Scary Night

Karen had an asthma attack last night. She didn't have a rescue inhaler so she had to wait for the nurse to call the doctor and get someone over to do a breathing treatment, which was torturous for her. She was having trouble breathing, but just had to wait. They put oxygen on her immediately and her oxygen levels were ok, but not being able to take anything but a shallow breath really left her rattled. To compound the fear of not being able to breath, they aren't going to give her a rescue inhaler, just regular breathing treatments. They're suppose to negate the need for the inhaler, but the idea of it happening again without her having a rescue inhaler really made her anxious. They gave her something (lorazepam) to help her calm down.

They're not sure what triggered the attack, but it could be pain induced. Overall, the pain meds still aren't cutting it. The only good thing about this is the lorazepam knocked her out, so she managed to get some sleep when all was said and done. She has some visitors coming today but is thinking of telling everyone to wait a couple more days.

Pain Again

It's been a couple days since they halved Karen's morphine dosage, so yesterday evening they took it away entirely. They're trying to get her off the IVs and on oral pain killers. They put her on Norco - which is pretty much the same thing as Vicodin - but it just wasn't cutting it. Her pain level slowly climbed all night long and they eventually had to give her morphine again, but only every couple hours, not as a constant drip. So, once again, it was another rough night.

On the positive side, she was doing well enough that they didn't think she needed the morphine. She's completely off the oxygen. She's eating broths and Italian ice now. Oh, and she's even walking without a walker now. The PT guy "signed off" on her, which means she's free to get up and move or walk around without supervision.

Looking Good

Karen's doing a lot better. She has started getting up a couple times a day to walk around, and only needs oxygen intermittently at this point. She's allowed - and able - to drink clear liquids now; which also, somehow, includes black coffee. She's still not sleeping very well, although ironically, had a good long nap after finally having coffee again.

They are back and forth with the catheter, removing it then putting it back in. But other than that, things are looking good.

Vitals Have Improved

Karen's been moved out of the intermediate care unit, into a - more or less - regular unit. The area she's in is still extra cautious about her catching something, same rules about no flowers, and oddly enough, you're not even allowed to touch the doors leading into her ward. You have to wave your hands in front of a sensor to open them.

Her pain level had been going down, so they cut her morphine dosage in half. So she's in more pain again, and still not sleeping well at night. They tell us that it's likely an issue with her sleep cycle, although I'm sure the pain is still part of it. On the positive side, with less morphine, she is more alert and coherent.

Another Night

Another night with ups and downs. During the day she manages her pain by pressing a button every 8 minutes when she's in pain to administer morphine - more specifically Dilaudid. But at night, when she falls asleep, she'll wake up in less than an hour in a lot of pain because the pain medication has worn off. So she'll fall asleep at a 4 out of 10, and wake up at a 7 or 8 and not be able to get it under control again for quite a while.

The good news is, despite being sleep deprived, she does seem to be in less pain overall. They've also just taken out the tube that vacuums the acid from her stomach. So that should make her more comfortable as well.

Long Day

It's been a long day. There's been some painful moments, but it's been back and forth. As of now they've got the pain down to a reasonable level and she's resting calmly. They haven't let her sleep much during the day to try and get her back on a proper day night schedule. While they wouldn't turn anyone away, they'd prefer if you waited till she was out of the intermediate care unit before visiting. She's expected to be out by Friday. I also found out they don't allow flowers for the patients on this floor.

Rough Night

There's been some trouble managing Karen's pain level. When she woke from surgery she says, on a scale from 1 to 10, her pain level was a 12. While they did bring it down, she's back up to a 7 out of 10 and hasn't been able to get much sleep.