Olivia’s 8pm Update

We have been able to hold her for the last several hours. After removing so many IVs and such, it is easy(er) to get her in and out of bed.

On the subject of pain medication, I have arranged to have leapfrogging medications. The two main meds are ibuprofen and oxycodone, with small quantities of morphine for breakthrough pain. The first two have 6 hour cycles; so I have asked to give one at hour 1 and the other at hour 3 and the first again at hour 6 so her pain is minimized continually. It also means that when one is peaking and waning, the other is getting ready to kick in.

But, again, we are watching her body’s reaction to what she is receiving: intestinal activity, breathing ability, lethargy, and the like. It’s important not to give her body more than it needs for pain control, but provide enough relief so the person is resting and can do what it must to progress with the healing process.

Thanks to some awesome friends on the homefront, Amy has been able to be at the hospital with us since about 3pm.

Oxygen saturation levels: Olivia is sitting now in the 90–95%, which is great. Prior to the surgery she was between 75–80%. Besides her color change, this is one of the main indicators that the surgery was successful. However, it will take a while for her body to self-regulate that high of an oxygen level due to it having to “re-learn” a new route for pumping blood throughout the body. For comparison, regular folk have an oxygen saturation level of about 100%.