Yesterday Was Thursday.

It's Friiiiday, Friiiiiday, and I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it!

Wait, I did that wrong.

Poor Rebecca.

But truly, we (we we) are so excited because Sharon will most likely be moved from the ICU to a regular med/surg unit today. She could have been moved yesterday, but there were no beds available.

I quipped, "We're just waiting for someone to die."

"That's horrible. We're waiting for someone to be discharged."

"Right, like, discharged to Heaven."

"....Go get some coffee."

"Hello, I'd like to order all the pizza. They're starving me in this joint."

I learned a new anatomical term yesterday: the phrenic nerve. The phrenic originates between the C3-C5 and travels down into the diaphragm. I learned about this because the biggest complaint my mother has so far is excruciating pain in her right trapezius area as a result of the trauma of a diaphragmatic incision.

I wish I hadn't learned about it so vividly.

She's slowly losing all of her tethers: her arterial line and naso-gastric tubes were removed yesterday; today they take out her epidural and foley catheter. Not sure about the chest tubes. I'm at the bedside now watching her sleep, thankful that she's resting decently for the first time in days.

Yesterday she was able to sit in a chair twice, but the second time she became very nauseated and lightheaded, and started to stand and became tangled in the many lines. While Brian and I tried to gently get her back to bed and reestablish some organization sans RN (there was chaos in an adjacent room), her O2 sats suddenly dropped to 87 and I panicked, scrambling to find her nasal cannula. Soon after, I was reprimanded by her nurse (and she was 100% right to do so, even if the whole thing was my mother's idea.)

There was a ruckus.

For someone who spent her entire life caring for others, for encouraging patients to take their first steps after weeks of bedrest or holding their hands as they took their last breaths, this transition to patient can be maddening. Of course she recognizes that she is not even 96 hours post-op from major, major surgery ("If one more fucking person reminds me that I just had liver surgery, I'm going to say, 'No, I had no idea!'"), and the life-threatening condition is potentially behind her, but that doesn't take away from the current stress and pain. Forest for the trees, and all that.

In the meantime, here's a mommy and daddy goose with their babies. I didn't realize this hospital was so animal-friendly.

Animals are people, too! Wait, that's not right.