no net change today

Sorry for the lack of updates, but there wasn't much I felt like reporting.  It was slow going.  Sophie was not happy being on the ventilator.  About 5:30pm they took her off of it.  She was breathing a little fast, but did okay for an hour or two.  This evening the nurse called me and said that they had to re-intubate her.  Her breathing was getting too shallow and much faster.  She was working too hard and tiring herself out.  So they put the tube back in and gave her a sedative drip so she can calm down and rest to build her strength back up.

They did take out her chest tube and removed the dressing on her incision.  Also, she is very pale and very puffy today, both of which I think are results of the surgery.  The skin complexion thing is very different.  The surgeon said that she is oxygenating (is that a word?) differently now and effectively has a new circulatory system.  Her blood oxygen level looks much better and they've done many tests to make sure it's nothing abnormal.

Maybe tomorrow she'll be stronger and they'll be able to take her off for good.  It's just a matter of time right now, and no one wants to rush her.