Surgery recovery update #1

Since Summer had surgery last Thurs, they have been watching her closely. She was looking fine for the first day, but still hadn't really woken up. The nurse told us that sometimes it can take up to 48 hours for a small baby to wake up. By Friday night at 10:30 PM she still hadn't made much progress. Over night she started struggling to breathe. They did an x-ray and found air in her belly and fluid on her lungs. She wasn't peeing much and the fluid remained on her lungs. As the night went on she needed a blood transfusion because her white blood cell count was really low. Her blood pressure lowered a little and she was very sleepy. The oxygen level was almost 100%. They determined she has an infection. I had not been feeling well this week after Morgan was sick Monday and was worried I may have taken a bug to her....I have stayed away since Thurs. just in case. They moved her from a traditional ventilator and onto an Oscillator. We got very nervous...this was the "last resort" vent that Brooke had been on. We got a call from the doctor around 7:30 AM to tell us what was happening.

I called the nurse around 2 PM and Summer had started improving. As the day went on, they were able to turn down her oxygen to about 85%. They had started a Morphine drip, given her blood pressure medication, a couple more antibiotics, given her a blood transfusion and other blood products, and an immune system booster. The nurse was very happy that she had been improving and by then she was getting stronger...her color was pink, she was warm and comfortable, and she was responsive...she tried opening her eyes when the nurse touched her and gripped her finger.

About an hour later, my parents visited her and my dad gave Summer a Priesthood blessing. I was happy they could do this for us....Tom and I really wanted to see her (though NOT on the Oscillator. Too many bad memories. Tom was also planning to give her a blessing, but was unable to make it there on time Thurs. I am grateful my dad can do this :)

I checked back in with Summer's nurse around 10:00 PM and was told she had improved even more. They were able to reduce the Oscillator by a point and had reduced the oxygen to 75%. She had improved in many areas since the night nurse had come on at 7:00 PM. They will do a lot of lab work at 4:00 AM...blood draw, blood gas, and an x-ray (to see if she still has air in her belly). They will have the results by 6:00 AM...