Preparing for surgery

[Risa]

Hello Everyboby,
Sorry I havent been around lately. I've been busy preparing for Marisa's surgery. We had our Pre-op appt. 5-4-05 things went o.k. They tried to do the Spinal recording on Marisa with NO success. That girl is a die hard. I kept her up until midnight and wole her uo at 5am. appt. time 12:30pm they gave her something to sleep. When they went out she took a nap until they came back in she was wide awake so they didn't get the readings. I'm a little concerned because I don't want them to do a wake up test on her. They will try again day of surgery 5-18-05. Has anybodys kids had a wake up test before? In case you don't remember marisa is handicapp cerebal Palsey she has very good hearing and they are not going to be able to touch her and keep her asleep. Hopefully all goes well. I'm on the count down now. Glad to hear all your kids have been doing good after surgery.I'm going to cut marisa's shirts up the back and put snaps on them so I can dress her easier kind of like a hospital gown . I think it will be easier on us both for a while. I will up date soon . God Bless Risa

[LindaRacine]

Hi Risa...

I don't know if it's relevant, but a wake up test was performed during my scoliosis surgery without problem. (I was 42 at the time of surgery.) I don't think I've heard of anyone who had a problem.

Regards,
Linda

[jc3]

hi risa,
my daughter is 15 and had a wake up test during her surgery. There were no problems with it and of course she doesn't remember it at all.
Jennifer

[Jacque's Mom]

I had a wake-up test during mine also - that was 1981. I remember the doctor telling me that was what he was going to do and all went well.

[Karen Ocker]

wake up test

I also had the wake-up test. Don't remember a thing. They modify the the anesthesia in such a way that you feel nothing, remember nothing but wiggle the toes on command. It is an additional test to the normal spinal cord monitoring on every spine patient during surgery.
Karen

[nicoles mom]

Hey Risa
My Nicole Had The Test Doesn't Remember A Thing About It.
Theresa

[susannajon]

Hi Risa,

My daughter had a wake up test also, and there were no problems and she doesn't remember anything from her first dose or pre-surgical valium until the recovery room.

I would ask to meet and talk to the anesthesiologist. My guess is for a complicated and long surgery like scoliosis, your doctor insists on one of the very best anesthesiologists available at your hospital, and if you have the chance to meet and talk to them, you will feel much better.

[lorrie]

Hi Risa,
Having the pre-op must make everything seem awful close and scary I would think. Hope you're looking after yourself as well as Marisa.
Can I ask, what do you mean by a Spinal recording? also, as far as the wake up test goes, would Marisa be able to wiggle her tooes on demand in any case? - I know Genevieve couldn't.
Prayers and best wishes

Lorrie

[Risa]

Lorrie,
I might be calling it by the wrong name (spinal recording). They explained it to me like this. They will ut her to sleep which she has to stay asleep, and they will hook little wires up to her head and legs then they will shock her heals and that will send a wave up her spine that will be recorded. If they have that recording then they will use that in surgery to go by when they are straighting her spine weather or not pinchin nerves etc.If they don't have this reading then they will wake her up and no she probably cannot wiggle her toes on command.I'm not sure what they are thinking but I don't think she will stay asleep while they shock her either. My terms are not the greatest bare with me hope you understand. Risa

[Karen Ocker]

test

The nerve monitoring is called "evoked potential".

Karen

[susannajon]

Questions for/about the Anesthesiologist

I got a PM from a mom who wanted a list of questions regarding the anesthesiologist. I thought I'd post my response in case anyone else needed it:

An excellent anesthesiologist is very important with scoliosis. I was especially concerned because my daughter surgery was an anterior approach. Your child's body temp is dropped, a lung is collapsed, and they are in the OR for 5 to 8 hours. I asked my surgeon:

1) Is there one paticular anesthesiologist you work with on scoli cases?

2) Where can I view his CV?

3) How long have you worked together?

4) Would it be possible to meet him?

Questions for the anesthesiologist:

1) Please describe the procedure start to finish from your perspective as an anesthesiologist?

2) Will you do a wake up test?

3) Will you be managing her pain after surgery?

4) Can you explain the typical pain management plan for this type of surgery?

Hope this helps! I'm sure i forgot something, so everyone else please chime in.