New Day?

It's a new day ........ sort of.  The catheter is out.  But we're still waiting to get up and get walking around.  Neither one of us slept last night, and now that it's day, again, there is a knock on the door every 15 minutes.  So much for a nap.

Anyway, the docs now believe that the pain meds were only contributing to the dopiness.  It would appear that the miracle drug Prograf has been behind her lessened mental and neurological functions.  The doctor has put in the order to start to decrease her dose when he saw that the blood labs were real high in Prograf.

Christy's nurse wants to get us out for a walk around the floor after lunch (12:30/1:00?).  I have now been told that once she gets to moving around, she can come off the vitals monitor.  That darn thing is the cause of a lot of sleeping issues.  If there is any change in Christy's breathing pattern, which is normal going from a waking to a sleeping state, it alarms.  If Christy rolls on her side, IT ALARMS!!!  Not a very intelligent machine.  So I trained myself on how to operate it.  I found that you can adjust how sensitive it is.  And when Christy is awake, I make it "relearn" her breathing pattern.  When she's asleep, "relearn" again.  When you're in ICU and constantly asleep there is no problem with it.  

My next task is to master the I.V. machine.  Talk about an overly sensitive piece of equipment. Even the slightest variation in the flow of solution sets it off.  Just take my word for it, it's as annoying as it is useful and necessary.  I've learned how to clear a few of the alarms, and I'm still learning.

I spoke with Christy's mother, Gail, this morning.  She is doing very well.  She's up and walking around.  She's even been on the treadmill a bit.  Gail said she hasn't taken any pain killers since Tuesday.  Amazing, it is.

On that note, Christy's pain is minimal anymore.  She hasn't taken anything for pain since late last night.  But it made her high, and she wanted the computer.  So I gave in and put it in her lap.  She ended up just staring at it with her fingers poised on the keys.  I typed in the blog address for her so she could read it.  Again, blank stare.  Must be some GOOD drugs.

Okay, the nurse just came in and out again.  She said she'll try to run interference and keep people out so we can rest a bit.  I'm going to do that.

One last thing:  Charlie The Unicorn episode 2.  Yes, it just as stupid, and just as educational.  I think the moral to these stories is this:  Never trust a unicorn.

Jason