ICU Day 2 - Evening

I cut out of the office at about 4:15 today to join Spike, Lori and Ally in the ICU. When I arrived Ally was awake and wearing a smile. The evening nurse was massaging her legs and butt in an effort to alleviate some of the itching Ally has complained about… I quickly caught up with Spike and Lori. It sounds like Ally spent much of the day sleeping peacefully. She has complained of itchiness, which the medical staff believes is simply due to heat and not being able to move. Because of the reconstruction doctors want Ally’s elbows drawn in toward her torso until she’s further along. They don’t want to much bending or crimping of the veins and vessels in that area. Similarly, they have her legs set in a neutral position and don’t want too much movement there just yet. Relief from the itching will now come from massage and Benadryl. Ally’s color looks great, although her feet and toes are still glazed with iodine from surgery. I accused her of looking ‘leprechaunish’ in her lower extremities. The Irish nurse disagreed as I had clearly misidentified the color of a leprechaun – I’m usually more culturally sensitive. The ICU doctor came in not so long ago. To address the itchiness they’re going to give Ally Benadryl consistently for a while. They are up in the air regarding a sleeping aid tonight. Ally has to be awoken periodically, which can be annoying when sedated. The Benadryl makes her drowsy, so on top of the other medications Ally hasn’t had any trouble sleeping. In fact, she’s sawing logs pretty good right now as I write! Ally’s room is the size of a medium-sized bedroom by city standards. She’s got a good-sized window behind her bed, which allows a ton of light to shine through. The walls are painted a sky blue. The curtains, which remain drawn most of the time, are a lovely sea foam color! There’s a monitor above Ally’s head that displays measurement of, among other things, her heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen transfer. At her feet is another monitor. This is the one we’re watching most closely. The two numbers on that monitor represent the percentage efficacy of total oxygen transfer in her ‘flaps’. I wasn’t sure what that meant until today’s nurse explained it to me. Flaps are the pieces that were moved from Ally’s thighs that now constitute the flesh of her breasts. They are monitoring oxygen levels there as the veins adapt and integrate. Yesterday Ally’s left flap was operating at about 68%. The right was doing better at about 73%. Normal flesh displays a reading somewhere from 92% to 95%. Today Ally’s left side vacillates between 71% - 73%. The right side seems to be holding steady at 78%. Her boobs are becoming more efficient! As I write, Spike is out in the waiting room checking in with family members and responding to emails. I know she’s had several breaks today and been out for walks (at least one of which was to collect a parking ticket on the street) – BOO! Mahgret again procured meals from Trevor’s restaurant nearby. There’s been a lot of support here at the hospital. Spike and I will stand watch through at least 11:30 until after the changing of the guard at the nurse’s station. Spike’s got a schedule worked out for tomorrow, so there will be at least two people here the whole day. Nobody has made any specific determination regarding how long Ally will be in ICU. Clearly, leaving ICU is a great milestone. However, I like the kind of personalized attention she’s getting here. Dr. Lee just popped in for a quick check up. I think he’s proud of his work. If you are interested, I was able to get what I hope are MOST of the photographs posted on Ally’s blog. I enjoyed seeing those today. The one place I have not been, yet, to collect photos is Ally’s own email inbox. My apologies if any of them got skipped… Good night, Ally’s email list, I hope everyone had a great day!