RA Lines Out

They took Brida's RA lines (catheters to heart) out this morning.  We were able to hold her for the first time since the surgery on Thursday.  They had to give her another dose of morphine for removing the lines, so she was sleepy until the afternoon.  Once she woke up, she was looking around a lot.  Brida is digesting milk given through the feeding tube well.  Since the RA lines are out, she will not be able to receive TPN nutrients anymore. She will get all her nutrients from milk, and some occasional glucose through the IV when needed.

The nurses also notified us that Brida is now doing well enough that they expect her to be released to the post-surgical floor tomorrow.  The post-surgical floor will have l:3 nurse to patient ratio (compared with a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio in the PICU/CICU), but Brida will have a private room with a guest bed.

Before being released to the post-surgical floor, the Speech therapist will work with Brida on drinking.  They will probably do a swallow test using a radiolucent die under fluoro (live x-ray, hopefully using a GE/OEC C-arm :-) ) to check that her anatomy is swallowing properly.

Below is a video from today of Brida awake and looking around while being held by her dad: