Muriel was not too happy when she woke up. She was extremely dry, her throat was hoarse and raw, and now she has lines in both arms, somewhat precluding the use of both hands. As before, we had to wait for her stomach and intestines to "wake up" before feeding her anything or letting her drink anything. This takes time though luckily it is directly proportional to the amount of time she spent under anesthesia, which for this surgery was short.
By the time the doctors came for rounds early this evening - around 5:30PM - she was hoarsely crying and pointing at the fridge and sink. Dr. Penk took pity and let her have 2 ounces of Pedialyte. That made her happy for all of ten seconds. Her poor nurse (Tracey) was being hounded by the surgeons and then the doctors about her sedatives, all thinking she had forgotten to give them. She has built up quite a tolerance!
Nurse Tracey came up with the idea of Italian Ice, which we could give her slowly and drag out the happiness. Megan started spoon feeding it to her around 6PM and I finished giving it to her at 6:30PM. Not bad for 3 ounces! She was extremely happy, and after crying for another ten minutes fell asleep. She has been sleeping ever since... it is 11PM now and I am starting to think she is down for the night.
She is now approved for applesauce, yogurt, and whatever else she wants to drink. Dr. Penk has decided that tonight she can cheat on her fluid allowance, and that we will start in ernest again tomorrow morning. But she is sleeping! If only she knew what a deal she was missing.
I think we will probably give up soon and try to get some sleep tonight. Yet another emotional day here, and we are both exhausted, again. I really think - as do all the staff here - that she will feel much better tomorrow. All signs seem to point to a speedy recovery. Its hard to keep my hopes up after having them dashed over and over again the past two weeks. Regardless their confidence, as usual, is convincing. Fingers crossed.
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