I was just wondering this myself. Sending the good thoughts your way, mudpuppie!

I wondered too. Hope all's going well!

Hi y'all.

She had a bad night last night. Was in lots of pain all night. She looked awful when we got there this morning, but she improved during the day. They're having a hard time regulating her blood pressure. It was high yesterday; they put her on drugs today that dropped it way low. So, they're still working on figuring that all out.

However, they did make her walk around the ICU today, and she didn't get dizzy, so that's good. They also gave her a blood transfusion this afternoon. Her blood count was still low after surgery. She felt better afterwards.

She's still in the ICU, but should be in a regular room tomorrow.

It's stressful and all. My dad doesn't deal with this stuff well, and I spend a lot of time trying to talk him down. This morning, every time she closed her eyes he'd start talking to her. I think he needed to see her eyes open in order to feel that she was okay. But she just needed to sleep. She finally told him to go to lunch and let her sleep, which was good. And my dad doesn't take well to being parented by me, his youngest, so there's a lot of tiptoeing and politicking involved, which makes things tougher.

Anyway, my mom's doing pretty well, all things considered.

Amusing anecdote: One of the drugs she's on makes her HUM when she falls asleep. She told us this the day after her surgery, and we didn't believe her. But we heard it today, and yes, she hums in her sleep. This morning she kept waking herself up and saying "Don't laugh at me," even though we weren't -- we were kind of freaked out. By this afternoon, we were used to it. My dad, brother and I were in there with her during one of her naps, she started humming, and we all laughed hard enough to bring on the tears. Fortunately, she slept through it. Then she woke up and asked if anyone wanted to go see a movie....

Thanks for the continued good thoughts, peoples. We're hanging in.

Yay mompuppie! Sounds like she's on the road to recovery. In my experience dealing with various patients, bouncing back from such a surgery can be a slow (but steady) process. Walking around is a good sign. Good thoughts to you and the rest of the puppie family from myself and Science Girl.

Glad to hear she's on the mend, mudpuppie. Hugs and whuffles and such to you and yours through this tough time.

Hang in there!

I haven't been here in a few days, and I'm sorry to hear about this. I can relate to having a sick mom. :(

Walking (without dizzy!) is definitely a good sign.
Humming isn't so bad, either.
I'm glad your mom is doing ok after her surgery, although I know it's hard on all of you.

Please make sure to take care of yourself, too, mudpuppie. Thank you so much for the update. Best wishes for your family.

Rootin for your mom and you too kid.

Sending good wishes your mom's and your way, mudpuppie!

Fingers crossed for rapid recovery and redeployment of Mudpup Mom Unit Extra Special Friendship Pal #1!

Luck and hugs, 'pup.

I got my fingers crossed that she keeps humming for a long, healthy time.

Hang in there, pupps! *hug*

Thanks for the update - sounds like things are at least steady. (((pupp)))

Oh, how good to hear she's improving. All good thoughts are continually heading your way!

That's fantastic, mudpuppie. Here's to her continued recovery; it's also great to hear the rest of your family's laughing. Take care, all of you.

Hospital time is like no other time in the world. You're on another planet for a while. It's bizarre, and the changing moods of the moment are hard to understand.

But honestly, it sounds really positive! You're all doing great.

When my dad had a long serious hospital stay, one of the best things that happened was to have a couple of our family friends visit. They'd spend about half an hour at the bedside bringing happy energy, and then take me and my mom to lunch. Their normalness was such an encouragement and relief. I think when the family's gathered around the ill person, all the focus and energy goes to them. But the caregivers are under a lot of stress and need care, support, and relief, too. So it was good to send your dad to lunch, and if you can get someone in there who is a close family friend but not as personally depleted by the situation, you might all get a great energy boost that helps keep you going.

Best wishes to all! Your mom is hanging tough. Enjoy those laughs.

Glad to hear you're laughing.

And Miko, as always, is right. Make sure you're taking care of yourself, too.

Hugs, pupster. It sounds like your mama is doing just as well as can be expected and I'm so glad! Wahoo for strong women, wahoo for the excellent toughness of the Mother of Mudpuppie!

Also, yeah, what Miko said about hospital time - it's draining as hell. Take care of yourself and take it as gently as possible. It's like that plane crash-with-an-infant scenario: take care of yourself first, your mom second and everybody else is third. Distant third if necessary. I took a journal to the hospital when my mom was in and drew - or I knitted - stuff that doesn't require a whole lot of left brain input is good.

love and hugs and the good old white light to you

Thanks for the news, mudpuppie. Still sending good thoughts and happy wishes in your direction! It sounds encouraging!

Laughing is a good sign.

And Miko's remarks about bringing the breath of normalcy into the hospital air strike me as well. The best thing I've done on the too-many bedside vigils is to promote a sense of real life in this timeless impersonal environment.

Take good care of yourself.

I'm glad I caught this update. I've been thinking of you pups.

Best wished, pups. My thoughts will be with you and your peeps.

This is very good to hear. Big hugs heading your way.