A good day

Today was a good day for Paola. As I mentioned earlier, she’s off oxygen and the dressing was removed from her abdominal incision. Her fever is gone. She’s still receiving pain meds, but only by request. She’s still receiving prophylactic antibiotics and anti-nausea medication, as well as IV hydration fluids. This evening she began eating again. One of the doctors told Paola that she could eat anything (meaning, anything the dietary department sends her). Paola misunderstood and thought that she could have ANYTHING. She asked her mom and brother to bring her a grilled cheese sandwich. Sorry Paola, for now it’s jello!

The biggest news is that Paola’s moving around. She sat in a chair 3.5 hours this morning, and she sat in the chair again another 2 hours while I was with her. She’s in bed now, but prior to that she walked around the room a little bit. She’s sitting up, getting out of bed, walking, and getting back into bed largely on her own power. She’s not at all wobbly – these motions hurt her, but she can do them. She’s also using the bedside toilet.

In addition to being in pain, Paola feels gross. It will be a while longer until she can take a real shower or bath. In the meantime, I gave her a sponge bath today, and I washed her hair. She also got to brush her teeth for the first time since before surgery, and she put her nose ring back in. So, all in all, it was a good day. If she has a good night tonight, she might be ready to start receiving visitors. I'll let you know. If you do plan to visit, please be aware that room for flowers, etc., is extremely limited. Thanks,
allie