post op day 1

[dawney]

Hello all . Its Eric again posting for dawn. Day 1 started off rough. Dawn saw us at 12 in the afternoon and she started cryin saying once again she was in so much pain in her abdomen. Advice given in this forum yesterday by janski66 was listened to and applied to dawn with tremendous success. The advice was to stay ahead of the pain. After she said she was in so much pain , i talked to the nurse and she up'ed her dosage. She actually increased the fentanyl. so fentanyl and morphine did the trick. Dawn had a much tolerable pain. she is off the respirator , she is off the oxygen mask and shortly after took her completely off oxygen. She started the day with nothing to eat , shortly then to ice chips and by the end of the day on clear liquids. The nurse said tomm. morning broth and jello and by the end of the day eating solids and whatever she would like. I printed my post's and the responces and read them to dawn she loved it. At one point after i said this one is from bbest she grabbed my arm and smiled and said "thats brandi at the end of the night she is resting well , the nurse said she is actually bypassing the stepdown unit and going to a floor because her recovery is going so well. Thanks to all of you for educating me with your experiences that i was able to pass on to dawn and her nurses in our situation , all advice helps. Good night everyone.

[Suzy]

Eric,

Thank you so much for keeping us updated, it means a lot. I am so glad to read that the pain meds were increased to give her relief. I hope the rest of her recovery goes smooth. Now that she is comfortable she should be able to focus on the positive. Wait till you see her stand up the first time! My husband was so thrilled when he saw my back up-right the first time his enthusiasm made me laugh. But, maybe it was the meds! LOL. Give her my best and know you have a huge cheering crowd behind you.

[mariya]

Hello Eric,

Thanks so much for taking time to wrtie and to let us know that everything is going well for Dawn. I am awaitng my surgery which is on Sept 19 and I personally feel so relieved knowing that there is another succesful surgery. I am really happy for you two and hope that Dawn feels better. She is trully a trooper for having both surgeries and she's made it. I am going to have only the anterior surgery and that is making me nervous as is. But to go through two is really hard. So please let her know that I am very glad that everything went well and that she is doing well. Once again thank you very much for keeping all of us updated and it really helps those of us who are aving surgery really soon.

Take care and be well!!!!

Mariya

[abhbarry]

Great!

Thank you for posting. It sounds like the recovery is going well as expected, which is wonderful!! Thank you for being honest about the pain (I wouldn't want anyone to sugarcoat the surgery), but it is also very helpful to know that pain CAN be taken care of.

Send Dawn my best. Go girl!!
-Anya

[makaylasmom]

Wonderful News!

Great to hear she is doing so well! I agree with someone elses post about staying ahead of the pain- it really helps! Tell her to keep up the good work

[bbest]

So sweet. Take care of her. Hope she continues to do well.

[Shari]

Hi Eric,

I know it won't be long until we hear from Dawn herself, but in the meantime give her all my best too. She's a lucky woman to have you at her side, as I'm sure she's well aware of.

Shari

[lelc2002@yahoo]

thks Eric---I'm so glad you are on top of it & having the nurses give her more pain meds. Tell Dawn to buzz that buzzer whenever she needs more! She must request it if she feels the pain levels are intorerable...I always buzzed when I felt pain levels go to a '5' (out of 10) because I knew it was heading up fast.......Ly
http://lynnebackattack.blogspot.com
surgery was Aug 1st-Dr. Boachie/Dr. Kim@HSS in NYC
fused T-11 to L-5, thoroplasty(humps gone!)
95curve went to in the 50's

[shelley]

Hi, Eric,
Thank you so much for keeping us up to date on Dawn's progress. Although the first few days are difficult, there is a gradual improvement as the days continue to pass. Please let Dawn know that we are all here for her. We look forward to the time when she feels well enough to post her own message.
All the best,
Shelley

[HGD24]

Glad to hear Dawn is doing so well Eric! I know it's tough for you to see her in the condition she is in right now and to be so involved with her care, so please be sure to take some time for yourself to be sure that you don't get too overwhelmed. My husband had family and friends stay with me a few times in the first couple of weeks while he and other friends went to the mall and went car shopping...just to get him out of the house and away from all of his "nurse" duties. Your health and wellbeing are as important as Dawn's at this point in the recovery. Please send Dawn our good wishes and please don't hesitate to come here with questions!

[janski66]

Hey Eric and Dawn- Janski's back (no pun intended)

I am so glad my post helped you in dealing with the pain med schedule
It's great that Dawn is doing so well and that you are finding encouragement for both yourself and Dawn here. The next phase is probably going to be where they encourage her to walk as much as tolerable, that's where the muscle relaxants are going to be very important. Before I got out of the hospital I was walking so much that I asked permission to leave the floor that I was on for a change of scenery. The change of scenery really helped lift my mood. I don't know how much longer Dawn will be in the hospital before she comes home but we all have plenty of good advice for stuff she might need at home too. I had my anterior and posterior surgeries on the same day,so it was one huge trauma instead of two huge traumas and it seemed like my doctor kinda rushed me home before I felt ready.
In hospitals there are people called "discharge planners" who come around about the time your insurance company thinks you should be getting ready to go home.( I had a job like that once ) Hospitals operate kind of bureaucratically based on the average number of patient days "normally" required for certain procedures.
There again if she's still sick as a dog, there should be room for a reasonable
amount of negotiation. Wishing you both all the best. The worst is behind you.(once again no pun intended). God bless