Recovery-Update 13
PRAISE GOD - THE TUBES ARE OUT!!!! The tubes were removed this morning and not long after that the epidural was removed! Katie is no longer tethered to anything when she wants to get up and move around and, without the tubes, getting up and moving around isn't nearly as painful. That being said, they tell us the name of the game is still "pain management".
The epidural was removed as a step to transitioning her to a pill form of pain medication since she won't have an epidural at home. Katie is supposed to monitor what "level" of pain she thinks she is at. When she gets to what she considers a 3 she needs to alert the nurse. We are to anticipate it will take the nurse ~15 minutes to get the medication to Katie and then another 45 minutes, after she takes it, for the medication to get into her system and take effect.
The surgeon told us this morning that she's probably not going home tomorrow but "let's think about Wednesday." He said the pain she's feeling now is mostly due to the nerves around the ribs that were affected by the surgery. It'll be a couple of months before this goes away (her recovery time). He said that at some point she may start to feel great and get off the pain meds and then it comes back and she'll have to get back on them. It doesn't mean anything is wrong, it's normal. Apparently when nerves are recovering, the sensations/pain you feel can be all over the place.
The surgeon, Dr. Baldwin, said today's instructions are eat and walk. Yesterday, with the tubes still in, Katie did five laps. This morning she's already done 3! She's such a hard worker!
It's so great to see her be able to get up and walk the short distance to the bathroom without concern for the pain of tubes and worrying about getting all tangled up. Please pray that we'll be able to get a quick handle on the management of the pain through the pain pills. Especially since, if it gets too far out of control, it'll take much longer to get it back under control.
Thank you for the prayers and encouragement! Praise God!!! She's come a long way!!!
The epidural was removed as a step to transitioning her to a pill form of pain medication since she won't have an epidural at home. Katie is supposed to monitor what "level" of pain she thinks she is at. When she gets to what she considers a 3 she needs to alert the nurse. We are to anticipate it will take the nurse ~15 minutes to get the medication to Katie and then another 45 minutes, after she takes it, for the medication to get into her system and take effect.
The surgeon told us this morning that she's probably not going home tomorrow but "let's think about Wednesday." He said the pain she's feeling now is mostly due to the nerves around the ribs that were affected by the surgery. It'll be a couple of months before this goes away (her recovery time). He said that at some point she may start to feel great and get off the pain meds and then it comes back and she'll have to get back on them. It doesn't mean anything is wrong, it's normal. Apparently when nerves are recovering, the sensations/pain you feel can be all over the place.
The surgeon, Dr. Baldwin, said today's instructions are eat and walk. Yesterday, with the tubes still in, Katie did five laps. This morning she's already done 3! She's such a hard worker!
It's so great to see her be able to get up and walk the short distance to the bathroom without concern for the pain of tubes and worrying about getting all tangled up. Please pray that we'll be able to get a quick handle on the management of the pain through the pain pills. Especially since, if it gets too far out of control, it'll take much longer to get it back under control.
Thank you for the prayers and encouragement! Praise God!!! She's come a long way!!!
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Patrick and Ashley McBride