Day Three after the Surgery - Sat January 9, 1999

Today was a continuation of watching for any sign that her bowels were starting to work. Turning her was accomplished by Mom & Dad with little sign of discomfort from being turned. We again tried clear fluids to find Katie still not accepting them. She was definitely more irritable today than yesterday but was awake most of the afternoon. While awake she was certainly more responsive. Tylenol is still being given while the morphine was cut back to 1.5ml per hour down from 2. Tylenol does not hinder bowel routines however the anesthesia does and morphine or it’s replacement Codeine both cause constipation.

The main thrust of the days activity was in messaging her stomach trying to encourage her bowels to respond. An IV bag was heated and used as a hot water bottle. IT holds the heat amazingly long. A ducolax suppository was given in the evening to see if we could relieve the problem. This resulted in nothing. Katie did sleep quite well just the same allowing Mom & Dad a good nights rest (sleeping in the same room).