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| Feeling SO fresh after a shower... |
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| Alejandro, was the BEST |
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| Elders from the Bridgeport Ward that came to administer the sacrament... |
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| Feeling good that she'll be discharged TOMORROW! |
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| Part of the Dr. Hsu MALS Surgery "club".... Only about 250 members strong at present..... |
- MUCH quieter around here
- Awesome Alejandro
- A shower!
- Mother's Day, I was REALLY a mother....
- Doing well, but "one more day" to be sure...
- Visitors and a walk down the hall
Jen WRITES like she TALKS....
MUCH quieter around here - Well, we miraculously got some sleep by the morning time. I rolled out of bed and immediately wandered down to the Security Station by the front door to make sure they knew about our very eventful evening. I carefully explained that I felt our nurse wasn't really at fault...but perhaps they needed to TRANSFER the banshee and 600 lb man elsewhere OR move our room pronto.
Security was super helpful and put me in touch via phone with the nursing supervisor (it was Sunday/week end so the offices were all closed and the case manager wasn't on site. The nurse manager promised to come by the room soon. By the time I got back upstairs our daytime nurse had checked in. It was ALEJANDRO....who had been there the day before. He assured us that Banshee had left for good AND that 600 lb man (who was already asking again, "Where AM I?" was on his way into surgery and wouldn't be returning at all. By the time the nurse manager showed up a short while later, all was quiet and peace restored.
Awesome Alejandro. I know I was a little critical of night nurse who was trying to manage the screamers of the 10th floor...but we really had a few amazing nurses this week. Megan was very capable and attentive. Alejandro was so, so awesome though. He was this super tall, bald nurse with an accent (we were so involved with our own business the whole time we were there that I never got his "story"....) But he was positive and very helpful and just added a great, confident spirit to our day.
A shower! Lena had been vying for a shower the day before but since we never saw the night nurse after 7:00pm we gave up. Alejandro unhooked her IV and wrapped up her arm and off she went. She was walking SO well by now. We had been prepared before surgery that she may need a walker or cane, and that maybe she wouldn't be able to life her arms over her head....but she was able to work it out and she felt 200% better after washing her hair....she even mentioned that the warm water felt good on the incision and her back.
Physical stuff: Lena was by now, able to lay on her right side, but her back would hurt from time to time. She wasn't having as many "spasms" as she had been warned. But nausea would come and go; again though...not as much as she had been warned. Her upper shoulder would hurt, again a by product of air that gets inside during surgery. One of the most frustrating things was that her vision gets really blurry...but just her right eye. A few times she would just take out her contacts and give up.
Meds: ALOT goes into managing meds on a surgery like this. They had tried the Dilaudid at first...but with the respiratory depression, Lena got an early switch to oral Vicodin. Toradol is given around the clock as an anti-inflammatory...but we didn't understand this until THIS day...and she (we) had been discussing it every time it was offered and sometimes thinking she didn't "need" it. After Tim explained that usually they give Toradol continuously while in the hospital....we kept it around the clock and that worked well, along with the Vicodin often, but more on an "as needed" basis. Valium is supposed to be a "muscle relaxer" and used for spasms in the abdominal area. Again, LUCKILY Lena didn't have to deal with ALOT of the spasms, but there were a few. And then there are the support meds for GI and nausea: Scopalamine patch, Zofran, Reglan (if needed), Senna, Miralax, Fiber (metamucil).... AND she also has her usual meds she was taking before the surgery for her POTS and migraines. Fun fun.
Mother's Day, I was REALLY a mother.... So yeah, this also happened to be Mother's Day. I will admit that I did feel a little sorry for myself that I was feeling soooo hammered after the screamin mimis...but I got to FaceTime ALL of my childrens before the day was over. Man if I screwed my whole life up, at least I got these amazing kids and Erick in the process.
Doing well, but "one more day" to be sure...Dr. Hsu's Physician's Assistant, "Tim" (more about him on the next blog..) did the visit today. Although Lena was itching to get discharged after the "night of the howlers"....Tim and Alejandro conferred and suggested that one more night would be a good idea. She would be off of the IV (except for the "bolus" of saline and fluids from time to time), and it would give her just one more day for the, ahem, movement of the bowels. Lena was ok with that - she was still having some pain and getting used to the Toradol, Vicodin, Valium, Zofran combo.
Visitors and a walk down the hall - We had visitors on this day! Our friends from the RMH Kendra and Abe drove the 30 minutes to visit! They hung out and we talked and laughed and watched Abe and Lena grab their tummies etc. We talked food and pre surgery dramatics (Abe had a MUCH longer road to surgery than we did. In fact this was his 2nd surgery of this type...but first with Dr. Hsu.) We all then walked down the hall to see Jessica (same surgery, same dr, same day)...And of course we had to do the "show us your scar" stuff. Hey man, THEY have earned it!
We then scared off our surgery friends when the Missionaries showed up to administer the Sacrament. (Just kidding, we didn't "scare" them off....) But we belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints...and we had contacted the local congregation and asked if they could send some priesthood to administer the sacrament. Both the Elders were from Arizona and they looked like they were about 13 years old. I mean, Lena looked older then they did. But they both were just another neat addition to the list of amazing personalities and faces we were getting to rub shoulders with this week.
The night ended quietly. Lena was tired, but comfortable. We got a MUCH better night's sleep heading into it with Alejandro's care. It was really almost over. What a week.
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