Oh What a Night becomes Here Comes the Sun

I'll cut through the preamble and introduction to assure one and all that my little Janica is just fine. She is making it through recovery, being her usual spirited self. So now to the story.

Hospitals are not conducive to sleep. Not for the patient, and certainly not for the patients mother. Janica actually slept quite a bit better than I did. For the most part, she had the drugs to keep her asleep. I, on the other hand, was sensitive to every sound and every movement. When her monitor beeped, when the nurse came in every four hours to check her stats, and most especially when Janica started crying around 4 am because her pain meds had worn off. It took longer than I would have liked for the meds to start working. The final straw came at 7:30 when the resident doctor came in to check Janica's incision. I decided to stop trying fighting what was clearly a losing battle.

Janica slept most of the day on Tuesday. She seemed to wake up long enough to get more pain meds, and then she was back to sleep. Dr Brockmeyer came in to see her Tuesday morning. Although we originally took her to see him because of her lack of bladder control, he told us that the surgery wouldn't guarantee better control. The main purpose for the surgery was to untether her nerves, so she wouldn't have permanent nerve damage. In fact, it is very possible that she will need surgery again in another few years. While not an ideal situation, we would rather future surgery, than Janica have permanent nerve damage.

Last night I went home and got a good night's sleep, while Jason stayed in the hospital with Janica. Wouldn't you know that she had problems with her catheter after I left and things were a bit traumatic for her for a while. When Jason told me about it, I was ready to hop in the car and trade places with him immediately, but he was able to talk me down. It was probably for the best too, because I really needed the sleep.

I came back to the hospital this morning and found that all was well. In fact, Janica was doing great. She was eating and drinking no problem, and her biggest complaint was that she couldn't get off her back and she was bored. Today our goal was to do something about that. So this afternoon, we took out the catheter and the epidural. We unhooked her from all the wires and tubes, and then she was able to walk by herself! We walked down the hallway and back. By the time we got back to the room, Janica was pretty tired and ready for a rest. Even then, she wouldn't get back into bed. She was sick of lying down! She sat on a chair or stood by her bed, but we couldn't coax her back in. The highlight of the day for all of us was when my dad brought Tegan and Kierra down to the hospital to see their sister. All three of them were very excited to see each other. They have a very close bond. Tegan and Kierra stayed long enough to eat dinner and watch Cinderella, and then it was time for them to head home.

So now I prepare myself for what I hope will be a more pleasant night. Janica took a late nap and is still very awake. I think I'm coming down with a cold and of course I don't have any decongestants or anything. Oh well. On the plus side, I am very tired, so that should help me sleep through the night.

Jason will be coming back in the morning, but he will wait until the doctor comes in the morning and tells us if Janica can go home tomorrow or not. If she can, then Jason will come down with Tegan and Kierra and we will all go home together. Tonight, after listening to Janica cry about how she wants to go home, I really hope that will be the case.