Recovery, the first 24 hours

7:30 am We went into Hailey's room in the cardiac care unit around 5:45. We were warned about the breathing tube and the other tubes coming out of her body. Steve and I went to get some dinner since we were told that it would be a couple of hours until she would wake up. She's on a bunch of pain medication, has an IV in her neck for meds and another on her wrist for blood draws. She's also got a catheter and a draining tube coming out of her body. She's drowsy and going in and out of sleep. 

When I returned, (Steve went home to sleep for the night) I was told that Hailey woke up. As the nurse was updating me, Hailey's little arm waved a little uncoordinated like a zombie would wave, which kind of startled me a bit. She then tried to pat her chest and let us know that her throat was hurting. The doctor determined that she was awake enough for the breathing tube to be removed and when it came out Hailey started to talk a little. She's on Tylenol and morphine to help with the pain. 

Around 11:00 the nurse, Britt, started to let Hailey have some ice chips and a few small sips of water. But this caused Hailey to throw up 10 mins later. They increased her nausea meds and throughout the night tried ice chips at 12, 1, 2 am- Hailey thew up each time. We eventually fell asleep for the night. Hailey, you woke up around 6, had some ice chips, thew up and asked to watch cartoons. And at 6:30, I got up when they said they were going to try a popsicle. You picked cherry, but they only had grape left. 

20 mins later you lost all the popsicles again. The nurse said that it's common for kids to be nauseous 24 hours after being under anesthesia, especially big kids like you. 

For now we chill and watch cartoons. 

1:30 pm You've been sleeping a lot. Morphine totally knocks you out. The child life experience nurse came by to get you out of your bed and into a recliner. You didn't love the experience, but when told that sitting up will help you get better faster, you were ready to start running. 

You still complain about your chest hurting, especially when your pain meds are starting to wear off. But you stood up today and walked to give me a hug. 

You got a grape popsicle as a reward and then you conked out for another nap. 

You are doing a great job being a trooper! 

4:30 pm The popsicle stayed in your system and so the next thing to see is if things will stay down without nausea medication. The occupational therapist came in around 2 and got you out of the chair, you said you needed to go potty, so the nurses made it happen by untangling all the connections and pushing all the machines to the bathroom. You were able to walk about 20 feet with some assistance. Your goal is to work up to walking around the hallway tomorrow. 

Now you are asleep again and back in bed. We will try to get you out of bed again one time before tonight. 

We are so proud of you!