Karen's heart rate has come down since yesterday, before the surgery. It's in the mid 90s now. Her temperature is normal again as well. The surgical team had put in a JP drain to help her abdomin drain after the surgery. A lot of blood has been coming out, but it seems a lot of air is filling the JP drain as well.
The diuretics they've been giving her seem to be working very well - she has had a lot of urine output. It seems the swelling in her body is going down, but maybe not in her abdomen. It's hard to say but swelling may still be increasing there. They did end up changing her pain medication to be more consistent. Half the dosage is administered automatically and the other half when she activates the PCA pump. This seems to be enough to let her sleep without needing to wake up to activate the PCA pump. They're also giving her the antinausea medication as she is able to take it instead of as needed, which seems to be staying ahead of any nausea. She's back on regular food again and eating quite well. Her stomach muscles maybe still be a mess, but her intestines must be working as she has defecated several times today.
She was very happy with the adjustments to the pain medication, but it seems her pain level is still slowly climbing. I can't help but wonder if it's related to the swelling in her abdomen. I'm not sure what will come of it, but she's had a good day so far, all things considered.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Recovery
When they said it was a tough surgery for Karen they meant it. They wanted her in the ICU overnight to monitor her. Luckily the night was uneventful, and so far they haven't had to give her more blood. She's still quite groggy and falling in and out of consciousness when people are talking with her. She didn't sleep very well and says she's afraid to go asleep for too long because she doesn't want to wake up to a high level of pain because she wasn't activating the PCA pump.
The surgical team has put an order in to move her to a regular room, and they are allowing her to eat a regular diet again. They said they're concerned with how much swelling her she's having in her body as a whole, and are putting her on a diuretic to get some of that fluid out of her body. The palliative team has also been around and said they want to address the issue Karen's having with sleep and the use of the PCA pump. They said they might be able to get the hydromorphone on a drip, but if that isn't an option they'll come up with something else. We also saw a social worker today. Sometimes I feel social workers are more interested in being social, than in helping, but I didn't get that impression this time. I don't think there's anything she can help us with, but she kept steering the conversation towards our needs and didn't overstay her welcome as I've often felt social workers have done.
The surgical team has put an order in to move her to a regular room, and they are allowing her to eat a regular diet again. They said they're concerned with how much swelling her she's having in her body as a whole, and are putting her on a diuretic to get some of that fluid out of her body. The palliative team has also been around and said they want to address the issue Karen's having with sleep and the use of the PCA pump. They said they might be able to get the hydromorphone on a drip, but if that isn't an option they'll come up with something else. We also saw a social worker today. Sometimes I feel social workers are more interested in being social, than in helping, but I didn't get that impression this time. I don't think there's anything she can help us with, but she kept steering the conversation towards our needs and didn't overstay her welcome as I've often felt social workers have done.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)