Nicole slept almost the whole night last night. She is up and moving better and they were able to take her catheter out yesterday since she can walk to the bathroom herself now. She did not push her pain button at all last night, so they turned down her meds today. She was also able to start eating / drinking clear liquids today (jello, juice, broth, etc.). Because she is awake and lucid, she has had lots of visitors (dietician, social worker, diabetes specialist, etc.) and yesterday was a very busy day. She is sitting up and watching tv and movies now and definitely making good progress.
James
February 12, 2008
February 11, 2008
Recovery Day #3
My NG Tube is OUT!!! I got up this morning and walked around and then sat in the chair in my room for about an hour or so. The doctors came in and we talked to him about everything. My hemoglobin has dropped, so i have to get it tested again at 2pm. If it is lower I will have to have another blood transfusion. But since I had gone on two walks this morning and was out of bed, Dr Hughes paged Dr. Sutherland and he said i could get my NG Tube out and catheter! They have put me on lasic which takes off the fluid that is put on since it makes it harder to recover. I have about 10 lbs of fluid on me and it's coming off each day. So, the first few days were absolutely awful with the pain not being under control at all. I couldn't sleep which is the best thing for someone in pain. I finally got it under control saturday after Dr. Hughes up'ed my meds and i finally slept. The first night I had to switch beds right after surgery and the central line in my neck got caught on the other bed and one of the sutures tore, but i don' think they ever went back and re-suctured like they talked about. so i think we are going to get the catheter out next and then do the hemoglobin at 2pm up here. I am hoping to be out earlier than 2 weeks, but will need to stay up here for a few days to make sure everything is going ok, especially the internal bleeding. Thank you all for the texts! james has been reading them to me and it helps cheer me up as I have been pretty down with everything. Finally saw the incision today, which was pretty scary. We'll keep you all posted. Love you!!! Nicole
February 10, 2008
Recovery Day #2, 9:45 pm
Nicole continues to do great. She woke up this evening and said she was ready to get out of bed. She walked down the hall about 150 ft. holding on to my arm with the nurse pushing her IV pole, then she walked back with no help, holding on to / pushing the IV pole herself. The nurse said that this is great progress for someone 2 days out of surgery. Because she hasn't been taking as much pain meds, she was also much more coherent today than she was yesterday. She wasn't sure what day it was today when she woke up earlier, and I don't think she remembers much of yesterday (not a bad thing).
They are giving her nutrition supplements through her IV and that has made her blood sugar jump around some today, but the nurses check her blood sugar every hour and just adjust her insulin intake accordingly (by the way, the nurses here are very, very good). It feels like they have taken her blood sugar a thousand times. Nicole is starting to get little dark spots on the ends of her fingers from the needle pricks. Although, today she has been able to decide for herself which finger they are going to stick each time.
All in all, today has been a very good recovery day with almost no problems and lots of progress. Let's pray that things continue on this path.
James
They are giving her nutrition supplements through her IV and that has made her blood sugar jump around some today, but the nurses check her blood sugar every hour and just adjust her insulin intake accordingly (by the way, the nurses here are very, very good). It feels like they have taken her blood sugar a thousand times. Nicole is starting to get little dark spots on the ends of her fingers from the needle pricks. Although, today she has been able to decide for herself which finger they are going to stick each time.
All in all, today has been a very good recovery day with almost no problems and lots of progress. Let's pray that things continue on this path.
James
Recovery Day #2, 5:30 pm
Nicole has been doing VERY well today. Her NG tube just all of a sudden started working again, so they shouldn't have to do anything to it. Yesterday at this time Nicole said her pain level was an 8 out of 10, and a few minutes ago she told the nurse it was only at a 3. She has been sleeping alot again, but she did wake up for a while and even got out of bed. She moved from the bed to a chair without much help and she was able to get a bath and get her hair washed while they changed her bedding, etc. Her blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen levels have been so good that they no longer have her hooked up to the meters that read them constantly (they just check them once an hour now). Her temperature is also back down to a 98.4. The nurse is very happy with Nicole's progress and said she thinks Nicole will be ready for a walk around the halls by tonight or tomm. morning.
James
James
Recovery Day #2 11am
The nurse said that Nicole had a pretty good night and slept almost the whole time. She has also been sleeping most of the morning. Her condition is very stable and they said that she is pretty much out of the woods, and things should only get better from here. The nurse said that she would like to get Nicole up and moving today, and maybe even give her a bath to make her feel better, if she is up to it. Will let you know if there are any changes.
On a side note, it is now -11 degrees here with a wind chill of -36 (the sun is shining bright, but gives no heat). The Mississippi River that was flowing smoothly yesterday, froze over night last night. I have to wear long johns just to walk the 3 blocks from the hotel to the hospital.
James
On a side note, it is now -11 degrees here with a wind chill of -36 (the sun is shining bright, but gives no heat). The Mississippi River that was flowing smoothly yesterday, froze over night last night. I have to wear long johns just to walk the 3 blocks from the hotel to the hospital.
James
February 09, 2008
Recovery Day #1 10pm
Nicole has finally been sleeping for the past couple of hours and it seems that they have her pain a little bit more under control. Her heart rate and blood pressure have been pretty high lately so they just gave her some medicine that immediately brought both of those things down (pretty cool stuff, brought her heart rate down from 137 to 108 in about 1-2 minutes).
The NG tube is a nightmare. It is not working at all (it is supposed to suction blood and any other fluids in her stomach out before they reach her digestive tract where they did the procedure). They had to readjust it again late this afternoon (horrible experience for Nicole) and it didn't do any good. They did an abdominal x-ray and it showed that the tube is right where it should be. The nurse said that she thinks it is clogged somewhere inside Nicole. Because Nicole's condition isn't declining even though the tube is not working, they are just going to leave it alone for now. The other option is to take out the tube and replace it with a bigger one, which is something that no one, especially Nicole, wants her to have to go through.
We have to leave for the night pretty soon, so we are happy that she is in pretty good shape right now. I have been reading her the text messages that people have been sending so feel free to keep sending them (317-490-8299). I'll send another update about how tonight goes once we talk to the nurse tomm. morning.
James
The NG tube is a nightmare. It is not working at all (it is supposed to suction blood and any other fluids in her stomach out before they reach her digestive tract where they did the procedure). They had to readjust it again late this afternoon (horrible experience for Nicole) and it didn't do any good. They did an abdominal x-ray and it showed that the tube is right where it should be. The nurse said that she thinks it is clogged somewhere inside Nicole. Because Nicole's condition isn't declining even though the tube is not working, they are just going to leave it alone for now. The other option is to take out the tube and replace it with a bigger one, which is something that no one, especially Nicole, wants her to have to go through.
We have to leave for the night pretty soon, so we are happy that she is in pretty good shape right now. I have been reading her the text messages that people have been sending so feel free to keep sending them (317-490-8299). I'll send another update about how tonight goes once we talk to the nurse tomm. morning.
James
New room
I forgot to mention that in order to help her relax, they have moved her to a private room. It is much, much quieter, and it is always nice to have your privacy in these tough times. She is now in Unit 6B Room 225.
Nicole has not been able to talk very much yet. She can say a few words, but they are not always very audible. I am sure that she will start calling people and emailing / texting them as soon as she is able to.
Oh yeah, that horrible NG tube I mentioned earlier, it has to stay in for at least a week. Boo.
James
Nicole has not been able to talk very much yet. She can say a few words, but they are not always very audible. I am sure that she will start calling people and emailing / texting them as soon as she is able to.
Oh yeah, that horrible NG tube I mentioned earlier, it has to stay in for at least a week. Boo.
James
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