Mom's Day 2.1

The doctor has decided to leave Mom in ICU through today (Saturday). They are still trying to wean her off of the ventilator, but she is just not ready yet. They hope for it to happen this evening.

The ICU nurses say it is a bit of a balancing act. The pain medications strong enough to ease Mom's pain have the ability to require the ventilator, yet they don't want her to take enough of the medication to keep her on the machine. For now, Mom has control of the pain medication by way of a push button. I can only imagine she is in quite a bit of pain.

The doctor originally told us that she could be in ICU for the first 2-3 days following surgery, so none of this is a surprise. It's just part of the process for now, and only Mom can do it. Only she can determine her ability and strength to battle through the process of getting off the machine.

When we saw her today, she was groggily alert and able to mouth some words. She communicated that the nurses have been "great", that she loves us, and that her pain has been somewhat moderate. She also knows the doctor said she came through surgery well.

In the meantime, we are letting her rest. They only allow 2 visitors at a time for a 15 minute slot every 2-3 hours.

Had our first thunderstorm last night. Wasn't much, but certainly more than we ever get in California. Rain has been on and off throughout the day, but we should get a few more thunderstorms in the next couple days, so they say.

More later.....