Day 4 in the land that time forgot.

Day four in the land that time forgot. I think that's the most fitting way to describe a hospital. 

This morning was BAD. Probably one of the worst mornings of my life. Ava didn't sleep at all last night. The dr took her off Toradol (a pain med) since it's an aspirin and she needed a blood transfusion yesterday. He put her back on the morphine, but on a continuous drip with a push button for an added boost if needed. The morphine was making her really itchy, she was rubbing her eyes so hard that she was breaking the skin around it. Plus, every time she would rub her eyes, she'd bump the tube in her nose, and a couple of times, almost pull it out. 

She could have benadryl every 6 hours, but it was wearing off in 5 hours, so I would have to deal with trying to hold her hands down for an hour until she could have it again. The dr decided to try another pain med (in the same family as morphine) and Ava had a really bad reaction to it. She was writhing on the bed, clawing at her face, her heart rate was shooting up and her oxygen levels were dropping. I called my husband to see where he was at (we alternate nights that we stay with her) and he was pulling into the parking lot. He pulled right up front, hopped out and let my father in law go park the car. 

The dr decided that Ava had such a bad reaction to it that they didn't want to give her any other meds until it had worn off. At this point, it was 9:15, so she said we had to wait until 11 to give her something else. Plus, with her oxygen levels dropping, they didn't want to give her any more benadryl since it's a sedative. So for almost 2 hours, my husband, father in law and I had to take turns holding down Ava's arms, trying to keep her from moving too much (she did just have abdominal surgery) and listen to her cry out in distress. It was fucking awful. Sorry, that's the only way I can describe it. 

She started to settle down, and the nurse got the okay to put her back on the toradol and benadryl. So Ava had those at 11:15. She still seemed really antsy and wouldn't sleep (even though she had been up since 7pm the night before) so my father in law suggested that maybe Ava was bored. We got some toys for her and she started to play with them. I did have to hold her up in a sitting position, but it was so wonderful to watch her be "normal" again. 

So right now it's just after 2pm, and she finally fell asleep. Jake did have to get the nurse to shut off an alarm (Ava had a lead attached to the wrong place on her chest) and I told the nurse that if anyone came in and woke her up, that I might have to kill them. Not even joking. 

So that's where we are, folks. Thank you for the continued prayers. I apologize that I can't personally write back each and every one of you who has commented and emailed me personally. But know that I appreciate it, so much. 

So, we're still waiting on poop before they can feed her. They're not hearing bowel sounds yet, but the morphine does slow down the bowel (another good reason to take her off it). The hemotologist just came by and said that Ava's blood levels are better, not perfect but on the low end of normal. At this point, I'll take it. 

I get to go home and sleep tonight, hoping hubby and Ava has a good night sleep. The support of our friends has been amazing. Food, gas gift cards, drinks, magazines, toys for Ava. As much as I'm hurting right now, I still have a lot of blessings to count.