T got some better sleep last night. She is still waking up every few hours consistently, day and night, but she seemed to be in a little less pain this morning. Mary removed her pain pump last night. This was the skinny looking line that you can see below her drain tubes in the pictures from the latest post. The pain pump is a local anesthetic that she had a “switch” for – it was a large, clear disk that was full of the medication, and she could push the button every 30 minutes, to activate the release of the pain medicine at the site of the incisions. This usually lasts patients for about 72 hours post surgery. Because T didn’t feel that it was significantly helping with her pain, and because it was the potential cause for the uncomfortable rash on her back, she had Mary pull it out last night. It was a very quick process – she didn’t feel pain, but she could feel the line moving through her until it came out.

With the pain pump removed, she now will rely on oral pain medication as needed, as well as an antibiotic for the next week, to prevent any type of infection at the incision site or drain locations. Mary and I are back in Seattle & Gainesville now, although we both wish we could stay and take care of her with our mom for as long as she needs!