Day 2, 10:30 AM

We were tickled to see Janie this morning and to learn that she'd had a good night. On several occasions yesterday, we were advised that she could "nadir" (to use the doctors' words) about 8 - 12 hours after surgery which would have been around midnight last night. As expected, a couple indicators did trail off (amount of urine being one), but overall she didn't drop off to the extent they might have expected (great news!). She also did run a fever for a brief time (once again not a surprise) and that too has come back down. Therefore, Night 1 was about as ideal as we could have hoped for! (As an added bonus, Jennifer and I both rested quite a bit better last night than we did Monday night.)


One advantage of this being a teaching hospital is that the attending doctors are always walking medical students and residents through decisions and items they're observing. As parents, we're always invited to participate in these hallway teaching moments so we are able to listen to both the bedside feedback we get and the medical-speak of the professionals. As a numbers guy, I'm not gifted medically in any way, but it's fascinating to ask questions and learn. I'll say it again, the giftedness of these brilliant doctors and nurses is a blessing to us.


Janie G continues to have moments of restlessness when her sedatives wear off. We've always said she's a fighter! If she's got just a trace of Jensen in her...she'll never sit still! However, so long as she's hooked up to all these wires and the breathing tube in particular, they'll need to keep her very calm. Therefore, she just lays there like an angel most of time. The good news is that they have begun the process of unhooking some lines/wires. 2 wires that were invasive near her heart/lungs (monitoring vitals from the inside) were removed about 8:15 this morning by the surgeon. It's a step in the right direction. As the nurse and doctors have said...less tubes mean we're closer to leaving the PICU (and closer to home!). We hope that the breathing tube will be removed this afternoon. At that point, we'll probably get more glimpses of the Janie we knew early Tuesday morning. I'm ready to see her eyes (for more than 2 seconds) and hear a babble. Today's first pic isn't too different than last night...but if you look closely you'll notice the bandage is off her incision (although covered by a cloth) and a couple small wires are gone. I hope the next pic you see has more noticeable change! GREAT NEWS...As I was finishing my final thoughts here...Jennifer called me (I'm down in the cafeteria...no food/drink in the PICU) to tell me the breathing tube is coming out!!! (Apparently she's been very restless. As her dad, I kind of like that she's sick of being uncomfortable. It tells me she's ready to be better. Of course, the nurses don't like it.) That next pic may come sooner than I thought and I've got to get back up there to see her!