Day 3: On the Floor

So last night Sarah got moved on to the Floor out of ICU.  She is in a double which for privacy is not great, but her roomy is a 32 yr old girl, so that is good - not a 2 or 3 year old!  Last night was my assigned sleep night, so I got to go to the hotel and slept like a rock - so much better this morning!  Judi and Sarah fared well, but not a ton of sleep. 

This morning Sarah started eating a bit more and drinking more, all good stuff.  The big tasks today are:  #1.  Get up and walking (in general this is good, but specifically to get more drainage out the chest tube), and #2.  Get the chest tubes out (need #1 complete to do a #2).  And more #1s and #2s are always a bonus!

Just went for a nice pretty long walk and not much drainage out of the tubes, so that bodes well for getting the tubes out soon.  She is sitting up now, feeling pretty good, just eating and drinking:

Got the chest tubes and pacing wires out at about 12:45 today.  It went smooth, however Judi conveniently excused herself from the room when the surgical team came in to do their dirty work.  So I got to stay for the experience.  Sarah did great, she was pretty scared even with the drugs they gave her, but she didn't even cry.  They pull both tubes out simultaneously and there is about a foot of tubing in her chest cavity.  Cleaning crew had to come in after as the blood spatter tends to get on the floors, walls, etc.  Sorry if TMI, but Sarah wants this gory details documented - I will spare the pics.  Take that back... at her request, she wanted the pic as my description did not do it justice (please cover your children's eyes!):

Few seconds after chest tube removal.  2 terrible tubes on left.

After that ordered some lunch - chick tenders and mac-cheez.  She ate a decent amount, not a ton, but enough.  Then we went for a walk around the floor, at a pretty decent pace too.  Feeling much better sans tubes/wires.  She is napping now - much needed after a VERY busy first half of the day.

Next up:  chest x-ray, lab work, sleep.

More to come later...