Well, it's kind of a blur to think what the last 10 days were like. Lots of nervous moments, lots of great moments. Julie did it and will work towards the next phase of recovery which pretty much entails getting through some months that will allow her to continually but gradually regain her spot on the court (volleyball of course). To get there, she has to take things slow and make it to the all important "fusing" stage. This is critical to her success of this ordeal.
Her last day in the hospital was pretty uneventful. Pretty much just waited for the doctor to tell us we can head out. That did happen around 4pm yesterday on 2 Nov 2011 which is a pretty rare date that was the only November palindrome day that will occur in the 21st century. [11/02/2011]. Maybe this will be a special reminder for Julie looking back at this special day. Or, her geek dad just thinks that's pretty cool!
The trip back was great and she slept for most of it as she just had her final liquid supplement of narcotics just before leaving the hospital. All in all, a great day to a finished surgery. Time to continue healing and getting stronger in the months ahead. Looking forward to helping her get there and support her during difficult days which I am sure there will be.
Thanks everyone for your Facebook posts of encouragement and concern for Julie and all of us. It was nice to get the info out to you all to share what we were going through.
:-)
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
A light at the end of the tunnel!
It's been a few days since I have updated as there were small changes to Julie's recovery since Friday but really what seems small is still quite significant. With the main surgical procedures done it's like "well, that's it I guess". Clearly, there's more than just the surgery to endure. She was on the verge of walking since the last post. She had stood up but really no true walking around until late Friday. So, this occurred on Saturday as expected and as Julie put it, "It feels like I am carrying around 100 lbs on my shoulders". Fair enough knowing she had practically each vertebrae moved or jarred.
Her walking small distances became larger distances on the weekend but she was always ready to lay back down (no pun intended) and rest the "100 lbs" of unknown weight that she was carrying. The first few walking loops up here in 3R (the 3rd level) were quite impeded by the connections back to the IV, catheter, etc...but that became much less restrictive once they were removed on Saturday. Yay! That was a huge relief and also made us wonder how she'd react to switching from the drip morphine to just the non-drip small dose with her Tylenol every 4 hrs. Well, she did well with it. Not pain free but quite manageable.
Her nights have been a bit challenging as it's the quiet time and less moving around as mom and dad try to get rest depending on who was in with her. Her 1st half on the night seemed to be the most uncomfortable and her need for sleep seemed to take over in the latter part of the night. Mostly more pillow adjusting, a few minor complaints, and just a few requests.
Once her chest tube was removed on Sat. morning, she had her standard chest xray follow up routine and it showed a significant volume of air surrounding her right lung (the one that was deflated for surgery #1). This could have had an impact on her breathing on that side however, she just wasn't showing any signs of degraded breathing and her oxygen was perfect. So, they ordered a few more xrays over the next couple days to see if this air pocket was trending in the right direction and going away. It has been so we are happy about that.
The weekend sleepovers were quite different day to day. The girls slept over Friday night (mom & big sis), I slept over Sat/Sun, and mom and dad both slept over last night. Once her lines and tubes were removed Julie liked the cuddling while holding the big pillow on her back while she watched TV on her left side. That seemed to be a favorite.
The last and final hurdle was getting the physio lady onboard with giving Julie the "green" light to hit the road. Well, Julie just finished going up and down stairs with her just an hour ago. No problems there so we should be in the home stretch for hanging up the blue gown and hitting the road Jack (I mean....Julie). Is that a song?When we do leave it will be gently of course in the interest of bad backs)! I knew I should have gotten my pilot license, would come in handy for this trip in the car upcoming.
So, all systems are a "go", we just need to get the Dr. endorsement and we should be making the big trip to home very soon. It's been interesting and the BC Childrens Hospital experience has been tough but rewarding thus far. Staff was exceptional and Julie continues to be awesome going through this and she is very motivated to get over the hurdles in record time. I think the biggest challenge upcoming with be to hold back the reigns on her because as good as she feels, she has a strict timeline ahead that she must follow for her surgery to be 100% successful. She has some bone pieces in around that spine of hers that will be expecting to be left alone while they fuse to the newly straightened vertebrae. Too much activity too soon and that little step fails and you are now relying on the installed rods to do more than they're supposed to and this would probably be a "bad" thing. We'll keep her pretty restricted on physical activity and I think she won't feel like doing handstands for a while anyway. haha.
Thanks everyone again, it's been nice letting you all take a look into this life changing event for miss Julie.
Julie & Family
:-)
Her walking small distances became larger distances on the weekend but she was always ready to lay back down (no pun intended) and rest the "100 lbs" of unknown weight that she was carrying. The first few walking loops up here in 3R (the 3rd level) were quite impeded by the connections back to the IV, catheter, etc...but that became much less restrictive once they were removed on Saturday. Yay! That was a huge relief and also made us wonder how she'd react to switching from the drip morphine to just the non-drip small dose with her Tylenol every 4 hrs. Well, she did well with it. Not pain free but quite manageable.
Her nights have been a bit challenging as it's the quiet time and less moving around as mom and dad try to get rest depending on who was in with her. Her 1st half on the night seemed to be the most uncomfortable and her need for sleep seemed to take over in the latter part of the night. Mostly more pillow adjusting, a few minor complaints, and just a few requests.
Once her chest tube was removed on Sat. morning, she had her standard chest xray follow up routine and it showed a significant volume of air surrounding her right lung (the one that was deflated for surgery #1). This could have had an impact on her breathing on that side however, she just wasn't showing any signs of degraded breathing and her oxygen was perfect. So, they ordered a few more xrays over the next couple days to see if this air pocket was trending in the right direction and going away. It has been so we are happy about that.
The weekend sleepovers were quite different day to day. The girls slept over Friday night (mom & big sis), I slept over Sat/Sun, and mom and dad both slept over last night. Once her lines and tubes were removed Julie liked the cuddling while holding the big pillow on her back while she watched TV on her left side. That seemed to be a favorite.
The last and final hurdle was getting the physio lady onboard with giving Julie the "green" light to hit the road. Well, Julie just finished going up and down stairs with her just an hour ago. No problems there so we should be in the home stretch for hanging up the blue gown and hitting the road Jack (I mean....Julie). Is that a song?When we do leave it will be gently of course in the interest of bad backs)! I knew I should have gotten my pilot license, would come in handy for this trip in the car upcoming.
So, all systems are a "go", we just need to get the Dr. endorsement and we should be making the big trip to home very soon. It's been interesting and the BC Childrens Hospital experience has been tough but rewarding thus far. Staff was exceptional and Julie continues to be awesome going through this and she is very motivated to get over the hurdles in record time. I think the biggest challenge upcoming with be to hold back the reigns on her because as good as she feels, she has a strict timeline ahead that she must follow for her surgery to be 100% successful. She has some bone pieces in around that spine of hers that will be expecting to be left alone while they fuse to the newly straightened vertebrae. Too much activity too soon and that little step fails and you are now relying on the installed rods to do more than they're supposed to and this would probably be a "bad" thing. We'll keep her pretty restricted on physical activity and I think she won't feel like doing handstands for a while anyway. haha.
Thanks everyone again, it's been nice letting you all take a look into this life changing event for miss Julie.
Julie & Family
:-)
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