Surgery Update 24

Sitting up on her own for the first time since open heart surgery

9:00 am - Poor Emma is simply out of veins that will give blood. Yesterday the IV team was called to draw a lab. You have to know, this team is awesome. They always get it in one poke, no excuses, ever. But yesterday they told me there just wasn't a vein that wasn't bruised. They tried in her hand but didn't get anything. The doctors graciously agreed to skip that test until today. Emma was due for a medication via IV at 2 am, but the IV in her foot was too sluggish, so at 1 am the IV team came. The plan was to place the IV and draw the lab from the IV. They have a little light that they shine under her skin to find veins. They took the light and started looking, but found nothing. Poor girl is so used to getting poked that she screams from the minute they start touching her and looking to the moment they leave the room. Emma's pudge doesn't help, most her veins are hiding under it and very small. So one member of the IV team left and got an ultrasound machine. They were warning me that this might not work and if it did, it was going to hurt more than an IV in a visible vein. So he found what looked like a vein on the ultrasound machine and placed the needle in and threaded the IV. He actually got it. He told us it was a bigger catheter in a bigger veins so we might be able to draw labs from it. The nurse is flushing it every two hours to ensure that it remains open. I hope it does, Emma has had it. She is to the point where she cries when anyone from the medical team touches her because she is afraid they are going to stick a needle in her.

Overnight the chest tube slowed down and didn't put out much of anything, so this morning it was pulled. The nurse practitioner from Cardio Surgery wanted to just pull it but I insisted on a bit or morphine. She argued that they don't usually use it, but she was more concerned about her schedule in my opinion. I made her wait while the morphine was given. I figure it is much easier to be blase about someone else's pain and that Emma has been through enough.

The doctors said she looks and sounds good. Dr. Kaza said we should plan on being here until at least Thursday. We are fine with that. We want to stay as long as Emma needs. But with the end in sight, I can't help but think how much Emma is going to love being at home. Her mom and Dad are going to like it too! Triston is the only one that is going to miss this place, it is like his dream come true. Emma is still dependent on oxygen, but they think they can wean her from it in the next couple of days. Her final IV medication is going to be administered orally starting tomorrow so things that we need to be in the hospital for are wrapping up. Yeah!