Well, we're still in PICU but may transfer to HDU later today or possibly tomorrow. It largely depends on whether they need DD's bed in PICU which in a very selfish way is a great position to be in ie she's not considered to be in as much danger.
Ironically the main reason she is still in PICU is not what she came in with; her breathing is great and the consultant is amazed at how well she is doing considering the extent of inflammation in her windpipe. Even when they extubated on Mon it was terribly swollen with no give whatsoever. The reason they now want to keep an eye on her is that her withdrawal symptoms are so severe. She has been hallucinating and suffering whole body tremors which has veen very distressing to see. They are doing all that they can and weaning her off much more slowly than originally planned. They tell us we could be in for a rough few days...
Thankfully this will not last, however distressing it is for DD (and us) at the moment. They are even talking about discharging us next week and bringing her back for all the necessary investigations as an outpatient which is fantastic news.
We did manage to sleep in the end last night. We were all set for shifts and I had DD asleep on me at about midnight then I got kicked out of PICU again as there were problems with the little boy I mentioned earlier. (Sadly, though I hate to jump to conclusions, I fear it is a child protection issue as there have been endless social workers, police, police photographers etc plus the parents referring to when social services would let them visit. Too awful to think of, poor little boy...) They had given her something to help her sleep & I managed to get her into her cot easily. The nurses rang me at 6 to say she was awake. They will give her something to help her sleep again tonight which means we get to rest then to spend all day with her.
DD1 came to visit her twin today It was utterly adorable and DD2 responded so well, seeming instantly much calmer and happier. They kissed and cuddled and stroked one another's faces. DD1 kept saying 'Awww'. The nurse let us go onto the ward and in the playroom so they had a bit of a play but DD2 got tired very quickly and I don't think the farm animals mural was helping her hallucinations! We'll let them spend more time together tomorrow.
We're getting there, I think. I just wasn't really prepared for this bit so focused was I on having her awake. I wasn't so naive that I thought she'd wake up and be back to normal but I had no idea the withdrawal could be so severe and so awful for her.
Twindad is doing OK thanks, Saggar. He's been great all the way through although we've had to accept that we deal with stuff in different ways and support one another in that. He is with DD at the mo and I'm having a break as have been in PICU pretty much all day except for loo breaks! He suggested I come and have a rest which was sweet of him. He is finding this particular part of things really upsetting. I think to both of us it just seems to unfair that in trying to make her well she has ended up with something else she has to go through. We know that it is temporary though - we just wish she knew it too!
We WILL get there though and things will be even better than we'd hoped for once we get this phase out of the way