Morning:
My Dad got me a room at the nearby Fairfield Inn. He and Mom are there too. He has already gone to the hospital this morning. This is what he sent my Mom when she asked.
“Looks good. Even more alert than yesterday. Moved her up in the bed a half foot so she could sit up better. Getting potassium. Physical therapy later today. Hemoglobin up from 7.4 to 8.1 with her making it*. Bandages have been changed. Wound looks good. Bowel sounds a little less today, but Mandy the nurse is not worried about that at this point.”
*Significant as up until now, she’s required transfusions. I believe since Thursday night, she had 4.
I believe she was also coherent enough last night to watch some Star Trek on her tablet.
Evening:
A lot happened today!
Everyone who has an account here to follow Teresa’s progress should have received email from me tonight with how to contact and/or visit her. If you didn’t and would like a copy, please leave a comment here. I check the comments multiple times a day. I’ll get it to you ASAP.
This morning, her bandage was changed and incision inspected. It’s looking good. Healing well. The skin around it looks normal. I wasn’t there for the morning change, but I was for the evening one. Her skin also feels normal temperature-wise.
Her color is even better today.
PT visited her and got her up and walking, with a walker. She walked around her bed, out the door, into the main ICU area and back. She was able to sit down by herself but need help getting into the proper position to lay down.
Besides helping her heal, checking her mobility allowed them to determine if she could get her catheter out (and then there were three options depending on how much she could handle moving). They did remove it, and then there was a 6-8 hour timeframe to see if she could go on her own without pain. She proved that almost immediately.
Since the incision was looking good, and she had mobility, and they’d been able to take her off of oxygen, they were able to move her to a private room.
She is still NPO, and still just on IVF fluids, but we’re hoping that the more she moves around, the faster her bowels will wake up. When that happens, it is my understanding that they will remove her NG tube and start her on clear fluids.
Will write more tomorrow.