Bratcat's j-pouch connection

Yup, a number of members have posted here in the past about IV potassium hurting! Sorry that Bratcat had to experience THAT, too. Hope she'll be able to rest at night in spite of the babies. There never seems to be any logic to patient room assignment in hospitals!  A normally quiet friend I went to visit who required emergency hip replacement surgery was placed in a hospital room with an extremely talkative ambulatory patient who had 3 generations of family constantly visiting and/or using the phone. Then when this friend was transferred to a nursing home for rehab, the assigned roommate was a TV addict who blasted the set all day/evening. It beats me why hospitals can't try harder to make noise the exception rather than the rule-- so that patients recovering from surgery can get the rest they need w/o frequent & tiring disruptions! / Old Hat (nearly 30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.]) 

Roomie update...the 13 month old girl was moved to different room (although she came back to visit tonight) and a teenage girl moved in. She had some sort of brain surgery a few days ago. She seems nice but we haven't spoken too much because she is sleeping most of the time. Bratcat and I played Wii today! I never played before. Even with her recent surgery she still whooped me at boxing and some of the other "physical" games. The video games are one of the perks to being on the pediatric floor. They also had 2 beautiful therapy dogs come in today to visit.

Bratcat had to have a new IV put in. She has terrible veins to see so it was somewhat of a fiasco. We are at a teaching hospital, which can be a great thing, but sometimes you feel the patient is a pin cushion. If she needs bloodwork tomorrow I will demand someone from the phlebotomy department. And I hope the doctor will have her off the IV as soon as possible. Right now it is mainly for her PCA (and some fluids). They have to take her off the PCA and onto pills before she can be released anyway. She is supposed to start soft solids in the AM.

Otherwise she is doing well. The doctor removed the packing on the stoma site. I didn't look much but saw alot of gauze removed. He said it looked good and that she could shower as is with no problem. The stoma site doesn't seem to hurt too much. I think it is time to go home because Bratcat's getting restless. We walk alot but it is a fairly small wing in the shape of a T. We've run out of things to look at on the walls and in the rooms we pass.

Yes, Old Hat, she is at North Shore. She doesn't have to have any more bloodwork. Yay! Today she is on solids. They removed her pain med IV. She can request darvocet but asked for tylenol instead. And it helped. She has to have all 3 meals here today and then I can take her home tonight! She had cheerios for breakfast. Not sure if they will send her grilled cheese for lunch (her request). Her dad came up for awhile this morning. He took alot of the stuff home already so she better be released tonight.

So if all goes well, the next post from me (or maybe Bratcat someday) will be from home!