Well, it was a pretty long night on the midnight shift with Julie. She was pretty uncomfortable and was very much following the book on "post-spinal" reactions according the the nurse that was tending to her during the night. Fidgety, uncomfortable, move here, no go back to where I was please, etc...I helped with most of that which really wasn't much more than pillow behind back, pillow away from back, pillow between knees, pillow away from knees. Now repeat that about a 20 times over the night. It is so tough to hear "I am sooo sore daddy". But, she stayed manageable and dad didn't get too much crap (just the odd, "just do it already" as I was trying to be "extra" careful. Jeepers child, sorry if I am concerned about the 4 tubes, 1 catheter and a plethora of IV connections. Haha, I was tired but exceptionally patient which is not my norm in the middle of the night. Tolerance has many levels and I think this experience thus far has enlightened me on this. She would return to normal quickly and always reaffirm her love and thanked me for helping her. :-)
So, after the rocky but managed night, she had a great quarter between 5-8am. I think I got my best rest then too (no surprise there). She came to around 8'ish and breakfast was there where she managed to have lots of good stuff. Not overly happy about the lack of "honey nut" on the cherrios but did have some nonetheless. Maybe a bit on Nutella on the toast would have been nice too but it's all good.
Late this morning she just blurted out "daddy I want to sit up"! Sweet, so we sat up. It was very nice to just hold her and hug her and I could hear her happiness in her heartbeat as we embraced for probably 10 seconds but it felt like a few minutes. Down she went and we high fived and chatted. Not long after she says "I want to stand up"! I was so happy to hear her taking the lead on that. It would seem so easy to pick the high ground and stay relaxed and calm in bed but not Julie, she wanted to test this new back. Mom was just arriving so we held off for this important milestone.
With the nurse assisting, we did the standing up routine pretty gingerly. Letting Julie take the lead and reading her body queues, I brought her up to the edge and mom got a quick little video of her 1st standing up. Once up, we swapped spots and mom got to hug her see her little girl standing up straight literally (1st time in a few years)! Some nice pics of mother/daughter were taken. There may have been a method to our madness, we've been chomping at the bit to see if she is 1" taller or what? Mom is a great reference since she is near where we suspected Julie would be. Well, the picture with mom reveals that little miss Julie stands even with Jessie at about 5"6" compared to the 5'3" on Monday. 4 days + straightened spine = 3 inches in height. Now that's a growth spurt! Wow, simply amazing.
So, I am sure walking will be in the near future and we look forward to that. She is getting her chest tube removed today too so add that to the "looking forward to that" list. That's been a sore spot for her this whole time, attested by her on many occasions since the start of the procedures. More to follow on how she progresses with her 1st steps, etc..Thanks for tuning in, being supportive, and being interested in Julie's recovery. Talk to you all soon,
Julie & Family
:-)
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