Rachel is finally starting to get a little bit of an appetite back today. The nurse is going to ask if she can be switched from the IV morphine to a pill painkiller tomorrow. Then she’ll be free of everything except for the two drains from the incision.

Yesterday afternoon we asked if her IVs could be taken out and use her port instead because they were bugging her, plus the pump kept beeping every time she bent her arm. The nurse switched them all over, but left one IV in (with nothing hooked up to it) overnight just in case. That was removed today. She’s got some good sized bruises on both her inner elbows from those. Hand looks okay, at least.

Rachel had a visit from occupational therapy this morning. She got a few tools to help her, like a long-handled sponge for the shower, elastic shoelaces, and an extra long shoe horn. She went for another short walk with OT too. No PT on the weekends.

The surgeon ordered an X-ray of her spine today, wanting to see what it looks like and the hardware placement while she’s standing up. They took X-rays in the OR of her spine while she was lying down.

She’s still in a lot of pain when she has to turn or shift positions in bed and needs assistance. Also can’t move her arms much (hurts too much plus she’s not allowed) so reaching to eat or do anything is difficult. Still improving a little each day.