Alauna update

Dr. Hill decided that we needed to stay another night and that she needed an IV and some decadron (a mild steroid) to help reduce swelling. We hung out in the Same Day Surgery overnight room for most of day until they had a room open up in the Surgical Unit. Once a room opened up we headed up stairs and settled in. The new room was much roomier and even had it's own bathroom. Wahoo!
Alauna mostly slept all day long. I took a few naps myself. Her oxygen levels weren't dropping quite as often as before. Then around 5 o'clock she woke up and was a new girl. She was aware of what was going on and wanted to eat. FINALLY! She had been getting pretty dehydrated - a bit dehydrated to begin with due to her uninterest in swallowing because of her tonsils and then from after the surgery when it just plain hurt to swallow. So the IV really turned things around. Thank goodness for that extra day in the hospital. I'm sure the steroid helped too. All the little things put together helped Alauna feel much better.
Alauna ate a little bit of food. She was so hungry that she kept trying to shove a lot into her mouth at once, but that put way too much pressure on her poor throat. So then it hurt too much to eat at all. So even though she is starving, it isn't worth it to her to force food past her throat. I can't wait until she doesn't have to worry about that anymore and can just eat like any other little kid.
Thursday night she slept much better. We had the oxygen handy but never needed it. So the Friday morning we were cleared to leave the hospital. YAY!

While we expected the first night at the hospital, the second was a bit of extra fun that we could have done without. But it was beneficial to Alauna and helped get her recovery of to a better start than if we had gone home after the first night. Alauna is still having trouble eating and swallowing. It makes it hard to give her the painkillers. By the time she can take them again her throat is hurting and it hurts to swallow. It's a catch 22. You take the medicine and it helps the pain; but it really hurts to take the medicine.