Waking Up

Ash is back in her room here at the PICU and is just starting to wake up. She peeked at me through tiny slits in her eyelids and began to shake, "no,no". Both femoral lines have been removed. The subclavian line has been placed. The surgeon just left and told me the new chest tube instantly put out 150cc as soon as they inserted it and is continuing to drain. Her left chest tube continues to put out high amounts of fluid as well.

Her vent settings are low enough to extubate but her sedation and pain meds must be weaned. This is good and bad. Good because it is the next step in having her breathe on her own again. Bad because she must learn to cope with the breathing tube, the discomfort of the chest tubes, and the soreness from her line attempts and placement. She is very sore and very bruised from all that she has endured over the past 10 days. Please pray that she will be able to cope with the wean of all the meds. Ash has a huge history of withdrawal from these medications. It could be a very long day and night for my sweet Ashley.

Ultimately all of this is good news. It is a painful process, but one that must take place in order to get her back home. That is our ultimate goal. Living life, happily back in our little yellow house as a family of five.