Ups and downs

There are going to be ups and downs during this recovery process. Most days there have been improvements in Bridget's condition (and that is even true of today), and we can do our best to focus on those positive outcomes. But today was a bit of a downer day. Bridget was thinking today about just how unfair it is that she had to have this problem, and had to have this crazy surgery, and how it is going to deeply impact our lives, and that made her (and I) kinda sad. It is important to have and experience these feelings, to acknowledge and accept what has happened.

Yesterday Bridget was a lot more energetic than she had ever been on days previous. She was up all day, with no naps, and was pretty active (for her current condition). Today she was a little more tired, so that contributed to her feelings I think. It was really nice to talk to one of the physician's assistant here who provided some sensible perspective on this. There will be periods of ups and periods of downs, and if we focus on pluses and minuses each day, we'll drive ourselves crazy fast. Better to look back on gains made over longer periods. When we do that for the last week, it's actually quite reassuring. A week ago Bridget would not have been able to do nearly any of the things she did today. So that was reassuring to hear, in a very non-definitive way.

But in fact, Bridget did stay up all day again today, and was still very active compared to a couple of days ago. AND Bridget passed another swallowing test today! This means she can now drink thin liquids - like regular water and tea. You wouldn't have thought it, but thin liquids are some of the most difficult things to swallow, as they go down the throat very fast. So breakfast tomorrow will be a lot better :)

And - SO EXCITING - Bridget is moving on up to rehab tomorrow morning! This is super great, for at least two reasons: 1) her condition is stable enough that she doesn't need to be monitored so closely anymore, and 2) now she can finally work more seriously on regaining some functionality in those arms and limbs. Hopefully rehab will allow Bridget to win back some much-desired skills.

She's also been eating so much that they are taking her off of her TPN. She's also not getting the sodium solution anymore, since her most recent CT scan showed that her ventricles are still functioning normally, as they were a couple of days ago. Oh, and I guess I have to ask the doctor's and PAs the same questions over and over again. One doctor had told me that most of the swelling in Bridget's brain should have gone down by now. But that is not true - the CT scan shows there is still swelling, and the swelling could take a long time to go down (on the order of weeks). The brain just doesn't work like other parts of the body. The PA we talked to today basically told us that if anybody tells us that they know how Bridget's recovery is going to go, that's really more opinion than fact. Excpet he did say we should trust Dr. Newell :)

Bridget's pain is also way down. She mostly feels pain on her incision site when she's sleeping, and and putting pressure on it for long periods. So she's hardly taking any pain meds anymore.

Weening off all of these medications and solutions is going to make her feel a lot more normal. And really, each day since the surgery has been a step in that direction. Focus on the positive!