D/C the PCA and Move to PO

What?

Mom's nurse was a new graduate, so I can completely empathize, but she was a little heavy on the acronyms! To translate, Mom's Patient Controlled Analgesia (a pump through which she can self-administer pain medication) was discontinued, and she's now taking pain pills when needed by mouth. This symbolizes a huge step in the right direction, because her pain is well managed, not to mention that she's had not one bit of nausea, has walked the halls twice, and is hoping to try solids tomorrow- providing things move along tonight, if you know what I'm sayin'...

We met with Dr. Nelson bright and early, who was happy with Mom's progress, and graciously and patiently explained and re-explained many details of the surgery since Mom's memory of yesterday is limited. The only main concern throughout the course of the day was her extremely low blood pressure, which was causing waves of intense dizziness. It was explained that this could be due to the combination of extreme blood loss during surgery and the anesthesia. As I mentioned before, her hematocrit (measure of whole blood circulating) was also down to 30 yesterday post-op from a healthier 37 pre-op (42 or greater is ideal in adult women). By this morning it had dropped to 25, then 24 this afternoon, and we were sure a blood transfusion was on the horizon. To combat her low blood pressure, she was being pumped up with tons of IV fluids, but by the afternoon, she started peeing a ton and her blood pressure rose a bit and she really perked up.

Dr. Nelson said her hematocrit and blood pressure certainly warrant close watch, but often times from so much fluid, the hematocrit can get a bit diluted, but as the body regulates by releasing that excess fluid as urine, things can re-regulate themselves. Hopefully, no blood transfusion.

Overall, Mom had such a great day. She had visits from friends, received a ton of emails through St. Frannie's patient care website (Kudos to Tante Charlotte for sending two in one day!), and had one great nurse after another.

This recovery experience has already been drastically different than last year, it's certainly providing me with great hope and relief, and I can only imagine how happy my Mom must be.

Since her pain and nausea are well controlled, she just needs to pass le gas, tolerate a full diet, and have a symphony of bowel sounds. Then- home we go!