October 4, 2011 - Day 3

3 months, 4 weeks, 1 day since diagnosis
day #13 of current hospital stay

The morphine was a big help today. Her previous order was for "as needed" no more than .2 every 4 hours. By 3 1/2 hours last night, Riker was screaming in pain and holding her mouth open like a baby bird. It would take her 15 minutes after she was given more meds before she'd even start to calm down. Now, she's on a constant drip of .1 per hour with a button that will let us give her another .1 every 7 minutes. You can only push that button so often within a 4 hour window but either way, that's a whole lot more morphine. Even without the button it's twice the morphine she was getting.

Thankfully, she's finally comfortable again. She's only crying when she's particularly tired and is doing very well overall. She is sleeping most of the time but that's not really new. Her and I are both grateful for the relief. She even drank 5oz of breast milk today! She hasn't taken a bottle in days so this is a big victory. As usual, she had a good afternoon and spent some time awake and playing. Those moments are the best :)

The IV nutrition was started tonight so she'll get most of her calories and we won't have to worry too much about her oral intake. The doctors say, if there was a bone marrow transplant road map, she'd be right on it. They are pleased with her progress and have no concerns.

So, for now, no news is good news. Just hoping things don't get worse over the next few days. Enjoying the good days :)