They took Rachel off the breathing tube this morning around 9am. She vomited a little when they took it out, which of course hurt her back (plus sitting her up quickly when she started didn’t help.) She woke up a few times overnight and was awake this morning, so the breathing tube was really uncomfortable. Her nurse said she’s never really seen someone come out of extubation as quickly and as well as she has.

They also removed her catheter this morning, as well as the arterial line in her arm (which was to get a really accurate blood pressure during and immediately after surgery), so she’s got a couple fewer lines stuck in her now too.

Her face was still pretty swollen this morning, but continued to improve throughout the day.

She got a visit from her new friend Auggie – a big black lab – this morning.

Physical Therapy came and got her out of bed and into a chair for a while this morning. They will work on trying to get her walking a bit tomorrow. She had some nausea when she was up, so they gave her something for that and she felt better.

She’s had some water, a few sips of juice, and a couple bites of cantaloupe today. She’s been able to get up and use the bathroom (with help) a couple times.

Her surgeon visited this morning and said that the surgery really couldn’t have gone better, so that was great to hear.

The plastic surgeon and about 14 others from plastics came to see her this morning before we got here. He stopped by again while we were gone for lunch, so we missed him both times today. Rachel said he told her they would probably try to move her out of intensive care tomorrow.

Her incision is longer than her previous one, though it’s hard to be sure just how much since it’s covered up with a thin strip of tape. It has two drainage lines coming out of it.

She’s been rating her pain around a 4 or 5 on a 10-point scale most of the day, though of course it hurts more when she moves. She said it’s better now than it was earlier in the day, too. She’s hooked up to morphine that she controls with a button. They said once she starts eating more they can also give her oxycodone.