Recovery

Ryan is doing fantastic!  Friday evening  she had her catheter removed, two of the four IVs removed and was transferred from the picu to the third floor. She has spent much of the time being rocked by either myself or Lynn and snoozing. Today was another big day.  Ryan had the three pacer wires that were sewn into her chest removed as well as a third IV and last but certainly not least she had her chest tube removed.  Lynn chose to leave the room, but I needed to be there to hold her hand and comfort her.  Thankfully she was given  some morphine and when the tube was pulled out of her chest....it was nearly a foot long. I had no idea of the length and was a bit startled - older patients say it is the chest tubes that generate the most pain -I can see why!  Poor Jessica had three of them and I certainly didn't fully appreciate what she was going through at the time.  With much of the apparatus that was holding Ryan down removed, she was able to take a couple of rides around the hospital in a wagon, go outside for some fresh air, and she also had a bath.  She was in such good spirits she initiated a rousing game of ''toss the washcloth'' with her nurse and has been giving us lots of smiles.  Not to say she isn't feisty;  this evening with her dose of oral pain meds she had two of us holding her down, one administering the dose and she -bless her heart- was spitting furiously.  It took two doses and I'm hoping it was enough. 

A dear friend of mine lives near by in the fantastic neighborhood of Sugar House and lent us her place to crash at -which is so incredibly nice (no hotel rooms!)  she is working for several weeks back east this summer and we have the place to ourselves.  Lynn and I have been taking ''shifts'' with me staying the night with Ryan and then taking a long nap during the day when he comes to ''relieve'' me.  We spend the late afternoon/evenings together with Pip and it's working well.

I couldn't be more tickled with Ryan's progress - she truly is unbelievable.   The cardiac team is pleased thus far, however, they are concerned with her weight and dared to call Ryan ''scrawny''.  I prefer to think of her as ''dainty''.  Anyone and everyone has given us an (unsolicited) opinion on her weight and growth etc.  I understand it is of concern.  But she's had a huge hole in her heart that burned up a ton of calories.  She is from an impoverished area, in orphanage and foster care and has had her whole world turn upside down in the past three months.AND she is a picky eater.  Given all that... she has gained nearly 1.5 pounds with two hospital stays. We are working closely with our pediatrician and cardiologist at home  (who I trust). If she is still struggling in six months, we'll reevaluate. But until then...Tomorrow she is scheduled for an sedated echo and another chest x-ray providing a solid baseline to work from and to know where Ryan is at in her progress.  Hopefully we will be home soon!