7:00 am
Today has started out pretty rough. Around 5:30, during her morning blood work, Taylor realized that she was having some pretty bad stomach pain. She used the pain pump to try and catch up to it, but it still takes a small amount of time to kick in. The doctors think there is a combination of a few things causing her pain. Partial radiating pain from her back, partial constipation, partial gas trapped from the surgery, and partial muscle pain from both the surgery and from the movement yesterday. I remember Dr. Yang warning her that she may have some stomach pain today as it generally will hit a couple days after. He did not disappoint.
We are hoping to get the catheter out today and transition her to oral medications which will last longer. This may also help as we try to get things moving along as she won’t have as many things attached to her so she can get up and around a little more.
Her blood count is still lower than the doctor would like and she is pretty pale and tired this morning. Doctor Yang went ahead and ordered a blood transfusion to try and get those numbers up. Taylor is sure her levels were low because they keep drawing her blood. I told her it was because she lost the blood during her surgery. She was sort of okay with that explanation, but also not really processing it either.
11:30 am
Things have not gotten much better for her. They were able to remove the catheter and get some cozy bottoms on. The blood transfusion began about an hour ago and she started to get color back pretty quickly.
Part of the plan today was to transition off of the pain pump and onto the oral medication that she will be using when she goes home. Unfortunately, the medication from her pump did not get her through to the oral medication kicking in and she ran right into a brick wall of agony. She wasn’t able to get comfortable and everything she did hurt. She tried to sit up, but the pressure on her lower back was too much. She wanted to lay down, but the pain was bad and it was tough to lean back. Laying down while the bed moved was definitely not an option because that stretches you out a little bit, which as you can imagine is pretty painful. So, it was do what you can do until the pain meds can do their job. She cried. We secretly cried (without the water, because you need her to have some faith that you can maybe help).
Robbie and I were working on trying get her to eat something, anything really. She couldn’t get much down, but she hasn’t thrown up yet either. We were both hovering over her while the nurse was working to get her pain under control and get her feeling some relief. Good thing her nurse is so understanding and kind. I am sure were all up in her business while we were trying and needing to help.
After about 15/20 minutes or so of sheer agony, she was able to get the relief she needed and is sleeping. We probably need to calibrate her pain level chart because she was saying it was a 2 or 3 and we had to remind her that tears were definitely a sign that she is over a 5, and really, probably a nine or a ten.
We are hoping to get her up moving about in a little bit. Today is a huge turning point in determining if she will be released tomorrow or Friday. Obviously she can’t be released until her blood work looks good, her pain is under control, and she is able to move around a little more. If things don’t turn around, my guess is we will be here at least until Friday.
We keep reminding both her and ourselves that there will be good days and bad days during this recovery process. This day just seems to be one of the bad ones. It is absolutely heart wrenching because Rob and I just feel so helpless and would give anything to take away her pain.
6:30 pm
Pain control has definitely been an issue today. Taylor got up enough to work with PT and OT for about 20-30 minutes. She took a short walk. She is trying to do as much as she can, but it is definitely taking its toll. It is time for more medication. It is almost as if it wears off about an hour too soon. I found a pain chart that is actually more helpful instead of just saying rate your pain. Her 2 rating was actually more of 8 or 9. The nurses were able to give her her next dose and they added some valium to try and help release any muscle spasms that may be related to that pain, my guess is she doesn’t realize that is part of what is happening because the pain is so bad.
It isn’t looking like we are going to be getting her up walking much more tonight. The goal is going to be to move between the chair, the bed, and the bathroom. That is even going to be a little bit tricky right now.
7:15 pm
The nurses will be making a call to Dr. Yang to see if we can up the dosage on her pain medication. Right now, we just sit in limbo as she sleeps in the wheelchair, tucked into a corner. The pain medication may be kicking in enough to make her temporarily comfortable, but not enough to lay back in bed. This day is straight up kicking her ass. If things don’t change tonight, we will most definitely stay at least until Friday because I am not dragging her home feeling like this.
8:30 pm
After about 45 min of repositioning through tears, trying to find anything to bring relief, we were finally able to get her moved onto her side with pillows behind her to prevent her from twisting and a pillow in between her legs to reduce some pressure on her spine. She finally got a little more medication to relax and get her comfortable and heat pads to help her relax. She is finally sleeping. I am full of hope that we can just keep her sleeping through the night. Awful is the only word I can use to explain this whole day. Tomorrow is a new day and a new adventure. Keeping up hope that it will be better than today.