Friday, November 13, 2009

Friday ~ from Kara

Well, she's off the ventilator! However, the doctor was late in getting to the hospital. He was supposed to arrive at 10:30 and didn't want her extubated until he was there. So, the nurses cut back the Diprivan and woke her up; she had to be fully awake for them to remove the tube. But because he didn't arrive till 1, my poor mom was completely awake for 2 and a half hours with a tube down her throat on the vent. She was extremely mad. Extubation went well, although now she can't talk because she has no voice. Now comes the worst part -- pain. She is in such agony. She hurts all over her left side. She has the incision, the 2 chest tubes, 2 cut ribs and shoulder pain from being positioned for 3 hours on the operating table. Not to mention how her insides hurt from the surgery itself. She has been coughing, which she needs to do to bring up everything in her lungs, but it is like torture for her. There were three of us helping her cough, one supporting her head and back and propping her up in bed, one holding tight to her side and one applying pressure to her back. This was the only way she could tolerate it. She was also dizzy and extremely nauseated. Her pain medication was causing this, so they slowed it down, which helped the nausea but made the pain worse. They got her out of bed and sitting in a recliner for 2.5 hours, and she stood on her own to get back into bed after that. Overall, she is doing well. The doctors are happy with her progress thus far, even though she feels absolutely miserable. My dad is spending the night in the hospital tonight. Tomorrow they will try to get her up several times. Should be fun. I'm going to end this because I can't keep my eyes open any longer, sorry if this post doesn't make a whole lot of sense. More updates tomorrow. Good night.

4 comments:

  1. so glad she's off the ventilator. so sorry it was such a trying day for all of you. i'm sure tomorrow will be a little better and the day after will be a little better than that. hang in there and know you have soooooo many people praying for you and rooting your mom on. hope you get some sleep tonight. :)

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  2. No sleep for me tonight. Right after I posted that, Mackenzie started this terrible coughing and having trouble breathing. Donny took her to Akron Children's (Boardman) ER. He just called to tell me she has croup and has to remain there for several hours for breathing treatments and to see how she responds before they decide whether or not to let her come home.

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  3. oh no, Kara...I'm so sorry. I hope she got to come home, poor little thing. poor little you. you know, your family is going to have one kick-butt 2010 with as sucky as 2009 has been. :)

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  4. hope all is well this morning Kara. Love Karen L.

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