Sorry for the late update. This has been far harder than we could have possibly imagined. Muriel did indeed wake up eventually last night. Until just a few minutes ago (now 1:30PM) she has been completely inconsolable. Several drugs have been tried to keep her calmed down, for pain, for limited sedation, but what finally worked was to slowly feed her ice. All her writhing and screaming (and it really has been non stop now for fourteen hours) has been determined to be a result of extreme thirst. We were warned that she would experience this, and also warned that this particular surgery demands severe fluid restrictions for the next six weeks. Feeding her ice has been grudgingly approved as her thrashing has already disconnected one major line, which made quite a mess last night. She tries to roll over, stand up, ballet, and jump off the bed if given more than a few seconds inattention. Given all the connected tubes and wires, this has to be patiently but aggressively controlled. This of course just makes her madder.
By 11AM the situation had Megan and I in tears and we were kicked out to take a break. After a quick coffee and some food like substances (may be a stretch) we felt energized to tackle it again. An hour or so into feeding her ice chips, she finally fell asleep. Megan got away to shower and grab lunch, and I am quickly writing this. Really hoping she will get a good nap in and feel better when she wakes up. She is high as a kite according to the staff, which makes it really amazing that she can fight as hard as she has. One tough cookie.
I'll refrain from posting any pictures this afternoon - no pumps, lines, or wires have gone away yet, and I at least must look like hell. One of you kind readers has already commented that I look old and tired, and thought I was fifty. Yikes! For the record I am only 42.
I'll post more tonight assuming I don't collapse of old age.
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