I called the ICU just before going to bed last night and found out that Heather was able to hold her own blood pressure. This was great news and I felt a lot happier going to bed as a result. In fact, I managed to get to sleep pretty much straight away and slept for eight hours straight (something I don’t normally manage at the best of times).
I arrived at 8am and found that Heather had remaining comfortable during the night. At 8:35, the consultant did her ward rounds, so I took the opportunity to have breakfast, as ward rounds usually take an hour.
When I got back and was allowed back in at 9:45am, I received the good news that the sedation had been removed. This meant that Heather now had the ability to wake up once the sedative in her body had dissipated.
At 10:30, Nicky and Miff arrived, bringing with me a copy of Stuff, so I didn’t just have monitors to read all day. During their visit, Heather had a bit of a choke which scared Nicky and I a little and we held each others hands until Heather had calmed down. We both crushed each other’s hands, but it was nice to hold during the experience. After they left, I decided I would read to Heather for a while. I had a copy of The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy and I read the intro and chapter 1 to her. It kept me busy and both Heather and the staff nurse Marie seemed to enjoy it.
At 1:50pm, Marie asked me if I’d had lunch (which I hadn’t), so I trotted off to the restaurant for some sandwiches. As Heather was left on her own, I made my way back to ICU, meeting Mum and Martin on my way. As we walked back, I filled them in with what had happened to date. They had also been home and brought me some fresh clothes and other supplies.
Heather’s parents joined us around 3:30pm, only for us all to get thrown out so the staff could give Heather some physio and get her cleaned up. Once done, Heather looked a lot better and felt a bit fresher.
After Heather’s parents had left for the day, Mum and I stayed with Heather for a little while longer and we’re pleased to see that her oxygen saturation had reached 100% for the first time since she arrived in ICU. Just before we left, we checked her stats one last time and they were looking good.
Heart Rate: 77
Blood Pressure: 123/62
Respiration: 21 breaths/min
I actually left her the evening without tears in my eyes for the first time since this all began. I guess it was because we had all had a better day and that she now seems to be on the mend. It’s now a case of waiting for her to wake up, but we’ll be taking it as slowly as she likes. We don’t want to risk all the work that’s been done already.
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