Recovering - Thursday

Hello everyone! 
Well, again - Dave and I are just so thrilled that the surgery went as well as it did. But we now set out on the road to recovery.

Pre/Post Op Room
Not super comfy but oh well

The surgery
It was long. They went slow and steady, took their time and were able to stay laparoscopic! She has four teeny, tiny holes covered by steri-strips/drain and then one larger incision near her belly button - that is where they took the liver wedge/lesion out...whole. They waited for pathology while in the OR to make sure they didn't leave anything behind and got it all. So, there was some time. And they made sure that they watched that liver and "cleaned" up in there:) She had very minimal blood loss which is amazing. She was very stable throughout the case and was a "rockstar." And her surgeron, Dr. Le, cut her bandage into the shape of a heart. We've been told that they never see that - Katie was well cared for by her surgical team. 

Her poor belly - though still "lap" so it could be so much worse!
The heart helps:)

Dr. Le came back to talk to us and gave us some pictures of this dang mass. It is kind of gross. And wow - looks like it shouldn't be there. He said those preliminary pathology reports were looking benign and that recurrence should be unlikely. 

Sorry. Just in case you wanted to see
Glad they got that thing out

Just a little bit later, we were able to go back to PACU to see her. It is rough seeing them like that, but I was so glad to lay eyes on her:) Her nurse, Charlene, was great and made room so I could climb into bed with her:) She was groggy of course, had two IVs (they had already pulled the art line) and her drain. She was very warm. It was warm back there for sure. But she was just so flush and red and felt like she was burning up. She was up to 101 degrees and but we think it was all the blankets, her hat, etc. They do a good job of making sure the little ones don't get too cold!

Both our anesthetist and anesthesiologist stopped by to see her (hmm....seems a little redundant?!?! :) but they were both wonderful). So, after giving her some Tylenol for the fever and watching that awhile, we were transferred upstairs to her room. We are on 5th floor here at AFCH. 

We got up to the room between 5:40-6 p.m., I think? She was cooling down and still kind of groggy. When she was waking up, she was asking about school, afraid she had missed some thing:) Then she started telling us about bison. :) Maybe my favorite moment after seeing her...she is doing an animal project and picked bison and so we got a bunch of bison facts!

Finally sleeping!!

In PACU and up in the room, she was very thirsty and she was tolerating water well, so that was awesome. She wanted some jello, so we ordered her some of that. She also wanted to sit up pretty badly, but that doesn't feel very good. :(  

It is all getting to be a blur, we were having her deep breath (which is actually hard for her and hurts too) through some of the acute pain. Getting situated and comfortable is hard. When she does sleep and then wakes up, she is annoyed with the IVs in each hand but is fine after that.

It is pretty uncomfortable for her to move much, so we have been using a fracture pan (bed pan) for her. She started going potty in the night and lots of it! That was difficult, as she cried out that she needed to go in the middle of the night and I wasn't sure what to do. I pushed the call button and a guy came in who I couldn't hear/understand very well. He was somewhat helpful, but one of the times, she needed to go and wanted to go into the bathroom and he started taking vitals. I was super frustrated. I got a pan under her in time. 

She had a couple instances of sleeping well for about 1.5/2 hours at a time. This morning, we were both woken by Surgery Rounds, between 6:30-7 a.m. They were all very nice. Don't have any concerns, but she needs to try and move more and eat more. 

She is currently getting morphine as needed every 2 hours, though she has gone a little longer. But it is better if we stay on top of it. They are totally full on this floor right now, so the nurses are busy and working hard. She also gets Tylenol every 6 hours and they are about to start Torodal (?) as well. I'm hoping that gives her a lot more comfort and we can try for those goals of movement and food. 

Her drain is fine. Nothing draining yet (not much going in either) and they will have to leave that until she is eating more to watch it. Might be in until tomorrow now. The place in her belly that it comes out...it is kind of leaky, they are not concerned but that is making her a little wet too. I'm anxious for some fresh linens for her and maybe some new pajamas. A bed bath is coming up next. Along with hopefully getting up and standing near the bed. 

Thursday morning. Not too many smiles right now.
But she is a trooper

UPDATE: I was going to post this hours ago, but we got busy. She did have a little sponge bath. She is still marked up but the iodine stuff is mostly wiped off. New jammies. Then she rested for about 15 minutes and then the nurse manager met with us - so nice. Then Jesse Simpson stopped by to visit. Kate watched Frozen (and still is). I think I should turn it off so she can rest though. No recent complaints of pain!! Not for awhile. 

I'm so happy when she really falls asleep - but it is never for very long

But her pad under her is soaking wet. Some of it might be from going potty in the fracture pan, but I'm a little worried it is still her drain. She also now has fluid in her drain bulb. So, we will be checking on all that now. They unhooked her from some of the monitors  - not continuously monitoring heart rate, breathing and O2 sat anymore, she was keeping all those number just fine. 

Dave is done with work and on his way to us! I think that will perk Kate up. She tried to sit on the side of the bed, and did it. But ended up in tears and we had to put her back :( We are not going to have the boys come down and visit today. I think it might be too much for her today. 

I'm going to post this before we have a bunch of things interrupting us:) More later hopefully. Please pray that she continues to eat more and can withstand the pain and yuckiness that comes from moving around. Thank you!