Day 9 in PICU, Day 8 Post-Op

July 1, 2011

Today would have been my mom's birthday, so Happy Birthday in Heaven Mom!

Vivian got another refreshing sponge bath this morning and her bedding changed.  Her plan today is to start the oral medicines in her TP tube.  Her intestines are still kind of sleepy, so we'll see how it goes.  I guess these oral meds are the tapers that will help her come off the IV narcotics.  One of the three is oral morphine, but she can go to a regular floor with the oral meds, not the IV drugs. 

Some things I say probably contradict what I write in an earlier post, but it is the flow of days, and they make changes each day or at different times.  The guess right now is Vivian coming off the breathing vent somewhere between next Monday and Wednesday.

Sorry I haven't mentioned about Vivian herself.  She does open her eyes and look around, but she's so groggy that takes a lot of effort.  She raises her arms a little, wiggles her toes, and once in a while will try to shift her torso.  I can only imagine the grand amount of effort this takes because of the sedation, the weakness of not using muscles in 8 days and not having hardly any calories for energy.  Sometimes she gets upset and cries which I think I described earlier as an expression on her face and her little body shakes but no sound.  I have her Elmo doll her which makes noise with talk and laugh.  I have to keep the toy quiet because Vivian gets upset.  It's her favorite, and she would probably like to play with it.

Thanks so much for your continued prayers.  Several people have had trouble posting comments to the blog.  I don't know what I can do to fix it, but please feel free to email me.  I check my email several times daily.
Love, Keri

Ken and our boys are coming this morning, and he is bringing our USB cable, so we can upload more photos.  Last time we borrowed one from the library, but they have just one. 

I guess it is really hot outside.  The PICU in particular is kept fairly cool, and I've adjusted to that.  I get warm now even going to other floors in the hospital.