| April 17, 2004 Saturday @ 4:00pm Day +44 of Transplant Day +1 Post-op Last night Paige was transferred to ICU since her vital signs were a bit unstable and her urine output had decreased significantly. Her respiratory rate was quite high, which decreased the amount of oxygen she was getting. They gave her oxygen, blood and some extra fluid during the night which stabalized her vital signs by this morning. Also during the night she "removed" her NGT (the tube that goes in her nose down to her stomach). Since her gut has been moving and she's had minimal nausea, surgery has decided to see how she does without it. The epidural seems to be giving her adequate pain control. While the nurses were great in ICU, it's nice to be back to the regular floor where we know the nurses and a few other families from our previous visits. A nurse that used to work in the ICU at Hurley was working in the Peds ICU last night, so it was nice to see a familiar face. By midnight I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open so my mom and I slept in the waiting room. I have no idea how he did it, but Andy stayed awake at Paige's bedside the entire night. He looked so tired this morning and is over sleeping at the hotel room now. This morning her oncologist, Dr. Hutchinson, was in to see her. He commented that the surgeon felt very positive about the surgery. While it may take up to a week to come back, we're anxious for the pathology report. We know we have a long way to go, but we feel encouraged and very thankful for our decisions for treatment thus far. I guess there's not much more to say. Besides a bit of generalized fluid retention (swelling) Paige looks pretty good overall. Thanks to everyone for all of your continued thoughts and prayers. We'll be sure to update tomorrow. Love, Andy, Sandi & Paige |