Day 9 of recovery

7/9/14

Day 9 of recovery

Today has been a really hard & emotional day.  We thought we were finally getting the pain under control yesterday but we were wrong.  Alexa’s bowel movements have been really red for the past 3 days or so & I have been really concerned about it.  They kept telling me it was just from some medicine they were giving her that turns everything orange.  They gave her the last dose of that on Mon night or Tues morn & by tonight her bowels were red as could be & I was positive that it was blood since about 4 days ago they took a stool sample & said it came back positive for some blood.  I had her go in one of those hats they use & when the aid came in to take the sample I asked her how long it would take to get the results.  She said it depends on what they are testing for & when I told her blood she said, “It shouldn’t take too long, it’s pretty obvious isn’t it?”  We were also having probs with her g tube again, it wasn’t draining properly & there was an excessive amount of fluids coming out of that & her other tube on the other side of her stomach.  That little tube was having to be emptied about 10 times today when the whole day yesterday it was only emptied about 2 or 3 times.  Ty & I were just so worried about it.  I went in the bathroom & pretty much fell apart.  I knelt down & asked Heavenly Father to bless that something would happen so that we could get her pain & nausea under control & we would be able to figure out why all of this fluid was coming out so much.  I asked for Dr. C to come.  Dr. C told me at least 4 or 5 times before surgery that if there was a prob with anything at all, even if it was just a prob with the remote on the TV, to talk to him about it.  He said there are so many doctors on the team & there may be differing opinions but he is the boss & if there is a prob we need to talk to him or it doesn’t exist.  Within about ½ hr, in he walks!!  As soon as he saw what was going on he told us that she wasn’t absorbing her medicine & that it was passing right thru her.  He said sometimes this formula causes diarrhea & that is the reason they haven’t been able to get her pain under control.  He ordered for her to be changed back to IV pain meds & ordered her feeds to be reduced for the night & had the nurse contact all of the other doctors & the dietician & they are meeting here at 8:30 tomorrow morn to discuss what changes to make.  I was so relieved when the test came back negative for blood but then it was pretty obvious that she hasn’t been getting her pain meds hardly at all, they were just running right thru her!  Poor Alexa has been throwing up so much today!!!  It is so darn hard on us to watch her go thru this!!!  I have to keep reminding myself about the blessings she has received.  She has been blessed that she would return to good health & have all of the strength & energy that she once had!!  When I start to panic, I repeat that to myself & I also pull out my scriptures again!  When Dr. C left the nurse said to me, “You are so lucky he came this late in the afternoon, he doesn’t usually do that!”  I said, “Well, I prayed him here!”  She believed me & said, “That’s really great! Really, he just doesn’t usually do this!”  I am so grateful Heavenly Father once again answered my prayer.  Alexa is sleeping peacefully now & is finally getting the pain meds that she needs.  She is so exhausted from throwing up all afternoon!  She doesn’t just lie there in pain, she gets so restless & has to stand up constantly & looks so pitiful!!!  Things are going to be ok now.  Ty & I were able to walk down & get a bite to eat & reassure ourselves that we CAN get thru this!!  We are just completely amazed at how quickly the days fly by.  We were sitting there about 7:00 tonight & Ty said, “Well, there’s another day gone where I didn’t get anything done.  I checked my email for a bit & checked on payroll but that’s it.”  I told him we are doing what we are supposed to be doing right now, caring for our daughter.  I reminded him that he helped her go for a couple of walks, rubbed her feet & held her hair back while she threw up.  That’s really all we can do right now.