It's another day...

Well, let's suffice it to say, 'It was a rather long night.' Bethany is doing well and can receive a morphine shot every three hours, upon request. Yup, she's requesting them. That, along with Zofran (for nausea). Both seem to be doing their job and allowing her some sleep, albeit fitful. She has had a LOT of neck and upper body pain, along with her lower back and head, however, her upper body/neck/shoulders and headaches seem to be being the brunt of her surgery. Hot compresses seem to help a lot, along with a cold, damp washcloth on her forehead.

Bethany fell asleep around 11pm, and I stayed up and watched 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,' on Hulu, till around midnight. Thus, when Bethany woke up (for the upcoming day), I was a tad tired. She was having extreme headaches, neck and shoulder pain, and nausea. Her catheter and IV's were hurting, etc. Again, another morphine shot and some Zofran and a steroid, too.

Her neurosurgeon's assistant arrived around 5 am to assess her recovery and surgical site. Then, the neurosurgeon, Dr. Healy, arrived shortly thereafter. Dr. Healy surmised that Bethany has been leaking an excessive amount of csf (spinal fluid), so she will need to lay flat for the next 4.5 to 5 days. Her body makes 500 ml of csf daily, and she leaked over 550 ml yesterday. My lowering her body level, the drainage should decrease. No problem there. Dr. Healy has reminded us (not that he needed to because we were acutely aware)of the complications of Bethany's last two surgeries; she leaked an excessive amount of csf for months. So.....no problem whatsoever laying on her back for awhile.

As of this morning, Bethany had yet to keep any fluids or solids down, except for one cherry flavored starburst. I guess she just needed a tiny sugar fix. Bethany was, however, able to keep down a slice of bacon, a pancake and some chocolate milk this morning. This means, the staff will be able to give her a percocet--which will last longer than morphine and it isn't a shot--it's a pill. Woo Hoo!

Bethany, even though she has a headache, is listening to her MP3 player, while doing a crossword puzzle. Hmmm. Well, best be ending this. It's time for more pain meds and a linen change.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers to our Most Heavenly Father on Bethany's behalf. Please continue to pray for a quick and total recovery, and for peace and comfort for Bethany. Blessings to all.