Not So Great A Night

Unfortunately after the anesthesia from surgery wore off Ainsley became fussy despite the epidural. Because she is non-verbal it is really difficult to pinpoint the exact problem. And even though she normally will answer yes no questions I don't think she knew exactly what the problem was or was refusing to answer my questions. For a bit it seemed there could be some stomach pain from gas (venting the g-tube helped) which is common after surgery, or perhaps her stomach wasn't really ready for Pedialyte so we stopped and started that. Then we got Tylenol on board. That didn't do much (big surprise) and tried Atavan at 2am for muscle spasms (her right foot was twitching a lot). She slept a good part of yesterday afternoon so I suspect she wasn't tired. And she normally sleeps on her stomach, something you can't do in the hospital, especially with a cast on. Whatever the cause she wasn't sleeping. Then all the fussing caused her to have constant secretions and I swear I was up every 20-40 minutes suctioning her all night long. Twice I tried to climbing in bed with her to hold her hand but that didn't work either. I suspect she is also frustrated at not being able to move her legs. Or maybe it's just the fact that they cut her hips and legs into bits and reassembled them. Funny I think she was just as unhappy about the medical bracelets and IV as she is about the cast. Whichever each of these things played a part she was pretty much like this off and on all night.

This morning we had ortho rounds, family rounds, then a visit from the surgeon and then a consult with the pain team. They agreed she should be more comfortable and authorized a bolus of the epidural med. That should numb things up a bit more. They also started an anti-inflamitory. And we may start giving the Atavan around the clock and then back off if she's too sedated. Finally around 10:00am after all the night nurse and; respiratory visits, and morning activity she has crashed out and is resting. What a relief.