Post Surgery Day 4

Last night and this morning were rough. Matthew had additional potassium added to his IV, with a blood draw to check levels 2 hours later. With the additional levels, his potassium still decreased a bit. His heart rate kept dipping below the lower threshold, so the alarm kept going off throughout the night. As well, he doesn't want to be held but does like someone close. I crawled into bed with him, held his hand, and we slept off and on the best we could through the night.

This morning, he has been much fussier, but his lab work from this morning shows improvement. His potassium levels are still below normal, but they are getting closer, and that was without additional potassium.

I am much more optimistic now than I was a few hours ago and much more confident these issues will go away as soon as he can eat again. To that end, it may be a rough day for Matthew, as I am going to push him hard to (1) avoid the morphine (2) walk many more times today and (3) sit up much more often. It isn't going to be pleasant, but those should help speed this along. The sooner his intestines wake up and he can eat, the better we will all be.