They rechecked the "crit" (did you like the use of that hospital slang?) this morning at 6 and it was 14. So they rechecked once more at 7 to double check again and it was 15. So they are going to give her 1 unit of blood.
As far as the way she looks and the things that I can see (numbers on the monitor) she looks a lot better today. She is not quite as pale (still pale, but not quite as much). I have seen her eyebulbs (as my kids call them) a a lot more times today.
Her heartrate is down below 120 (I haven't seen it below 135 the last 2 days). Her temp has gone down a bit. It has been above 37 C (98.6 F---which is hot for her---her norm is 93.0 F up to 95.5 F). She is down to 36.2-36.8 C (97.2F-98.2 F---still hot for her---but at least it's coming down).
Blood pressure look good.
They took her off her bi-pap mask this morning at 6 AM. Her respirations (breaths per minute) have been above 20 (good). Her oxygen has dropped into the mid 80's several times, so they have her on a nasal canula.
I was concerned about leaving her off her bi-pap and wearing her out on breathing. So we decided that we would try her off and if her oxygen needs increase or if her respirations drop below 10, then we will put her back on her bi-pap for a "nap" (even though she is sleeping all of the time anyway).
We held off on her ritalin (wake-up juice---like from Back to the Future) for 1 more day. We will restart tomorrow. Just to give her 1 more day of resting.
They are stopping the continuous morhphine pump and just going to a button.
They pulled the wound drain out. Because nothing had come out for over 24 hours. Blood spurted everywhere and got her wound dressing all bloody.
They will pull out her urine cath later today and her art line (bigger IV).
She had a large stool last night---yea! Morphine and pain meds and anesthesia are very constipating, plus we already have issues with that.
Her potassium was low so they are giving her some.
Her feet are warm, they were FREEZING. Her body was protecting her organs.
We are going to start her vibrating vest treatment this morning. She uses a vibrating vest twice a day at home to ward off pnemonia. Last summer (2011) when she had her baclofen pump replaced she was swollen and bruised plus it was the middle of summer (not RSV or cold/flu season) so we didn't do her vest. 11 days later she was back in the hospital with pnemonia. So I am really nervous to go without doing it. I know it might be painful for her, but............I am more scared of the alternative-pnemonia.
She is going to be getting Physical therapy twice a day...I'm assuming just sitting up and maybe some range of motion (stretching).
She is clear to sit up now...either in bed, or in her wheelchair.
Her blood sugar has been good. They are increasing her feeds (g-tube continuous feeding). She is up to 50 mL per hour. Her regular amount is 100 mL per hour. Her bowel sounds have started, but are still diminished. So I don't want to go too high too fast.
The REALLY GOOD NEWS is I figured out another one of her "signs". She normally sits there with her mouth open. But when she has been in pain she clenches her teeth together (with the bottom teeth over the top teeth-underbite). This is fantastic because she communicates all the time, but it is the people around her who are the slow ones trying to figure out what she is saying. The more of her signs we can figure out, then the better she can communicate with us.
Picture of the bandages covering her wound
"Oh Mom---don't take a picture of me like this, I haven't even brushed my hair yet!!!"
1 comment:
I like your quotation from Ellie about her hair. Sounds just like a 10 year old. ;)
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