CVR stands for Cardiovascular Recovery Unit???
Hmmm...but that's what the sign says.
We've been practically living in this little waiting room over the past few days. I brought a small soft cooler to St. Louis, so Tiffany and I have been using it to pack a few cold drinks, breakfast and lunch. I bring my computer and iPod along and Tiffany brings along a book and a newspaper. We stake out our little corner of the room and hang out from 10am to 7pm. We can visit my Mom every two hours...supposed to be for just a half hour each time, but Doris, my Mom's nurse, is good with letting us visit a little longer.
Today is much much better than yesterday. The surgery she had is in the top 3 for the pain one feels afterwards. Yesterday, she was in scary amounts of pain. It was really hard to see her like that. It's hard to know what to say...
But today, though she is still in lots of pain...somehow, she is managing it better. AND, today she took her first pills by mouth. That's a good thing. Oh, and I got to see her vocal cords. It was like our own private episode of House. They stuck one of those snaky, tiny camera thingamajigs up her nose and then down into her throat to have a peek at her vocal cords. To make sure she could swallow without stuff going into her lungs. One of the vocal cords could be paralyzed. It isn't moving much at all. The other one is doing great. So her voice is really scratchy and soft. She sounds a lot like my grandfather. It's kind of spooky.
Anyway, she also hit another milestone today...Doris got her sitting straight up with her legs "dangling" off the side of the bed. (They don't really dangle but that's the term they use). Anyway, she sat up like this for 45 minutes at a time. She had to do this 3 times today. We were with her for two of those times. It's exhausting for her...and she's out for a nice nap afterwards.
She also did her breathing exercises (got to inflate the lung they deflated for the surgery)...10 deep breaths. She did well on that too.
So Tiffany and I are very pleased with her progress. Now, if the pain would diminish a bit, that would be even better. Baby steps though.
Oh and Elvis is here. There's a guy that keeps coming into the CVR who, we think, looks very like the King. It cracks me up. In the words of Mojo Nixon, "Elvis is everywhere!" We want to get a photo but don't want to be too obvious.
We've been practically living in this little waiting room over the past few days. I brought a small soft cooler to St. Louis, so Tiffany and I have been using it to pack a few cold drinks, breakfast and lunch. I bring my computer and iPod along and Tiffany brings along a book and a newspaper. We stake out our little corner of the room and hang out from 10am to 7pm. We can visit my Mom every two hours...supposed to be for just a half hour each time, but Doris, my Mom's nurse, is good with letting us visit a little longer.
Today is much much better than yesterday. The surgery she had is in the top 3 for the pain one feels afterwards. Yesterday, she was in scary amounts of pain. It was really hard to see her like that. It's hard to know what to say...
But today, though she is still in lots of pain...somehow, she is managing it better. AND, today she took her first pills by mouth. That's a good thing. Oh, and I got to see her vocal cords. It was like our own private episode of House. They stuck one of those snaky, tiny camera thingamajigs up her nose and then down into her throat to have a peek at her vocal cords. To make sure she could swallow without stuff going into her lungs. One of the vocal cords could be paralyzed. It isn't moving much at all. The other one is doing great. So her voice is really scratchy and soft. She sounds a lot like my grandfather. It's kind of spooky.
Anyway, she also hit another milestone today...Doris got her sitting straight up with her legs "dangling" off the side of the bed. (They don't really dangle but that's the term they use). Anyway, she sat up like this for 45 minutes at a time. She had to do this 3 times today. We were with her for two of those times. It's exhausting for her...and she's out for a nice nap afterwards.
She also did her breathing exercises (got to inflate the lung they deflated for the surgery)...10 deep breaths. She did well on that too.
So Tiffany and I are very pleased with her progress. Now, if the pain would diminish a bit, that would be even better. Baby steps though.
Oh and Elvis is here. There's a guy that keeps coming into the CVR who, we think, looks very like the King. It cracks me up. In the words of Mojo Nixon, "Elvis is everywhere!" We want to get a photo but don't want to be too obvious.