In recovery

Muriel is now in recovery and resting calmly.  She is still getting sedation drugs (Versed, Fentanyl) and probably will for the next few days as she gets through an initial stage of swelling and fluid retention.  Although it was not expected, her CO2 levels have dropped to normal levels immediately (from a high of 60% to 35%).  She has lots of tubes and wires connected right now, though they should start disappearing over the next week.

Muriel just before an EKG

We were told, somewhat sternly, that we should take tonight to get some rest ourselves.  It is very hard to tear ourselves from her bedside, but the advice is sound and we came back to Ronald McDonald house to get some food and try to get to bed a bit earlier tonight.  She has a dedicated 1:1 nurse for the next several days and a team of people that will be watching all of her many statistics continuously.  Of course there is nothing we can do right now and she is sedated anyway.  Much more important for us to be around later when she is alert and feeling better.

Nurse Brian - "Get some rest!!"

Here are some pictures of our amazing world-famous surgery team.  Dr. Ilbawi is one of the reasons we are at Hope Hospital and we are very fortunate to have him leading our case.

Dr. Ilbawi

Our mood is so very positive tonight - a 180 degree turnaround from the anxiety of this morning.  Thanks to all for your well-wishes all day today.  We still have a number of hurdles to clear, but for tonight we are happy to have cleared the first.