A longer update

A little detail on where we're staying: The PICU rooms are filled with tons of really fancy looking medical equipment. They're too full to have our own bathroom in the room. It's a little like my dorm at Wisconsin, but with cute nurses walking around. There's a nourishment room around the corner from our room with beverages and snacks (graham crackers, Jello, ice pops). The PICU patients each have a dedicated nurse who sits immediately outside our room. And unlike the regular rooms upstairs, we have a sliding glass door instead of a regular solid wood door. Sort of like the stereotypical ICU hospital room you'd see in the movies. There's a bench that converts into a slightly-wider-than-twin bed.

Anyhow, the staff wanted us to get some sleep so they didn't bother us throughout the night. I woke up at 8:30 and walked down to use the bathroom. When I got back to the room, Tess was awake and looking at the door. I walked over to her and she followed me with her eyes. I smiled and then she smiled. We hadn't seen that smile since Thursday.

Way more alert this morning, still groggy, though.

Several things happened throughout the night. First of all, Tess' abdomen became very rigid. The joy of being in the PICU is that the x-ray machine comes to you, so while we slept (seriously, I didn't hear anything) a team x-rayed Tess' stomach and intestines and didn't find anything too alarming. It's just some irritation that should go away if left alone. But for that reason, she's not allowed to have breast milk for a while. It's back to being fed by the IV. 

They also thought that she may be having bladder problems since she hadn't peed in many hours. A quick ultrasound showed that her bladder wasn't too full and that a catheter was not needed. She woke up with a wet diaper so that was good news. 

The mornings are the busiest time here. Several doctors making their rounds all with a specific focus. Dr. Booker was our first visit today. He redressed the bandages on Tess' incision. It's being held together with two loose sutures with a little tube to drain any additional puss. I successfully looked at it without passing out. He'll be back again later today to check on us. He asked us to try moving her and holding her a bit today to see if she's still uncomfortable when we move her legs. 

Our next visitor was the infectious disease doctor. Seriously, we've hit the big time here. He spoke with a partial Irish accent (County Cork) which I think reinforces the aura of an infections disease doctor. I can picture him wandering Congolese jungles looking for the source of Ebola. Just to review, Tess has two things that we're worried about: (1) The swelling in her groin and (2) the blood infection. The swelling has been treated and it's being monitored. The blood infection is the bigger deal at this point. As I typed yesterday, the lab has been able to identify it as a staph infection and they're close to getting the specific strain. When we know that, Tess will go on a specific antibiotic to kick the shit out of it. The crazy thing is that it's a timely process and it looks as if we'll be spending a week here while that antibiotic runs its course.

Maybe one more night in the PICU and then up to a regular room. We'll know more about that later today. As always, I'll post as soon as I learn anything worth sharing.