Today's big accomplishment was having the first of Sophie's chest tubes removed. We started the day a little crabby, because I think Sophie was worried about the removal. The surgical team had described it to her, and let her know that it would just take a quick second to pull it out, but I could tell she was still nervous. The nurse came to take her to the treatment room, just a few doors down from our room, around 10am. The nurse offered to pick Sophie up and put her into the wheelchair, but Sophie insisted on getting herself out of bed and into the chair. She needed a little help scooting to the edge of the bed, but she totally took it from there.
In the treatment room, Sophie laid on the bed with me so I could hold her. The doctor removed all of the tape and bandaging from around the chest tube, and then took out the stitches that were holding it in. Sophie didn't like all of the pulling of the tape, but she was very curious and watched most of the rest of the process. When it came time to remove the tube, they simply placed a wad of gauze over the top, pulled it quickly out, and immediately taped the gauze in place. So quick and simple. Sophie told me after we were back in her room that she had expected the process to be worse than it was. Immediately her demeanor changed and I could tell a huge weight had been lifted from her once it was over.
Back in her room, she chose to stay sitting up out of bed for a bit. She stayed that way for about an hour before she got tired and wanted to get back into bed to rest. Again, she got out of the chair, stood, and got herself back up onto the bed. We also realized that the pain Sophie had been having in her right arm - the one thing that had been causing her the most pain since the surgery - was gone. Apparently the chest tube that was removed had been aggravating some nerves in her chest that ran up into her arm and a lot of pain was being transferred to that area. She was so happy, and I was so relieved to see her more comfortable.
After the relief of having the removal over, Sophie got quite a little burst of energy around lunch time. She ate really well, and with her arm feeling better she was able to feed herself. Also her side felt better with the chest tube out, so she was sitting up straighter and actually leaning her back away from the bed, which she hadn't done since the surgery. She got a visit from Brianna, and Nana and Grandpa. After lunch, she started getting sleepy and decided to take a nap.
While she was napping, Great Grammy came to see her. We visited for some time while Sophie slept, then she woke up and was able to chat as well. She stayed pretty mellow, though, and ended up sleeping again before dinner. She woke up to eat a bit, but didn't have much appetite. Around this time, we noticed that she was feeling a little warm and had the nurse check her temperature. Sure enough she was running a slight fever, and a short while after having some Tylenol she started acting more like herself and wanted to eat some more and talk with us. Adam had been gone for most of the day, making a run back to the house for us and stopping in for a short day at work, so Sophie was happy to chat about her day with him.
We have also had a bit of trouble with Sophie's heart rate today, as it seems to be running a little high. They explained that the three most typical reasons for that kind of racing heart are feeling pain, fever, or dehydration. Beside that slight fever in the evening, Sophie's temperature had been normal all day, and she said she wasn't in pain, so they decided to run some extra fluid into her to help keep her nicely hydrated. They aren't worried about it, but just keeping an eye on it for now.
Oh, and another big accomplishment from this evening was that Sophie wanted to stop using the bedpan and start walking to the bathroom. It's quite a process, pulling her IV stand and chest tube stuff along with her, but it's so great to see her up and moving like that. It's also really good for her recovery to be up and about.
The last bit of drama for the evening was when the evening nurse decided that her IV wasn't functioning well enough anymore and needed to be pulled out and another one put in. Sophie cried pretty terribly at that news. She did not want another IV put in, and she really begged the nurse not to do it. Of course we all explained that there was no choice, and eventually she settled down. Unfortunately, the nurses had two failed attempts before managing to find proper placement for the new IV. Sophie was so miserable and it was awful for Adam and I to watch her feeling tortured like that. But eventually it was all in, and Sophie calmed down and settled in to sleep pretty quickly. Hopefully she'll have a nice, peaceful night's rest now.
Tomorrow, the second chest tube should be coming out. Sophie will be able to move around much more easily after that, which we're all looking forward to. Also, it means one step closer to being able to go home.
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