Good Times in Graceland

We're in the Good Day Zone here in Graceland.  Even last night, when Grace's IV stopped working at 4am, she was able to remain mostly sleeping while the IV nurse set up a new IV.  Unheard of with Grace's tiny veins!

Today, Grace got off of her oxygen, which is a great thing considering she was clawing at it every two seconds.  Her poor sensitive skin reacted to the tape holding it and left her with extra rosy cheeks that look like she just attempted her first blush application.

The number two thing on her to do list was, well, number two, which she managed to accomplish in glorious fashion.  Darren mysteriously left the room just in time to miss that diaper change.  

During rounds today, they felt she was doing well and looking good.  They decreased the dose of one of her diuretics in hopes that they can wean her off the high doses she's currently on.  She's still not producing the urine they'd like to see -these people are obsessed with urine. You can't spell hospital without 'p'.    These next few days, they plan to continue to work on the mix of drugs she needs to have the most efficiently working heart.  They want to do this slowly to make sure she adjusts well to each change so we don't go backwards again.  This means we'll be here through the weekend for sure, and possibly longer, but we're happy they're being extra cautious and taking time to be sure she's really doing well before they send us on our way.  In the meantime, we're supposed to try to get her back on a routine (easier said than done with vitals being checked every 4 hours).  She's already on her way because she finds a way to be asleep every time the physical therapist stops by her room.  

The best news of the day:  They did another echocardiogram, which showed that the mitral valve leakage was MILD TO MODERATE!  NOT SEVERE!  We've learned over the last few days that echoes can be read differently by different people.  We spoke to Dr. Spray's physician assistant, who had reviewed everything with Dr. Spray prior to talking with us, and she said that the mitral valve looks good (as good as it did in the OR immediately after it was repaired) and the course of treatment for the leakage remaining is medications.  She did not seem thrilled that we were told that the leakage was severe enough to warrant surgery in a few months to a year.  While there are no guarantees she won't need further repair in the future, they are happy with the way her heart is functioning now and they are moving forward without surgery in the picture. They've said Grace will show us if she can tolerate this leakiness.  She's shown us these past 10 days that she can handle a lot, so we're hoping this is one more thing she accomplishes!  Relief doesn't even begin to explain it!