Post-Op Bern

We came to the room to see Bern after surgery and witnessed her extubation. She started to wake up a little bit and did not like that tube in her mouth. She's a little puffy, but that is to be expected. This first picture was before  she was extubated with the breathing tube in her mouth.  

 

 

 

Bernie is just going to rest tonight. We will leave the central and arterial lines in until tomorrow at the earliest. Her blood gases have looked good post-extubation. 

Nurse Sue is healing the Bern tonight and she was there July 26, 2008, the night the crap really hit the fan. It was the worst night we ever had and came so close to losing her. Sue indicated that Bernie's story still comes up when training new nurses relating to extreme cases of pulmonary hypertension and how kids can surprisingly rebound. I still keep and wear the  PJ pants I wore running to the unit that night as a reminder of what a bad night really is.  It's my "Pajama Perspective Theory" that every night after that one really is managable. I've mended them 3 times and they are paper thin, but I refuse to get rid of them.  

 

We may be opening a tab in the gift shop. Bernie will be scouting for presents when she wakes up tomorrow. We assured her when she wakes up there will be presents and she must have reminded us 3 or 4 times in the pre-op area. 

The good news for Jeff and I is that we scored a room at the Mott House which is the Ronald McDonald House here inside the hospital. It's so wonderful because we have our own personal sleep deprivation tank with the comfort of a nice mattress, private bathroom, and comfortable community living space. 

The "Michigan From the Heart" group of athletes stopped by again this week. Bern didn't really know they were there, but Jeff and I had the chance to talk with them and reminisced about life as college students who met here at U of M on the last day of the last term of drop/add that we were both here. They were excited to know there was "still hope" as some of them were upperclassmen. Oh, and Izzy, rowing scholarships for girls are real! Two of these ladies are on the UM rowing team.

 

Thank for storming the heavens today with your prayers and well wishes for strength, wisdom, peace, and healing. We have felt the love! Getting out of the PCTU is the next box to check and getting her heart rhythm back to normal. We are not out of the woods yet by any stretch, but we are feeling good about where things are and aiming for a quiet night. 

I'd also like to thank and acknowledge my brother Jeff  (shot and killed 31 years today) for what I believe to be "working for us from the other side" on a day that is notably hard for my family irregardless of other medical trauma. His heart and other organs were donated to people in need. In his honor, please consider being an organ donor and demand that guns and ammunition be made inaccessible to children in every home, at any and every developmental stage. Thank you.