Surgery Week Day 2: ICU

Life lately, in one word, could be summed up simply as this: INSANE. I have wanted to post, especially since I got the Surgery Day posts up so quickly, but these last two weeks have been a whirlwind. But - things are finally settling down (for reasons a whole separate post will require) so with any luck, I will be able to get the rest of our surgery adventures up soon! Day 2 here we go...

 Staying at the Ronald McDonald House was definitely the right decision. We needed sleep so bad! And even though we wanted to rush straight over in the morning, the 7-8am unit closure thankfully forced us to stay "home" a bit longer to get the rest that we needed.

 Overnight the swelling and bruising had intensified. We expected this, but it was no less difficult to see it. They split his turban, which they told us they would likely have to do, in order to allow for swelling. It definitely helped the swelling above the nose.

 Thankfully we had the same nurse as we did the first day. With Ryan and I both working in the hospital, we know that the chances of having the same staff the following day isn't very likely, so it was definitely comforting to see Deeana there again. 

 Deeana told us that our night nurse, Sarah, didn't feel that his pain was controlled very well overnight, so she had continued to give him the morphine every hour. However, when Deeana came on shift, she said Pierscen's stomach looked huge, and suspecting that his pain was more constipation discomfort than surgical pain, decided to give him a suppository. She was rewarded with a Mount St. Helens eruption. After that his stomach shrunk quite nicely and he seemed much more at peace.

 Even though he still looked scary, they said everything was progressing well and especially since they were able to determine that it was his stomach, and not is head causing the issues, they felt just fine writing the orders to have him transferred to a step-down unit.

 Since it was now just a waiting game, Ryan sent me back to our sleep room to take a nap. I am SO glad we decided to go to the Ronald McDonald house. The bed in the sleep room was okay, but it was super cold and the PICU waiting room was just outside the door, so it was anything but quite. However, it was dark, and it was somewhere to rest. I don't think I really slept. If anything, it was that light sleep where technically you might be under, but you are still aware of things going on around you. That's alright. Like I said, at least it was a place to go and rest.

 While I was gone, they gave him another suppository and he had another crazy diaper. Lucky for Ryan, he was there when it happened, so he got to help clean it up. :) Shortly after I came back, the doctors came by and did their "rounding" where they sit in a big group and go over all his information and discuss what, if anything, needs to be done differently, if anything is pending, or if he is ready to go.

 Around 12:30 pm, all the orders had been written, and we were moved to the Infant Medical Surgical Unit. It was wonderful to know that he was well enough to be released from the ICU, but I was nervous about moving to a different unit too. It's always difficult to have to start over with new nurses, in a new area, especially one that might require sharing a room with another patient. Sadly, I think that's what I was most nervous about!