Day 3 Post-op Updates

Here are the updates for Day 3 Post-op! (10/21/18)

8:16pm update:
I just got to listen to Job's new heart beat. I can't believe he has a new heart. I can't believe he's still alive.

7:40pm update:
Job had a pretty quiet day. He's woken up a little bit here and there and thrashed a bit but calmed down pretty quickly when we talk to him and rubbed his arms and legs and head. He got a PRN of dilaudid (an extra dose of narcotics) which helped during the worst of his pain. He got a dose of Benadryl before his dose of immunosuppressants so that helped him take a good afternoon nap. He's still too hot unless the cooling blanket is running. He was on huge doses of two different kinds of steroids which made him hypoglycemic, so they stopped one of the steroids and put him on insulin. It's a typical problem with the steroids, so he should be off the insulin soon.

1:37pm update:
A slight position change to the right side send Job's HR and BP down again, necessitating pacing for a bit. He recovered quickly but it's frustrating to the whole team that they don't know why this is happening.

10:56am update:
Vec is off, so Job's wrist restraints are on. His narcotics are upped to try to keep him comfortable, but he hates his mouth tube from the ventilator so he'll probably be uncomfortable and keep trying to get the tube out (thus restraints). I'm going to cuddle him as best I can and not be brokenhearted as he writhes. Maybe.

8:44am update:

I am guessing today is going to be a hard day as we try to wean Job's muscle relaxant, which has been keeping him paralyzed so that his body can recover from surgery. But he can't initiate his own breaths or cough while on this drug, so we can't make any progress towards extubation until we get off of it.

I am anticipating him being very uncomfortable and needing a lot of comforting.

When Job has been turned from his back on his side, especially his right side, (necessary to prevent bed sores) his HR and BP have dropped. He needed paced briefly twice overnight. So that instability could be the roadblock preventing other progress today.

He's peeing really well so they will probably yet again take off his diuretic.