June 12, 2011 - 3 Days Post Surgery

Wow, what a difference a day makes. I just returned home from spending Saturday night with Taylor. Jason relieved me this afternoon and brought Cameron and Emileigh and Gigi Faye to visit too! Everyone had a great time - Taylor was alert and awake, out of bed and moving. She ate meatballs and hummus (her first food besides milk and Cheetos) and visited the pediatric floor playroom and outdoor courtyard. Her day to day progress is truly AMAZING. She currently is only on oral medications and they are the same ones she was on pre-surgery. She continues to refuse pain medication which floors us...I think a little Tylenol could help a bit seeing that her chest was cut wide open 3 days ago, but she seems much more bothered by other minor aches and pains.

Here is the re-cap from Friday night and Saturday:

Jason took over for me at the hosital Friday evening and then Taylor was quickly dishcharged from the PICU to a regular room on the pediatric post-surgery floor. Her roommate is a 9 month old infant who is working hard to grow and thrive and is absolutely adorable! The nurses and staff helped Jason and Taylor settle in for the night.

When I arrived Saturday after making sure Emileigh was ready for her dance recital and watching Cameron swim in the Franklin Glen Swim Team Time Trials, Taylor and Daddy were fast asleep snuggled in the hospital bed.

We enjoyed visits from Ashley and Joanne Johnson before Jason left and then later Whitney stopped in to see us as well. Taylor showed off by getting out of bed and sitting in my lap in the room chair and also riding in a car around the floor with her portable oxygen on the back. We had a great night of TV watching and peaceful sleep until about 7 AM this morning. At that time she popped up on her own (no easy feat with a chest incision and drain!)and asked to eat meatballs!!! :) I quickly texted Jason and asked him to bring them for lunch.

This morning we moved around quite a bit and all of her systems kicked in and started to work! Great progress! She played with some toys in bed, talked a lot to me and the nurses, expressed concern when her roommate was crying, and asked to change clothes. Again, all good signs! She is still working hard to fully inflate her lungs and is on a bit of oxygen support. We are working to lower that as we move into tomorrow. The surgeon visited and said we just need to get the chest tube drain out and off the O2 and she will be ready to head out of there! I foresee this as a possibility on Wednesday!!!

We are grateful for the help with the kids that Gigi (Faye) and Papa(Ron)provided this weekend, as well as our good friends the McGortys, Rotheleders, Godoys and Hilburgers. They all made sure Cam and Em got where they needed to go and had fun with friends!!!

We are also so thankful for meals and snacks provided by the Rakestraws, Tituses, Schumans, Linda Rosen, Linda Bennett, Whitney Cook and many others...THANK YOU FOR TAKING SUCH GOOD CARE OF ALL OF US!!!

Jason will be with Taylor through early Monday afternoon. I am going to go into school tomorrow morning to catch up on a few things and attend Cameron's 2nd grade end of the year picnic before heading over to Fairfax to relieve him.

We are thankful to God for the smooth and speedy recovery Taylor is enjoying. We are praying she continues along this path and can be home very soon.