MUSC Update 8…

Mary Clare is peacefully sleeping right now in her bed in the PC-ICU, so I thought I’d take a break and update you all. She was a bit fussy after lunch, and was given morphine. The cardiologists have explained that with the Glenn, much of the pain for several days is a result of the “new” blood flow to her head, which causes severe headaches. Her body should get adjusted to this soon. I have mentioned before that she loves to sit up. When flat on her back, she attempts sit-ups quite regularly, so being on her back is a bit frustrating for her, I imagine. She is coughing a bit and that seems to hurt her, but my little stubborned baby won’t give it up. She is still trying to sit straight up and is fighting sleep terribly! (even after open heart surgery!!)

She looks great today, with much less swelling. Last night was a rough night for us. She was very swollen and was in a lot of pain. Currently, she is given Tylenol every four hours, morphine as needed and Tordol, a nonsteroid, anti-inflammatory drug for her muscle and bone. The morphine is seeming to make her itchy, so they are trying not to give her much. She is also on benadryl for the itchyness. After surgery they like to get them awake and breathing on their own, so she was off of her sedative soon after surgery. She was also extubated last night. What a difference this surgery is compared to the first!

When we were here for the first surgery she was so young and very unaware of her surroundings and us for that matter. She slept most of the time and rarely opened her eyes. Now, she is wide awake, kicking and grabbing, she knows she isn’t at home, she knows that I’m not holding her and she knows that she wants to move but it hurts. It kills me because I can’t hold her or do anything to comfort her. (At times, the nurses have suggested we walk out for a while-it seems that sometimes when we are not there, she is calmer.) Her blood pressure has been spiking, so she is on meds for that and will most likely go home on those, at least for a short period of time. I was able to feed her a bottle today, which she thoroughly enjoyed. The nurses have been laughing at how “healthy” she is, especially compared to all of the tiny newborns surrounding her. (I tell them she takes after her daddy)

Mel is napping beside me in the computer room, and all is well for today! Hopefully, the next update will be news about moving up to 7C-the peds cardiology recovery unit!

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