[David for Laurie again]
Today's a much better day. I was a bit worried when I first arrived. Laurie was sitting next to her bed in a chair, but had been there for an hour waiting for the nurse to come take her on a walk. I don't think this nurse is quite as on the ball as the nurses we've had the previous couple days.
I chased down the nurse and asked her if she was going to take her for a walk and within a few minutes she was there to get Laurie started. She was with us for about 1/6 of the lap around the nurses station and then disappeared. At the half way point Laurie and I were wondering what was going on as the nurse was supposed to stay with us. I saw Kerry the surgeon's assistant and asked her if the nurse should be with us and she said "yes". I gave her a "well?" look and she said she was finishing orders and she'd help. A couple of other nurses were paying attention at this point and helped out as we got Laurie back to her bed.
She's feeling much better in general today. She's been sleeping for the last hour or so and it's more of the normal rhythmic breathing I'm used to. It's funny how we take those things for granted.
I didn't add anything after yesterday's initial post as there wasn't anything productive to say. She was in a lot of discomfort and pain. I can't imagine how she felt, but I know that just sitting with her as she tried to breath was very difficult for me. Her oxygen levels were being closely monitored and were really strong, so it was more a matter of her comfort. Looking back on it I think yesterday was probably so challenging because of it being the first day after surgery (naturally) and I don't know if they had the muscle relaxants high enough. The surgeon came by around 6pm and they increased the pain meds a touch, but the muscle relaxants much more. The word this morning from her is that she slept pretty well.
The rest of the day is scheduled with sleeping, a couple walks, juice or clear liquid some time early evening and as she becomes more mobile she'll get to start doing some more of the things we all take for granted.
