I don’t really remember where I left off yesterday, so I’ll pick up somewhere in the middle.
Ivey did have a relatively good day yesterday. She did want to play “wheels on the bus” , “its-bitsy” and “row row row your boat”. Not with much gusto, but would wiggle her hands. She signed “Ivey’s momma” a lot, which is a good sign. And she BEAT the switch to her dog Scout to death, which was a great show of her sassy normal attitude. She also put her thumb to her mouth and then moved it and looks so very sad. If I could give her one thing, it would be her thumb.
She did have seizures last night, again. Ativan was given.
During the night she continued with her Lortab and alternated with morphine. Apparently she is super sensitive to the morphine during this stay, so her heart rate and respiration dipped really low again. So we will have to watch her closely. The benefit to pain medication, she slept well.
Okay - today: She has had both pain medications so monitoring her closely. Respirations are low right now but heart rate looks great. O2 is 98!! Dr. Williams and team came in and he turned the distractors. We will turn them twice a day. Ivey did awesome, but keep in mind we prepared her with the pain meds, so she was feeling very sedated. It took all of 2 seconds to turn the distractors. It looks simple but dear God we are moving her jaw out. Just thinking about what we are doing to her insides is overwhelming.
Dr. Williams requested to have her stay in the PICU again tonight due to her seizure activity. The PICU doctor agreed. We are in PICU South, the new PICU wing. It’s awesome - PICU South is for trauma, neuro and cranial-facial kiddos.
Dr. Hemre, PICU doc, likes that Ivey seems to be rebounding. She did talk a little about Ivey’s crashing episode on Monday, which is also why we are having to watch things so closely with the morphine. I love hearing her thoughts in hindsight. Luckily, Ivey had this same doctor in the TICU after her tracheostomy. At one point Ivey began crashing during an episode after her trach. I remember Dr. Hemre's face of urgency from way back then and her telling a visiting friend they had to leave immediately. So Monday seeing that same face on Dr. Hemre again flipped my switch and I knew how bad things were possibly swinging into motion. She said it is her look of focus. It’s funny the snapshot memories that have stuck with me over the years. They are blessing in disguise sometimes. Ivey is in great hands across the board. Nurses are the best of the best - literally.
Ivey’s face is extremely swollen and bruised. Today will most likely be the worst day of swelling since we are 72 hours out from surgery. Blood still draining. Other than that things are going well. We painted her toes pink this morning, something Ivey does not normally enjoy. Another perk for the momma thanks to the lortab and morphine. Gotta find that silver lining.
G.
Pre-Surgery Super Girl
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