3 weeks after growing rod surgery

[dnise]

Hello. I have a daughter with spinabifida. She is eight years old and just had rods put in her back. They are the kind that will expand out as she grows. Before surgery she could get around the house by crawling. It has been three weeks and I can barley get her to move. I don't know if she is scared or why she won't move. I know she can if she has to. She makes my other two children get everything she needs. She never did have any pain medicine. I guess it just may take time. My real concern is one of her legs is swollen. It is about 1/2 inch bigger from the calf to foot. They have did an ultra sound to make sure that their is no blood clot and they said blood was flowing good. Her doctor's nurse said maybe it was because her leg wasn't use to as much blood flow or maybe it was because she wasn't moving around and we needed to get her up and moving. Has eveyone had this happen to them or daughter?
Thank you,
Denise

[Carmell]

Hi Denise,

This surgery is a very big one. Her incisions should finally start feeling better and being less sensitive in the next week or two. I would imagine the incisional pain is something that's keeping her from being active in the floor. Also, the re-positioning of her spine may have thrown her entire balance off and she's not comfortable with how her body's balance is. Hopefully she'll get moving soon. As long as she's not in pain from the surgery, I'd encourage her to start moving. The more she stays immobile, the harder it will be to get moving later. Good luck.