I just spoke with the ICU folks and Carol had a very good night. She was up early this morning and spent 90 minutes sitting up in a chair!. Originally, they plan was that she would sit for very brief periods on the end of the bed and yet she is already in a chair for a fairly decent amount of time! They expect to move her out of the ICU today (sometime midday) and into the normal care unit. So as yesterday, all is looking great so far. My bride continues to astound us and her medical team by exceeding expectations.
A couple of other items to pass on (I was too tired yesterday to add these):
Carol has an external pacemaker. This is totally normal and we were told that everyone has one right after surgery. The purpose of it is to get the heart back to functioning at a consistent level. (Remember, it was stopped for a good length of time in the surgery). When she went to the ICU the pacemaker was set at 22 milli-volts which is apparently a normal voltage for the heart. (Any medicos reading all this can let me know where I have it wrong!). Anyway, the plan is that over the next 24 hours they decrease the voltage down to where the pacemaker is just barely assisting (3mv or so). Well, before we left her at about 3 yesterday afternoon, she was already down to 5mv. Another sign of great progress.
Also she has special leg cuffs that cover her lower legs. These will inflate and deflate to simulate exercising the leg muscles so that she can begin walking sooner and to promote circulation. They look sort of like large blood pressure cuffs for the legs.
We know that while we have seen fantastic progress so far, there is still some ways to go. It is obvious the Lord has heard the prayers of the multitudes in her progress to date and we are so grateful to Him that it is going so well.
I'm printing out all the blog comments to take to her this morning (and will do so every morning). She is really into the blog and it is a great way for us to notify you on what is happening and for her to hear from you.
BTW, tomorrow (Thursday) is her birthday. Not exactly where we had been planning to celebrate it (We had planned a trip to North Central Washington), but it will still be, how would one say, a memorable birthday! Expect next update middday today.
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I'm glad to hear you are doing so well. I know them waking you up all the time can be a pain, but hopefully you are able to rest in between. It sounds like your surgery was very successful. I will send up a prayer for a quick recovery and a grateful thank you to the great team that worked with you. Sleep tight.
ReplyDeletejenny, john & dakota
Praise God!! I'm so thankful that Recovery is going exceedingly well - of course kids tend to bounce back fast and you are after all a pediatric case.
ReplyDeleteI pray that your recovery will continue to be fast, and that your pain and discomfort will be minimal. I thank God that you have such a wonderful medical team - even in this ordeal He is showering you with blessings!
We love you and will continue praying,
Sharon and Eric R
WOOHOO!!!!!!!! Amazing! She's landed on both feet! Oh my, it brings tears to the eyes. Thanks to you Dave, for all the updates. You give good details so we can get a real picture of how Carol is doing. I wonder is pharmaceutically, she's still in that zone where she'll forget everything that happened. But soon our Carol will be fully awake and able to look to a much brighter future, thanks to all the wonderful expertise and God's healing hand.
ReplyDeletePraise God thst all is going so well. We will continue our prayers and wait for permission to go see Carol. Thank you Dave for keeping us posted. Love from Jim & Marj. G
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