A day that ended better than it began

So, as I previously mentioned, Paola spent last night throwing up repeatedly. This, along with the resulting lack of sleep, left her feeling not too hot today. She was very drowsy the majority of the day. Sometime in the early afternoon, she felt nauseous again. This was a false alarm, but it left her troubled and unhappy.

The day had good news too. For one, Paola's off morphine. She is still on pain medications but only by request.

Most of the good news came after 4pm. She got out of bed (largely under her own power, same as yesterday) and sat in a chair for two hours. This is really important for many, many reasons, and it was very encouraging. She got back into bed largely under her own power as well. The unit was understaffed (a recurring issue) so no nurse was available to give Paola a sponge bath in the afternoon [she'd declined when offered one in the morning], so her mom and I gave her a sponge bath and Paola's mom "washed" Paola's hair. (The hospital has these cool hairnets that have shampoo inside of them. If a patient can't wash his/her hair, one of these hairnets can be pulled over the hair and the shampoo can be rubbed in via a massaging motion. Then, the hairnet is removed, the hair is towel dried and combed. Result: clean hair.)

Perhaps the best news of the day was that Paola's night nurse, Jack, (who she and her mom think is FANTASTIC) managed to locate a reclining chair. We've been asking for a cot or a reclining chair for days as Paola's mom has been spending the nights at the hospital in utter misery. Paola's mom's discomfort has been upsetting Paola so getting this chair was a really good thing for both of them.

I think that's all the news. Let's cross our fingers for an uneventful night so that both Paola and her mom can get some rest.

Bye,
allie