This will be a lengthy post!!
The representative, Helios, from Medtronix (the company who manufacturers the ICD) came in to check and verify the settings of her device around 9am this morning. It's too late for me to think clearly so I will try to post more information sometime in the next few days when I can access the notes I took while he was talking and can formulate my thoughts better!
11:30pm ~ with all the meds the RN's administered, Mariah is now sleeping well and hasn't woke up having difficulty catching her breath like had been the case all throughout the day today. I hope and pray she sleeps either until the nurse needs to take her vital signs or she needs her bloodwork at 5am Wednesday morning. Bless her heart.
9:30pm ~ Mariah has had difficulty catching her breath and feeling like she can't get enough oxygen despite her O2 saturation being in the upper 90%. This has been happening all evening. Now, she is feeling pressure around her chest and says she feels like there is something very heavy sitting on her chest. Her lungs sound clear but she cannot get relief from the pressure, chest pain and shortness of breath. Her terrific RN started oxygen through a nasal cannula so Mariah might not feel so poorly with her breathing. The O2 did not help and the cardiologist on-call for the office was called. He (Dr. Kaiser) ordered increased litres of oxygen, Ativan to help calm her breathing and a much larger dose of morphine than she had been getting. Shortly after the increase in O2, Mariah's oxygen decreased to the lower 70%s which is entirely too low and her heart rate slowed to 43bpm. The RN's (she had two at her bedside by this time) quickly had her start using her incentive spirometer again to help expand her lungs more effectively. Thankfully, her oxygen saturation started to increase.
6:00
pm ~ She's on the move, again. Ugh! Mariah was being "evicted" from the hospital room she was moved to last night. The room was needed for two 6yr old boys and the nurses were moving her back to the room she was in originally....the room with the enthusiastic Yahtzee players. Mariah expressed her concern to her nurses (through tear filled eyes) of being back in the room with all the insensitivity and loudness of her former roommate. Her nurse said she would remind Mariah's roommate of the necessity of being sensitive and quiet and if things got out of hand we could either ask the neighbors to stop or simply talk to her nurse. Once we arrived in the room, she was blessed, temporarily, with her teen roommate and the mom being very respectful. God is good.
5:30pm ~ Mariah is being her typical nurturing self and INSISTED I go downstairs to get a bit of food to bring back to her room for me to eat. Goofy girl keeps asking me, "Mom, when was the last time you ate? You HAVE to make sure you are eating!!!" This was the first time she had been left alone since her surgery and wouldn't you know, it is the time her cardiologist EP comes in to examine her. Yesterday, right after her surgery, he said he thought she would head home either Tuesday afternoon/evening or first thing Wednesday morning. Due to several issues, he said he does NOT want her discharged tomorrow and will re-evaluate her on Thursday.
4:30pm ~ Another walk! This time, she was adventurous and made a big loop outside the pediatric area. She placed her right arm around my shoulder for support and to steady her and Bobby was on her left side in the event of her needing additional support or becoming too dizzy and requiring quick assistance to sit on the floor to avoid falling. She did very well and only needed her arm around my shoulder to brace herself and for support.
1:00pm ~ Mariah was blessed with some nice, sound sleep for a couple of hours this afternoon. (I took advantage of that opportunity and slept a bit, also).
9:30am ~ per Mariah's EP's orders, we went for a walk partially through the pediatric unit. She did very well and was thankful for the pain medication she received when she returned to her room. Of course, she was weak and dizzy (not eating since 11:30pm Sunday night will do that to a person in addition to the meds she's taking). I am SO proud of how strong and brave she is!!
8:00am ~ Mariah's cardiologist evaluated the incision and entire area and was quite pleased with how it appeared! Her chest xrays were, in his words, "perfect".
8:00am ~ The pressure dressing was removed and showed to be very effective at reducing some of the swelling in the area. Her incision is much more flat and the entire area doesn't seem nearly as swollen as before.
7:45am ~ the EKG Mariah just had went well other than the pain involved in removing her arm from the immobilizer to place the stickers for the leads. She's doing well.
7:15am ~ She's back in her hospital room (and is still the only patient occupying this room, thankfully). Her nurse gave her pain meds right after she arrived back into her bed since she was in so much pain from the transport and slight movement of her left arm after the immobilizer was removed for the xray.
6:30am ~ Mariah had several chest xrays to check the placement of her ICD and leads. Her shoulder immobilizer needed to be removed for this. Getting into the different positions required for the xray was very painful for Mariah, despite having IV morphine administered prior to the transport to radiology. BUT, she handled it like a champ!!
