Day 1

2:30am - Ellie has a sore (red & raised) area on her lower back/hip area. It is causing her a great deal of discomfort/pain. That is a 7 on her pain scale while her jaw is a 3. Two nurses have come in and looked at it. They are calling in a team and a doctor to take s look to decide how to treat it. For now, she is laying on her sides and not her back. Thinking back, the first thing she wanted when she woke up from the surgery is a pillow to put under her hip area. I guess it could be a bed sore from laying on her back for what was 16 hours total including prep and recovery. But I don't know. I just want them to treat it to make it feel better for her. Let's pray specifically for this area to heal and give her relief from pain. She did also ask for her phone - which is a positive in my eyes. Girls gotta have her phone. :)

4:15 - The sore spot is really bothering her. She has taken more pain med. She is bleeding out of her mouth and this is very scary to her. The nurse has assured her it's normal and not excessive. She also just wrote me a note saying that she is scared every time she coughs. I'm sure coughing while you are wired shut is frightening. Please pray for God to give her peace and comfort.

6:00am - Ellie's jaw is hurting. She woke up moaning and pointing to her jaw. It is very swollen. The Dr had prepared us for that. He said the peak swelling is day 3-5 so it's normal to get worse before it gets better. Her lips and lower half of her face are really swollen. She's resting now. They have her in an ice head wrap plus a wrap around her chin. She wanted the ice off but I explained that the ice is very important to help the swelling. Dr McKenna wants her to keep ice on it.

6:45 am - Dr McKenna just came by. She started feeling nauseous as I was giving her Advil (liquid of course through the syringe) so they just gave her some nausea medicine. The dr thought she was doing well with her jaw. The pain is a 5 and he said the goal would be a 3 or 4. He is sending the wound team in to look at the place on her backside. He thinks it's a bad bed sore from laying in the same position for so long plus that had her hip elevated because they thought they would be taking bone from it. So she is only laying on her sides. He stressed the importance of her drinking a lot of fluids today. She can have water, Apple juice, popcicles, chicken broth. Any of those things that sound good. She's asleep right now.

8:45 am - She is having several sources of discomfort/pain. Her jaw (which is now a 5), her back (which is a 7), and her right arm (which is a 6). I think her right arm has been in a bent position for so long that it hurts whenever she tries to straighten it. I'm not worried about this but it is bothering her. I'm sure once she keeps stretching it, it will feel better. They want to switch her over to liquid pain meds since that is how she will control pain at home but everytime we try it, it makes her feel nauseous and we have to stop before she's taken all of it.
Also we saw herself in the mirror and it scared her. She wrote me a note saying she looks so scary.  I reminded her that we expected that and made a note to myself .... Take her glasses off when she goes to the bathroom so she can't look in the mirror. However she has her phone. I don't think she will be taking any "selfies" anytime soon!!!!

9:30 am - They have determined the place on her back is not a bed sore. They aren't sure what it is but they are treating it like a burn. She drank 2 oz of Apple juice.

1:15 pm - Ellie is very uncomfortable. Her back, her arm (she feels like she can't bend her arm, she moans in pain when she tries to straighten it - I'm guessing must be because she has had it in a bent position for so long) , and her face are hurting her. They are treating her "burn" on her back hip as a burn. They just put some Silvadene cream on it and then patched it. We are going to try to get her to stretch her arm out little by little. They also decided to up her pain pump medicine. They want her to take pain medicine in liquid form since that will be what she has to do at home. However whenever she starts to drink it, her stomach hurts and she feels like she is going to get sick. So we will keep trying...
She cried when she looked in the mirror. I knew she would look swollen and not like herself at all but I guess it was just shocking for her. After about a week, the swelling should start decreasing however it will take several months before it's completely gone.
We need prayers for the following...
• Ellie's mysterious burn or sore or whatever it is on her back - pray for it to dissipate and feel normal.
• Ellie to be able to tolerate the liquid pain medicine
• Ellie to be able to drink between 1-2 liters of fluid a day (that's about 32-64oz) ... So far today she's had about 5oz. This is very important!!!!
• Pray for Ellie's arm to feel better and gain full range of movement
• Pray that Ellie's doesn't feel fearful when she has to cough or sneeze.
• Pray that when she looks in the mirror, she sees the sweet beautiful determined God loving girl
that's there!