Good Evening to All
Well 2010 is history and may 2011 be better please! It is maybe too much to hope for , but maybe, just maybe Andrea has turned a corner this afternoon and is on the mend at least in a small way. This morning her pain was very bad but by midafternoon she was started on a PCA pump, a self administered system where she holds a switch in her hand and it is set to give a preset amount of painkiller when she presses the button. It is also set so that she cannot overdose because it will not activate more than a preset time interval. At first she was trying too often to give herself pain medication so they increased the dosage a little, and she was still asking for more than the machine would allow, that is how they determine how much pain killer she actually needs. Then she slept awhile and after she awoke she went for nearly two hours without activating the pain killer, in fact we had to remind her that she could do it as needed, but she actually went long stretches without using her switch and said she did not have pain either. In the evening the effects of her sedation medication had worn off and she was fully awake and comfortable. Her bilirubin was down to 294 this morning and 274 this afternoon which is a very good sign. The cardiac surgeon was in this afternoon with the Gastro surgeon and both were pleased with her progress. The cardiac surgeon said he thought that in 4 or 5 days she would be sitting up in a chair. Faye is staying the night with her, and as she improves she hopes to come here to RMH for the nights. Andrea also had her tube feeds increased to 40 mls/hour tonight. She sure is a lot of work for the nurses, maintaining her med pumps, washing her up and keeping the bed linens changed, all the paperwork done too, most of them just thrive on the challenge though and some even request to look after her instead of 70 year old men, they seldom have a teenager as a patient. Well it's time for bed.
Happy New Year's to all, Maynard
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