Well still all good news! Laura continues on her strong recovery with really no setbacks to complain about.
Laura really enjoys hearing all the messages being left by you guys so keep them coming! The kids are looking forward to visiting mom this evening and I think that will be a huge spirit lifter for her as well
Yesterday they got her up and walking around yesterday afternoon (down to the nurses? station and back) her heart responded well (steady rate etc.) She did not go for the second walk last night due to some dizziness related to the mixture of drugs they have her on. They continue to make adjustments and we seem to be very close to having that under control. At this point they want her up walking at least 4 times a day and will have her do stairs before she leaves.
The highlight of Laura?s day yesterday was the receipt of her ?Shumsky Heart Pillow? from the hospital! Following open heart surgery and while the sternum is healing it is imperative to hold a pillow on your chest when you cough sneeze etc. to prevent popping the sternum back open. She had heard about these heart shaped pillows on the valve replacement forum and was really hopeful to receive one.
It has been raining hear all week and this moring ws the first time we have seen the sun in a while and I don't know if it is the cow in her or what but when I arrived at the hospital I was amazed to see Laura so independent being able to get up out of bed without assistance and heading off to the bathroom by herself and back. It makes me very nervous like watching your kid walk for the first time but I know it is important for her recovery as well as her own ego. (Why do cows lay down in the rain?)
The surgeon was in today and informs us based on what he is seeing thus far it is possible she could be going home tomorrow if not Friday. That being said the cardiologists nurse practitioner was also in and warned us in her experience day 2 of recovery (today) is normally one of the hardest (harder than day 1 of recovery), with far more pain and discomfort.
For those of you wanting more detailed info?
Yesterday afternoon they also removed her chest tubes. I had a mistake in my previous post as she actually had 4 of them which were Y?d into the two larger tubes I saw. It took quite a while to undo all the tape and the stitches holding them in. After that she was told to take a deep breath and hold it and they then immediately pulled all 4 out at the same time and then had her exhale. Laura was very surprised at how painless this was she says it felt weird like snakes being pulled out but not really painful. These chest tubes were about ½ inch diameter clear tubes went in about a foot or two with ¼? holes along the length (every few inches) to drain the fluid around the heart and also by watching the output they could verify that there was no leakage (internal bleeding). Now that they are out Laura is far more comfortable as she could feel the tubes poking around inside and it is also now lot easier to breathe.
Laura really enjoys hearing all the messages being left by you guys so keep them coming! The kids are looking forward to visiting mom this evening and I think that will be a huge spirit lifter for her as well
Yesterday they got her up and walking around yesterday afternoon (down to the nurses? station and back) her heart responded well (steady rate etc.) She did not go for the second walk last night due to some dizziness related to the mixture of drugs they have her on. They continue to make adjustments and we seem to be very close to having that under control. At this point they want her up walking at least 4 times a day and will have her do stairs before she leaves.
The highlight of Laura?s day yesterday was the receipt of her ?Shumsky Heart Pillow? from the hospital! Following open heart surgery and while the sternum is healing it is imperative to hold a pillow on your chest when you cough sneeze etc. to prevent popping the sternum back open. She had heard about these heart shaped pillows on the valve replacement forum and was really hopeful to receive one.
It has been raining hear all week and this moring ws the first time we have seen the sun in a while and I don't know if it is the cow in her or what but when I arrived at the hospital I was amazed to see Laura so independent being able to get up out of bed without assistance and heading off to the bathroom by herself and back. It makes me very nervous like watching your kid walk for the first time but I know it is important for her recovery as well as her own ego. (Why do cows lay down in the rain?)
The surgeon was in today and informs us based on what he is seeing thus far it is possible she could be going home tomorrow if not Friday. That being said the cardiologists nurse practitioner was also in and warned us in her experience day 2 of recovery (today) is normally one of the hardest (harder than day 1 of recovery), with far more pain and discomfort.
For those of you wanting more detailed info?
Yesterday afternoon they also removed her chest tubes. I had a mistake in my previous post as she actually had 4 of them which were Y?d into the two larger tubes I saw. It took quite a while to undo all the tape and the stitches holding them in. After that she was told to take a deep breath and hold it and they then immediately pulled all 4 out at the same time and then had her exhale. Laura was very surprised at how painless this was she says it felt weird like snakes being pulled out but not really painful. These chest tubes were about ½ inch diameter clear tubes went in about a foot or two with ¼? holes along the length (every few inches) to drain the fluid around the heart and also by watching the output they could verify that there was no leakage (internal bleeding). Now that they are out Laura is far more comfortable as she could feel the tubes poking around inside and it is also now lot easier to breathe.
