReplyDeleteWe have just completed walk number 2!! She is resting... Seems to be pain free!
Hey, Kach! How's Rita doing?
ReplyDeleteSorry it has taken me so long! When I got here this morning she said that she had a difficult night. When I was able to get her to explain what she meant by difficult I have narrowed it down to some normal discomfort and nervousness.
ReplyDeleteThe doctors are very pleased with her recovery. The only issue we have right now is getting her to take her morphine when it's time to take it... She would rather tolerate small amounts of pain that be sedated. She complains of dry mouth and grogginess.
The doctors have taken out her stomach tube which is what was keeping her stomach free and clear while her intestines were healing. They have now put her on a liquid diet. At this point she has eaten a popsicle and some broth. She says that the popsicle is THE BEST TASTING POPSICLE SHE HAS EVER HAD!!!
She has walked only once today, but has sat up in a chair for very long extended periods of time. We will probably try to get her to walk again after she is done resting.
The discharge nurse did inform us today that when she leaves they expect her to stay in town for 3-7 days. This is something that her doctor hasn't mentioned so we intend to ask him when he comes in tomorrow. That is a way off... But we would still like to make the necessary preparations.
If I think of anything else I will write later. Again, I am sorry it took so long today!
How long do they think she'll be staying in the hospital?
ReplyDeleteWe still don't have an estimated discharge date... We were told at the beginning that her hospital stay would be around 10 days.
ReplyDeleteWe just got back from a walk. She was only able to do one lap due to some fatigue. However, she has not had the need to push her pain button which means she did it with little pain! It is going well tonight overall!
First things first...
ReplyDeleteI have made further arrangements to stay with Nannie until she is ready for me to leave. She asked me today to stay with her. She is more comfortable having me around and it eases Papa too... So it looks like we still have a few days to go until she is completely comfortable.
Let's see... This morning we were up bright and early to deal with the bloating that has occured from a combination of the procedure and her consumption of liquid. This is completely normal, although we didn't walk nearly enough yesterday so her discomfort was quite high.
Once we got the bloating to start moving through her, by walking only, she was able to relax a little bit more. Our goal today is to: walk, relax, walk, relax, walk, relax, in an effort to prevent the same discomfort she had last night. Other than the bloating she slept well.
Today I went to the hotel for a shower and it seemed like her and papa experienced a little bit of anxiety. It shook her up pretty bad. Nothing of medical concern by any means. She had the doctors check her heart and her blood pressure. Her blood pressure did rise some, but it still wasn't high enough to be considered 'at-risk' or even 'dangerous'... All of her tests show her to be stable.
I have spoken with her about her anxiety levels and that is another reason she asked me to stay. She would rather it just be me here because I'm able to speak with the nurses and relay appropriate messages. And it helps her to rest too... They did give her a small dose of anxiety medicine. I jokingly told them that they should give some to papa too!
She is sleeping now and we will get her up in about an hour or so for another walk. So all in all... All is well...
Ugh, the anxiety is no fun at all. I had a spell of it yesterday. Tell her I said I hope she feels better soon and I've been thinking of her constantly! (and you!)
ReplyDeleteWe have had even more good news today. They have incorporated a "soft foods" diet this morning and she has handled it real well.
ReplyDeleteShe woke up at 5:45 a.m. Bright eyed and bushy tailed telling me that she was HUNGRY! She slept real well through the night with a small amount of discomfort from a spell with acid reflux. Doctors say that is common from taking out the tube that was in her stomach.
Her food consumption has been steadily increasing throughout the day with the ability to tolerate more foods. Digestion is functioning normally now too.
Due to her ability to withstand some more solid foods, they have capped her epidural. She is now only on oral medication for pain. And not much of it! She has managed her pain very well.
We have worn laps around this nurses station for sure today! All is great and she is moving along just fine. The doctor said this morning that she is above schedule for her recovery...