Faith: Friday 1-14-11 Day 11

Friday 1-14-11 Day 11

Sorry we didn't get any updates to you any sooner than this. Thursday night in the PICU
and Friday during the day was very busy and so I never got a chance to sit down and update
the blog.

Overall, Alannah is doing very well post-op. All her vitals are good, she passes all the
neurological testing every time, her blood work has been good for the most part, and the things
that were off were not off by much. However, she has been in a bit of pain and very
uncomfortable from all the IV lines, the brain drain tube and foley catheter from the surgery,
also she has had some head pain from the surgery. I would say that she was definately feeling
better Friday evening than Friday morning, so she is getting a little better as the day goes along.
They were able to pull the foley catheter out, the brain drain tube is out, and the 2 extra IV
LINES are out....so all she has left is her beloved "Pickle, the PICC line".

Sidebar: Some people have been asking what a PICC line is. It's a form of IV line which is
longer than a typical IV access. A typical IV has a short straw that sits in your vein and
allows for medications to go in. It doesn't usually work well for blood withdrawal however,
so if you need to do blood work and you have a typical IV then you have to get stuck everytime
you need to give blood. A PICC line has a very long straw that goes up your arm and all the
way to the central part of your body, near a bigger vein. This allows for easier access for meds,
and also allows for blood withdrawal. So, everytime Alannah needs to give blood for testing,
which has been up to 5 times per day, she doesn't need to get stuck. They just draw it from
her PICC line. They have to be very careful drawing blood and giving meds, b/c PICC lines get
infected easier than regular IV lines, but they have done an amazing job keeping it clean.

Thursday night, post surgery, was a little scary. She ran a high temp of 104.5 degrees....again,
no one seemed to be super alarmed about it, most everyone said that high temps can happen post-op.
She had already had her Tylenol, and wasn't due for
another dose.....so all we could do was put ice packs around her and I layed cool clothes all over
her body every hour. It worked! And her temp came down to a safer number. By Friday, it was
doing better and was more low key. So things have calmed down a little bit....

The surgeon came and spoke to us today......he has ordered P.T. to help Alannah get back to her normal mobility since she has basically been bed bound for the past 10 days. He says that if Alannah is doing well, she may go home as early as Monday. We'll see....

Alannah was moved from the ICU to a regular post-op medical floor Friday night around 8pm...
yeah! I liked the ICU, again we had great nurses, but there is something very NOT RELAXING
about the incessant beeping and screaming and lights there....amen to a quieter unit.

She no longer has to wear a big headwrap like before ( see pics ).....she has some Telfa? gauze
laying on top of her incisions, which is being held in place by a mesh type stocking. So her
head is not as hot since it can breathe better now.....and she fell right to sleep tonight...we are
praying for a quiet, restful night.....for her and for us.

I wanted to say a special thank you to everyone who has been bringing meals and beverages to
the hospital....Alannah, like most people, doesn't like the cafeteria food....so it has
been a blessing for her and with all the days we have been here, it would have been quite a
a large amount of money to spend for 3 meals a day for 3 people...and we truly appreciate
everyone's time and effort in preparing us home cooked or catered meals....some of the recent
meals were provided by:
Uncle Pete and Aunt Teresa made home-made lasagna and brought it Wednesday....I know the
nurses were jealous b/c they talked about it later!
Zizi Frank and Zizi Mary made breaded chicken, mashed potato and peas for Thursday...very
delicious.
And Aunt Elvira and Uncle Michael provided dinner from Juliano's Restaurant in Robinson for
Friday night....Love their tortellini!
And of course Grandma and Grandpa Porco are still providing lunch almost everyday...they
are relentless!! In a good way!
**If I forgot to mention anyone who brought meals, forgive me and know that we appreciate
you too....it means a lot to us that so many people care.

Grandma Doris was able to travel into Pittsburgh from her hometown in Somerset county today!
Alannah was quite grumpy from all the above mentioned items, but we still had a nice visit...
Mommy was grumpy too but we won't talk about that!

Aunt Denise and Uncle Rick came to visit again and so did cousin Katie. Katie brought an I SPY
book and another activity, which really distracted Alannah from her woes!! Thanks Katie! (Think
about working with kids in some capacity....maybe O.T.. YOU ARE GOOD at it!)

Since they were all visiting when Alannah was moved from ICU, everyone grabbed something and the move from ICU to current hospital room went very smoothly! Thanks guys!

Well, that's enough for today....here are some pics.....

An hour or 2 post surgery # 2....no idea what that is on her face- Betadine? I told her she looks like she has kitty cat whiskers....she didn't find that amusing