Kate is holding steady and was able to get her pacemaker turned off! Her heart has a rhythm now. It's a little too slow, but it's fast enough to keep her going.
She also had gotten rid of her oxygen tube for awhile. Her blood oxygen levels keep dipping a bit low (desat), but they are letting her ride it out as her body gets used to breathing regular air.
She had one setback during the night. Although the chest tube that drains fluid from around her heart is working, there was still too much fluid building there. It started to ooze out of her wound. When I got here this morning, they told me they were doing a procedure called a wound vac. They let me stay so that I could help hold her down, talk to her and stroke her hair while the doctor did it. They had to open the bottom inch of her wound, spread it open a bit, and put a small sponge in it. They then attached the vaccuum over it and taped it down. It will suck fluid for the next few days and then they will re-evaluate whether she will continue to need it. They had to give her sedation of course, so now she is back on the oxygen. She was very brave! She has hardly said a word for days, but when they were working on her she said, 'Watcha gonna do to me?" They told her, and she just closed her eyes. The nurse said that I can get in bed with her if I want, so I think I will. :)
Sooo...mostly good news, with one fixable setback. Her big sisters are coming to see her today, so maybe that will distract her for awhile.
Last night the ear plugs worked! Although...one of them was missing when I woke up this morning. Hmmm.....I hope I didn't eat it in my sleep!
