02.09.13

So, while the Nissen band surgery looked like it went really well, it in fact, did not. At some point, either during the replacement of the G-tube or in recovery, Hannah's G-tube was knocked crooked. On Thursday after surgery, nurses started a very slow continuous feed that lasted for the following 24 hours. Because the tube was crooked, everything (food and all of her pain meds) was dumping outside of her stomach into her belly cavity. 

All of Thursday into Friday, Hannah was miserable. By Friday late afternoon, her belly began to swell and she was in even worse pain. The surgeon decided to sedate Hannah again and drain what they could out of her belly (about 17 oz. fluid). What they couldn't remove, they washed with saline solution and drained a final time. 

Recovery was very long. Hannah woke up fine, but was in a lot of pain. Her heart rate continued at a high level and pain meds were not helping. After many doses of different narcotics, we were moved back upstairs for the night. Unfortunately, Hannah was not only in pain, but everything she should have been eating, she wasn't, and all of her post-surgery pain meds from the previous 24 hours had done nothing. 

We did get an hour of sleep during the night and an hour this morning. Several attempts were made at pain management, and we have finally got a decent system in place. The every-hour morphine doses were too far apart so Hannah is now on a constant slow drip of morphine and she can have additional larger doses every ten minutes as needed. Tylenol and an antibiotic help too.

Our greatest issue now is the risk for infection. We will have regular blood draws to check white blood cells and we will keep a close eye on her temperature. She will probably continue to have a decent amount of pain from irritation in her belly. Right now, Hannah can only have IV nutrition, but if things go well, we may be able to start a very slow continuous feed tomorrow evening. IV fluids help her feel nourished, but she's not fooled into thinking its the real thing (I wouldn't either after not eating real food since Wednesday!). We will have to stay probably through Friday for monitoring before an escape home can be planned.

Hannah is now resting. My fingers (and toes) are crossed for a non-eventful night. I may look like a million bucks with two hours rest and no makeup, but Will really needs his beauty sleep:)