Tough day of Many to Come

I realize you have been inundated with information on Jamie but you deserve that we keep you informed with Jamie's progress. Jamie and I are still in ICU - and I'm back in my lovely green recliner chair. I mean seriously I need to have the chair bronzed, we spent many a night together when we first arrived at St Joe. But more importantly we're back with our old friends in ICU and I know Jamie is totally at ease being here. The patient/nurse ratio is 1 to 2 so if and when she needs pain meds they are not far to be had. So if she's comfortable I'm comfortable

Today was not a day that I looked forward to for Jamie. I was dreading this day when we would do the first removal & change of bandages. First I figured it would be painful and it was - according to Jamie it was the most excruciating, painful thing she ever felt. I was not allowed in the room during wound care and I'm sorry to say that I was glad. I feel guilty saying that and although I've seen alot since this horrible illness I just couldn't bear seeing my Jamie going thru this pain. The weight on my heart is to much too bear. But in typical Jamie mode she endured it. So along with her Doctor, doctors assistant, 2 nurses, nurses aide 5 doses of dilaudid, a couple of pushes on her PCA of morphine, it all only took 1 hour. The nurses admitted to me later that it took everything out of them not to cry.

A few new medicines have been added to jamie's smorgasbord of meds. A pill has been added for an infection, another antibiotic for a wound culture that has come back positive. Needless to say the pain meds have been increased. So here it is:
Scheduled Pain Med:
Morphine - 2 mg IV every AM - before wound care
MS Contin - 30 mg oral every PM
Ultram - 50 mg every 6 hours
Lyrica - 75 mg twice a day - this is for phantom pain

PRN Pain Meds/As Needed
Vicodin - 1 tablet every 6 hours
Dilaudid - 0.2 mg IV every hour
Morphine - 2-4 mg IV every hours
Morphine - PCA every 10 minutes (pump)
Remember the 4 above is AS NEEDED. She doesn't need to have it all - all the time

So as you can imagine it seems to be enough to knock out a horse and just enough to manage the pain Jamie is going thru. Unbelievable is a word that comes to mind. More importantly Jamie is comfortable and that's what is important to me. Her heart rate and BP are great considering it all, temp is good, too, and she has an appetite. By the way, her 5 day blood culture (that was drawn Thursday) is still showing negative. Praise God.

There is still a looooooooong road ahead as we enter into this next phase of Jamie's recovery and once again we find ourselves a little overwhelmed. Rehab and prosthesis are just a couple of new items on our list. So if anyone has any knowledge and can help steer us in the right direction we would appreciate it.

Okay - time to go - I'm feeling goofy and just a bit tired. Until tomorrow.
Lots of love back to all of you,