Thanks, everyone, for your support.

The surgery had a complication. Well, actually, the surgery went fine at only 4 hours...and they didn't even need to do a chin reconstruction. We were told that the removal of the breathing tube hurt her very, very much.

Anyways, she was throwing up blood (through her nasogastric tube) from the time of the surgery right up until I left at 7PM that night. I understand that she didn't stop until 5AM this morning. They were concerned as to why there was so much blood in her stomache. She was on the highest dose of morphine (4 cc's per hour), plus they were giving her a SECOND dose of anti-nausea when I left that evening....and I guess another one even later in the night. Every time she was heaving and gagging while throwing up the blood (through her nose tube), it was hurting her face so much. Plus she had all other types of meds running through her system. She also had the cold jel packs tied to her cheeks (but the swelling shouldn't be starting until about 24-48 hours after the surgery, and she said that she was starting to feel pressure from her skin). And the bruising hasn't begun yet either, so I imagine that will make it very uncomfortable.

She has the cool air mask on her nose and mouth, which she loves because it helps her breathe better. (They removed the nasogastric tube at 5AM when she stopped throwing up finally). The jel packs, of course. The IV with lots of goodies. She even had a suppository this morning (yuck) for anti-inflammatory. She CAN talk, but she prefers to write on her pad...and I'm sure that the more swelling and bruising that happens, the less she'll want to actually talk.

I had to go home at around 7PM last night because I was getting sick. It is one thing to see all this happening to a stranger, but I was feeling like passing out SOO many times when I saw it was my own little girl. I was in bed by 7:30PM last night, after lots of diarrhea (nice thing to hear, huh? *smile*) My sister spent the night with her, and said that doctors and nurses were all over Carly all night long. She said they'd be in there about every 2 hours, giving meds, checking vitals, adding and removing things. She even had a few sips of water from a little cup this morning! So she will continue to get stronger and more alert since she's not throwing up anymore, I would imagine.

Thanks for all your well wishes and prayers. As long as she can learn to drink and keep her fluids down, she should be coming home soon. Eeks! And as long as she has good pain control (since she won't be on morphine anymore), I think she'll heal as quickly as can be expected from anyone. She's a strong girl!!

I'll keep you up-to-date as I can. Thanks so much to a worried mother's questions and freak-outs! Lol.

God bless,
Sandy