14/03/12

Yesterday was as expected for Jules, heavy sedation to keep her comfortable and morphine for pain management.  She looks comfortable and peaceful.  There was another display on her monitor this morning a blue line showing veinous pressure which allows them to monitor her fluid levels.  She has been looking very swollen and puffy due to the amount of IV fluids she has been given, I think the condition is called oedema.  It is common in women during pregnancy and manifests as swollen ankles.  The drugs she is having to increase blood pressure helps her kidneys excrete the excess fluid.

 The neck collar and dressing on the anterior surgical incision has been removed.  The incision is surprisingly small less than 75mm and appears to be healing well the wound is closed with metal staples rather than sutures.  I think they will remove the last drain from the posterior neck incision tomorrow.

 The ICU Doctor advised they are going to perform a tracheostomy early Thursday afternoon in the ward under general anaesthetic.  If it is successful they will remove the ventilator tube from her throat and connect it to the tracheostomy, this will remove the main source of discomfort.  If they are unsuccessful then the procedure will be performed on Friday in theatre.  After the tracheostomy is functioning they will reduce the level of sedation and wake Julie up, hopefully on Friday or Saturday.  My guess is that she will be in ICU at the very least most of next week until her breathing function improves.

 Kylie arrived last night and Val is returning to Townsville for a couple of days this evening.  we are setting up a roster so that there is always one or two of us in Brisbane so Jules gets plenty of visitors and support in what will be a very trying period for her.

 We will update you all further tomorrow.

 Kind regards Val, Norm, Kylie and Darrel