Out of the PICU and Sitting Up!

Today has been really great in some regards, but Annie's has also taken a couple steps backwards.  Our most exciting news today is that Annie was able to bust out of the PICU and get transferred to the IMC floor! 

Annie also sat up on the side of her bed twice today for about 5 minutes each time.  The first time she slept through the whole ordeal, and the second time she was awake and content!  It almost feels like I'm getting my Annie back a little bit!

Amazingly, her pain has been controlled by just valium and celebrex!  She is one tough cookie with an incredibly high pain tolerance!!  They've quit giving her morphine so that her GI tract might start waking up quicker.  And although her hemoglobin was down to 9.7 this morning from so much bleeding last night (they transfuse at 7), they ended up deciding to NOT give her iron because of her GI issues.  She received a hefty dose of Miralax again today which made her throw up a bit.  But hopefully we'll get things moving for her soon.

Earlier today the orthopedist came to check on Annie and I asked what degree of curvature he thinks her got her spine to.  He won't know for sure until they do some follow-up x-rays, but he believes he got her to "somewhere in the 40s".  So we are thrilled about that.  We're even more thrilled to see her sit up on the side of the bed and notice how beautifully straight her curve is!!  It gets me choked up seeing her like that and it's already a confirmation to me that this was definitely the right choice for her. 

Annie is still swollen all over, but not nearly as bad as yesterday.  She has been able to open her eyes wider today. At one point when her valium was beginning to wear off today and she was becoming more awake and alert, we held some toys up for her to look at to test her vision a little bit.  Since there is a risk of blindness with this surgery, we've been eager to test her vision, but haven't been able to until today since she hasn't been able to open her eyes and has been asleep around the clock.  Fortunately, Annie was able to see the toys.  She tracked them as I moved them, although her response was slightly delayed which is understandable with her sedating meds.  One time she woke up for just a couple minutes today, but it appeared that she was focused on the TV and clearly watching it, so we are breathing a big sigh of relief.

Here are some pictures from late this afternoon.

Annie woke up for the ride up to her new room.  She looked out the window a while and then fell back asleep.

Justin and I helped her sit up for a few minutes this evening.  Look how straight she is!!  I can't believe how beautiful her back looks!! (Remember the before pictures?)  Her back seems so stable and solid now and she sat up like a pro!

The orthopedist said he couldn't fix her rib hump very well and told us post-operatively that it's still there but just more rounded now and not so pointy.  But I think he did a GREAT job with the rib hump.  I'd say there is dramatic improvement!  I'm so happy to see her new back!!  I love it and I'm just so happy for Annie and that they could do such a good job!

Annie is definitely one tough cookie!  She sat up tonight without any complaints and not even a grimace!  However, she did just receive a new dose of valium just prior to this.  She was awake when we first sat her up, but then promptly fell back asleep.

Oh, how I love this girl.  What an amazing example of strength and enduring patiently through tough times.  She is my hero.