A Long Night, but All is Well

We finally got to see Molly last night just before 7. She was so puffy from all of the fluids that I almost didn't recognize her. They had just given her some Morphine, so she was quite sedated, but didn't appear to be uncomfortable.

She was doing well enough that we didn't have to go to the PICU (Pediatric ICU), which was a nice surprise.

She was comfortable for the first couple of hours and then her heart rate increased and her breathing was more labored. It has been a roller-coaster ride with her pain medication. When we hit it right things are going fine, but when we are late or haven't given enough she was rather uncomfortable and cried out this quiet little cry (after being intubated during surgery). Around 3 or so this morning she came to and looked at me and seemed to register who I was for the first time. She looked and simply said "Da" (for Dad), so I woke up Jim and she was very happy to see him. He seems to have the magic touch when it comes to soothing Molly. It is so hard not being able to pick her up, but we know that will come.

She looks a lot longer with her "new" legs. It will be interesting to see how different she looks when we get to look at what is under the bandages.

Her temperature has been between 98 and 102.3, which is normal for post-surgery. Her breathing continues to be labored, which is an indication that she is still in pain, but seems to be doing much better than last night. We have stopped giving her Morphine for the time being and that seems to have made her feel better. Apparently Morphine can make you feel just dreadful. We're happy we had it for those first few hours, but we are now hoping to graduate on to different medication.

She has had some Jello today and a little bit of pears, but thus far has not been all that interested in eating or drinking. We're hoping that this will improve by tomorrow. She came to enough earlier today to actually play with a toy or two, which was a great sign.

I'm sure that tonight will be another rough one, but we are hoping that things will be going better by tomorrow.

Dr. Esposito, the Orthopaedic Surgeon, checked in with us today and showed us the films of her legs. Both femurs seem to be looking good and he is pleased with the outcome. Her left Tibia (shin bone) looks nice and straight, but her right Tibia has a little bit of a bow in it. He thinks that the bow he sees in the films shouldn't be too big of a problem and things are certainly worlds better than they were before. He did say that her bone was soft, but didn't give us any predictions for when to expect a need for new rods. For some kids they need rods within a year and other times kids can go several years without a problem. Most likely the Tibia rods will need to be replaced before the femurs, so at least the surgery won't be quite as extensive in the future.

Thank you again for all of your messages, thoughts, and prayers for Molly.

We will be working on posting pictures when we can.