Last night was a little restless, so Sophie woke up pretty tired. She'd still been getting a lot of fluids through her IV, and she started drinking a lot more on her own, too - so she was waking every hour or two in the night to pee. Thankfully they turned down her IV today, so that won't be such a problem from here on out.
The morning wasn't great. Sophie was cranky and didn't have much energy. We'd all hoped to see her perkier today, but we took it as a sign that she had to take things slow. Her surgeon, Dr. Halter, came in early and was pleased that her last chest tube hadn't had much output in the last day, so he hoped that it would be removed today. First he ordered an x-ray to check that there weren't any pockets of fluid left that still needed to drain. Obviously, we want to be absolutely sure that there is no more need for the chest tube before they remove it, because it would be awful to need another surgery to put one back in.
We spent a good part of the day waiting for the x-ray. Grammy, Tara and Brianna stopped by for a visit after lunch, and Sophie's preschool teachers came by for a visit, too. Sophie was tickled to see them, and they brought along some fantastic treats from her friends at school. They all made pictures for her that were made into a little book, and all of the kids brought in gifts for her, too. She has a mountain of craft supplies that will keep her busy, and she's already gotten started on two of the new painting kits. It was so special to know that all of her friends are missing her and wishing her well.
Finally, around 2pm, Sophie went downstairs for her x-ray. It was tough because there ended up being a long wait and she was uncomfortable in the wheel chair, and then she had to lay in some awkward positions, including on her right side where the tube goes in. It was painful, but she did a great job. She got back to the room and was ready for a rest.
Awhile afterward, the doctor came in and let us know that the x-rays had shown that there was still some fluid left in her chest that they wanted to get out. He wasn't comfortable taking out the chest tube today, and hoped they'd be able to drain more of that fluid out. Because it might have been a little "gunky" and difficult to drain through the tube, they inserted a little bit of medicine directly through the chest tube and into her chest to try and break it up. She laid down and then we turned her from side to side to let the medicine work it's way around in her chest, and then after five minutes she was able to sit back up and go back to painting. By the next time she needed to get up and pee, there was a significant amount of new drainage in her tubes - more than came out all of yesterday - so the medicine was working just as they'd hoped. If another check tomorrow shows that the fluid is all gone, then the tube can come out.
The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. Sophie ate a good dinner, she played with her Leapster a bit, and we all played Old Maid together. She started to watch a movie, but decided she wanted to turn the television off and just go to sleep.
Now Adam and I are waiting for the next nurse to come in for the first check of the night shift, then we'll probably get ourselves ready for bed, too. We're pretty exhausted, but I don't think we'll feel properly rested again until we're all safe and sound at home together... which will probably be the middle of next week at the soonest.
Oh, and on a positive note - Ben was feeling much better today. I got a couple of updates from my dad throughout the day, and it seemed like Ben was taking things slow, but feeling much better and acting like himself again. Thank goodness. I think the poor boy was just all out of sorts. I can't wait to get us all home so that he can get back to normal again, too.
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