This was a hard day for Esther. The first day post-operatively has a reputation of being a tough one and that sure proved to be true for Esther today. In contrast to her physical limitations from the surgery, Esther's nervous system seems to have gone into overdrive. About an hour after receiving a big bolus of steriods this morning, Esther went into a state of sensory overload. The tangle of tubes and wires were making her feel trapped and restrained. Every little thing seemed to frustrate and overwhelm her. She complained of being claustrophobic and had periods of extreme agitation. It was sometimes difficult to reason with her. By this evening she was beginning to settle down a bit. She has said several times tonight, "Something is happening to my body and I don't know what it is!" That's a scary place to be.
At the moment, she is sleeping and seems comfortable. We're praying for a quiet night of restorative sleep.
In keeping with the competitive nature of the Copeland family, Esther wins the prize for being the first one out of bed and up walking (against her will!). Katherine gets the prize for walking the furthest! She came down from the 6th floor to the ICU waiting room where I got to visit with her briefly. Katherine looked as lovely as ever and was still smiling...clearly sore and uncomfortable, but still smiling! Esther was having a rare moment of peaceful sleep and Katherine didn't have enough reserves to get all the way down to Esther's room so, unfortunately, the two weren't able to connect today. I went upstairs this evening to introduce some friends to Katherine and discovered that she had been discharged! You go, girl!
Katherine's ex-kidney seems very at home inside Esther. It is working beautifully! Esther is peeing like a horse and her creatinine was already down from 6.0 pre-operatively to 2.5 this morning (.7-1.5 is considered normal). We are all expecting that her creatinine will be even lower tomorrow morning. How exciting!
Well, I have fallen asleep about four times while typing this and should take advantage of Esther being asleep to get some rest myself. Thank you for your prayers! We still have some hurdles ahead, but God is faithful. Praise God for Katherine's short hospital stay!
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