End of Day 2

Well - we are not quite out of the woods just yet and things may not go to plan all of the time and there may well be set backs - but all in all the worse is over (I hope!)

As an example of this having returned into ICU this afternoon Loretta was in some discomfort. In fact she got herself into such a state because she just could not comfortable and was still having some breathing difficulties. She rolled over on her side and it was a good job that I was on that side of the bed otherwise she may well have rolled right out. In the next five minutes or so the discomfort just got worse and she still just did not know what to do with herself - but the nurses acted quickly. They upped her sedation immediately and put her into slide position to get her to the top of the bed so that they could then operate the bed and put her into an almost upright position as the bed virtually became a chair.

As quickly as the panic started it vanished once Loretta was more upright and she said to me that she just did not know what to do when it happened. On their rounds the doctors did mention the respiratory problems that she had suffered yesterday and at this stage I discovered a bit more as to how the ICU works. There are three different sections on the ward with the ones needing most attention in Level 1. Loretta was moved from Level 1 to 2 this morning so that is a good thing and earlier when I mentioned that she had been "up" - she had really been up and they managed to get her doing a little walk across the ward and stopped her when she was getting tired.

Being in ICU means that she has her own personal nurse that just stays at the bottom of her bed monitoring her 24/7 and keeping an eye on every single reading on all of the machines throughout.

With her going into extra sedation mode after the scare I told her that I would get going as I did not want her trying to stay awake for me - she needs as much rest as possible and it is good to know that she could not be in a much better place right now to get over this as quickly as possible. Leicester Hospital may not be the most local hospital for us but they are the specialists for these kind of operations.

So tomorrow I shall do pretty much the same as today and start taking in a few things in for her that she asked for today - its just that you cannot have much with you on ICU and they can supply you with just about anything that you may require. I have seen that already with lippy and a hair brush although she insisted on having her own which I just happened to have with me :)