February Sixth - The Third Day.......

Babygirl is very, very tired of the tube in her "private parts."  They've had trouble finding a tape that will stick to her skin without removing all of it, to hold the tube against her thigh so it won't, um, tug.  It causes pressure.  It is just plain uncomfortable.  Frankly, it bothers her far more than the massive incision does. 

And speaking of incisions, she has three.  One for the new kidney that runs along the right side of her abdomen from above the level of the belly button to the hip bone (for those who care to look up the term, it turns just above the ASIS, the anterior superior iliac spine), where it curves in reverse-J fashion toward the bladder and then a little upward toward the belly button.  This is the one they used to insert the kidney. It's better than nine inches long.  The second is midline, halfway between the belly button and the pubic bone, two inches. This was used to remove the peritoneal dialysis catheter.  The third is to the right, below the belly button and above the left ASIS.  It's where the PD catheter used to exit.

You'd think the big one would be the problem in her mind.  But she tells everybody who looks that it's COOL. It's closed with stitches that are under the skin and covered with a tidy layer of glue - not a speck of any kind of gore showing at all!  It's the one in the midline that bothers her - eight stitches that are going to have to come out.  It had that kind of "inside out" look to it that really rather nauseated her to start with.  Those of us who have seen surgical wounds know you have to evert the skin to make it heal well, and the edges are a bit creepy looking. 

It's the third that actually bothers me the most.  It looks like someone installed an extra belly button off to the left side, and I can see it's going to leave an interesting pucker.  I know that it's because it's the exit of a well-established tunnel, and I know that that tunnel could accumulate some fluid and refuse to close off.  So far it looks amazingly well, though.

None of these wounds is particularly painful to her.  Her greatest complaint of pain has referred to her back and her buttocks.  She is clearly unaccustomed to being in one position for any length of time!

By the end of the day, all of Babygirl's problems were solved for her.  Her central line came out, her catheter disappeared, she pooped and pee'd to great acclaim and everyone on the floor is very, very impressed with her progress.  She has only one IV line remaining, and that is used only intermittantly.

And her day was completed by a visit from Hunter.  He's an extremely handsome young man!  The fact that he's a Golden Retriever only made it better LOL.  The last thing we expected was a visit by a therapy dog, and it was a wonderful way to break the tedium of a day spent with movies and the Disney Channel. 

DeeDee