November 28, 2005 - Mid-Morning

The princess has been pretty groggy since her surgery on Friday. We're reminded that although having the shunt put in was relatively less stressful than the whole of everything else she's been through, it's still major surgery and would require a healthy person a few days recovery time. So of course our stressed out princess is going to need at least that long! She's doing a bit better today after an unscheduled CAT scan last night. Her nurse was concerned about her pupil reactivity and called in her neurosurgeon. Everything was fine, they were just being cautious (we're thankful that they're watching her so carefully!). They've now set the shunt to the maximum position so as to assist her brain in recovery. She's running a little fever and her heart rate is a little elevated (not to be unexpected after a surgery) but they're double-checking all of her fluids to make sure that she's not fighting an infection on top of everything else. They gave her a little bit of morphine this morning and she seemed to resting peacefully after the morning visit.

The picture above is the view the princess has from her bed. We put all the pictures and cards that have been sent to her in plain view so that she can see them during her more lucid moments. Brenda insists that she's seen her looking at the wall. How much she's comprehending we're not sure, but she does seem to be looking at them. Someone asked whether they should send cards to the hospital or to the apartment where we're staying. Kurt would prefer that best wishes be sent directly to the hospital. Items may be sent to: Amanda Bethke, MSI Unit, No. 11, Memorial Hospital, 4700 Waters Avenue in Savannah, Ga. Remember that flowers are NOT permitted in the MSI Unit.

We do not know when she'll be coming home yet - we're not going to rush her if she's not ready. In talking to her doctors this morning, she'll need to be a bit more stable (no fevers, more stable heart rate, etc) before it can be considered - so everyone send lots of good, soothing thoughts her way so we can bring her home!