Ups and Downs

There is lots of good news. Anara slept great last night and was pretty happy for Nate's mom. She is progressing and was able to have small amounts of clear liquids today. Her bowel is still a little hypoactive but at least it's moving some. We are waiting for some gas passing or anything to indicate that things are lively down there. Anara is still infection free and hasn't had any legitimate fevers. Tonight the nurse washed as much of Anara as was possible.

This was a bad afternoon. Anara was pretty fussy today and it was difficult to determine the cause. Was it pain, was it too much activity, was it the ice or water, was it pain, was it the bath in the bed, was it brushing her teeth, was it too much prodding and poking, was it pain, was she just really tired, was it just general frustration with her circumstances, was it grumpiness from the morphine, or was it pain? It is hard to tell. Maybe it was everything. We are staying on the scheduled Valium to prevent spasms and we increased frequency of the morphine a little. I go back and forth with wanting to wean her down or trying to stay ahead of the pain. There has to be a happy medium - a level in which she doesn't have as much pain reaction but isn't totally stoned.

Today I made another discovery. One of Anara's tubes (SPT) hasn't drained in a couple days and there wasn't much concern because the other tube in the same area (Monti) was still draining. I kept ruminating and just couldn't let it go (because the Monti definitely used to drain). We flushed both sides and things would come out of one but not a drop back out of the other. I still couldn't let it go so I called her MD on his cell phone. He gave instructions to irrigate (meaning push saline in and pull it back out) of the side that wasn't draining. We pulled 80ml of stinky, mucousy sludge back out of the SPT. We aren't sure of the reason why things weren't draining but at least we know what to do if it happens again and I am relieved that there isn't a big moat of smelly stuff laying in her reservoir.

Anara cried for a really long time this evening. I couldn't figure out how to calm her. Our normal tricks just weren't working. I finally got her caught up on pain meds. and she calmed down. She watched our roommates TV for a while and then fell asleep. They really messed with her a lot and it is very likely that she was having pain from all the torment (the Ortho. pulled up on the construct and shook it a little just to make sure it was securely in bone). I think she is also becoming frustrated with the reality of the situation. But, she is finally peaceful and seems to do well at night. Hopefully tomorrow will be better for her than today.

Thanks for your continued prayer. We are praying for limited pain, speedy healing, good bone regrowth, sutures and stitches to remain secure and no infection.