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April 20, 2006
What a difference a day makes!
Yesterday morning Courtney was disoriented, frustrated, and tired. Today, she is much more alert, a lot more lucid, and even took her first 25' shuffle down the hallway and back with the help of a nurse. She is getting a pseudo-shower at the moment, which, if I had to guess, is probably going to be a huge boost for her morale. The sponge cleaning that she's received to date have done little to placate her desire to be really clean.
Her trachiostomy tube has been capped for almost 24 hours, so that means that she has been breathing almost exclusively through her nose and mouth. This cap also allows her to speak with some difficulty so that has really helped. Given this progress, the head Trauma surgeon is prepared to remove the trach as soon as he gets word from the ENT surgeon that there aren't any more procedures (see below). She has started to take in some fluids through her mouth, and if she can down 3-4 cans of Ensure per day they'll take out her feeding tube. She still has trouble getting the strength to suck fluids through a straw, so she might not be ready for at least another day, but we are making progress.
She did see herself in the mirror for the first time, and didn't seem to be visibly upset, but I'm sure it was difficult for her. She really does look fantastic considering what she looked like 3-4 days ago. Please pray that she'll be patient and appreciative of small progress.
Her right eye is still swollen shut, but she can open it about 20% upon request which is definite improvement. She had a minor skull fracture above her nose that they have been monitoring. There was a chance that this fracture would not heal itself and slowly leak brain/spinal fluid out of her nose. We haven't seen any type of fluid for 3 days, which is a good sign that it has sealed itself. 80% of the time, this particular type of fracture will heal itself, so I'm happy to report that this seems to be the case.
So, please pray that she'll be able to consume the requisite amount of liquid food so that she can get the feeding tube removed. They often cause ulceration and can be quite painful. Also pray that the swelling would continue to reduce and that the ENT surgeon would conclude that the initial surgery was a success. It would be nice to avoid adjustment surgeries if at all possible; specifically with the right eye socket. Finally pray that Courtney would keep her spirits up and not get too discouraged. She asked me what day it was today, and when I told her that she had been in the hospital for 6 days, she said, "Wow."
I think that's it for now. Thanks again for all of the encouraging notes, flowers, and prayers. It's made this experience a lot more tolerable.
Posted by mark at April 20, 2006 11:42 AM Subscribe (FeedBurner)