Face of hope

Face of hope
Courtesy: TIffany Kay Photography

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Cranial Vault Reconstruction - Recovery Day 3

After Meagan got changed from throwing up this morning, and was settled back in bed, I went ahead and took advantage of the time.  I showered, got dressed for the day, and cleaned up our stuff around the room. The night shift nurses switched off to the morning shift, and day #3 was officially started.



The plastic surgery team came by first... they took a look and were still happy with the healing.  Dr. W said he would leave it up to Dr. R as to when Meagan could step down to the Neuro unit and then eventually go home.  He said he would see Meagan in the morning just to verify she was still on the right road to recovery.

Not too long after, Stacey, Dr. R's PA, came to see Meagan.  She liked how Meagan's incision was healing.  She said the swelling looked good/normal but noticed Meagan's head felt rather puffy (as in, from fluid on the inside).  She also noticed the top part of the back of Meagan's head seemed full, and almost protruding.  She went ahead and ordered a CT scan because she said she suspected Meagan's ventricles had grown at too fast a rate with the new space in her skull and was now adding pressure from the inside out, making Meagan's new "spaces" in her skull tense.   The PA was right.  Meagan's vents had expanded a bit too much and too fast..  While we were happy to see her new skull space "utilized," it happened a bit too quickly for Meagan's comfort. Dr. R's PA reprogrammed Meagan's shunt to a faster flow so we could release some of that fluid pressure and hopefully make Meggy more comfortable.




 It didn't help that her day nurse completely let Meagan's pain meds lapse, and was nowhere to be found.  Meagan started freaking out again, thrashing, crying, and whimpering.  The Tylenol wasn't touching the pain because she had now been over an hour with nothing in her system.  I spoke with the PA and she said she would take care of it.  Meagan got some pain medication, and within 30 minutes, calmed down.  The PA said she would work on us getting down to the Neuro unit as soon as possible so Meagan could get settled for the next few days, and have a nurse that was more attentive to her pain management (which I was very thankful for).


While waiting to move to the Neuro unit, and Meagan was resting comfortably,  we had some friends visit.  First, another local Hydro friend, Jack, came by with his mom , Kathryn.  They brought Meagan a sweet little bunny stuffed animal and a colorful book of Bible stories.  It was so thoughtful of them to come by and visit! Jack enjoyed exploring Meagan's hospital room and looking through the bars of the crib to check on little Meagan.  After Kathryn and Jack visited, my friend Lori came back.  She brought me lunch again, and we visited a little bit.  She was also really helpful in keeping an eye on Meagan while I packed up our stuff.





Finally the transport nurse came to get us and officially move Meagan out of the ICU.  As soon as we got down to the Neuro floor, Meagan was much happier.  She seemed to feel better and I could tell the pain meds had definitely set in.  She nursed well once we were settled in.  She had a little throw up about 10 minutes after eating, but not as much as this morning, so she held most of the feed down well.  She seemed comfortable laying in her hospital bed, and the nurse was very helpful in making a plan to stay on top of Meagan's pain to avoid any more setbacks.  I noticed when Meagan woke up from sleeping this time, she tried to open her left eye.  I also noticed her right hand started to pick at her IV line and pull on her blood pressure cuff and her leads. I haven't seen any other evidence of cranial pressure, like this morning, and I haven't seen anymore seizures this evening.  I know that stubborn little baby I'm starting to see today.  I think we are finally on the road to recovery.


Trying to open that eye!



Why hello gorgeous!





2 comments:

  1. Tears of joy. Loved seeing how she is responding to her Mommy on the video clip!

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  2. Aaww shes so cute God bless her!


    - Obregons

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