ICU: Day 4

Mom continues to show signs of improvement. They took the tube out of her that keeps her from vomiting after they clamped it and found it wasn't gathering much liquid. The doctors and nurses continue to give good reports in spite of the pain that she is feeling. Right now she is moaning because of all the pain she is feeling. Although they've given her a button to push for when she needs more pain medicine, I'm hoping they'll be giving her more pain medicine in a minute (aka booster).

The physical therapist started working with Mom today but decided not to take Mom out of bed because she is so weak. So she had Mom doing hand and foot exercises and brought her up to 60 degrees. That hurt to do that and then of course when they replaced the wound vac gauze, which they have to do three times a week as opposed to two times a day with gauze pad when I had a ruptured appendicitis, they laid her flat. That caused a lot of pain because of all those muscles that were cut through for the surgery.

She's been moaning because of all the pain she's been in but they just repositioned her and she said that's better. Now she doesn't seem to be moaning quite as much but she is still moaning some. I guess it might just take some time.

When they removed the gauze one of the technicians thought she might be in a different unit by Friday. That sounds good though I'm not taking that too seriously. The day nurse, Linda, said that she's not ready to be dismissed from ICU just yet. She still seems to be struggling with her breathing. Still, people are saying she's getting better every day, in spite of the way Mom feels.

Thanks for your continuous thoughts and prayers. See you next time. Don't forget to leave us a comment or question.