Surgery Tomorrow (June 4th)

[Jill K]

Hi everyone, just checking in. My surgery is tomorrow!!!! The good thing is that I am not scared at all, I am actually excited :). Everything has come and gone so quickly. After I get home from the hospital, which is approximatly Wednesday, I will either write here when I get better, or dictate to my mom and have her write. As most of you probably know, my surgery (like any other) is about 7 or so hours long. For me it will seem really fast, just like sleeping, and for my family it'll be the longest day of their lives. But I still cant believe how calm I am. I understand it'll be painful, but I am still not scared. The only thing I am truly thinking about is how bored I'll be for 7 or so days (I'll probably sleep the whole time though). One thing is for sure, I am glad after surgery I'll be able to wear the things I want to. Plus when I get home I will sit on the couch all day and play video games :D!!! That's all for now, talk to you all soon!!!
~Jill

[Carmell]

Best wishes to you Jill! We'll be thinking of you and your family tomorrow. I'll be anxious to hear how the surgery goes. Sending my best cyber vibes your way for a smooth and speedy recovery. Gentle hugs to you!

[spincon58]

Jill,

I remember your mom asking me for the list of question to ask the doctor....I'm so happy your not sacred or worried..I wish you can pass some of that my way...wishing you the best of luck and a easy time

[Jill K]

Thank you everyone!!!!
~Jill :)

[Jill K]

Right now it is 4:50 am, and I woke up at 4am. Today is the day of surgery!!!! I am so excited and once again not nervous (at least now....). I have to be down at the hospital by 6am and we are leaving the house a 5am. They said I could not eat past midnight, or drink past 4:30am. My calmness is making this situation a lot better. My operation is scheduled for 7:45am, but before that I have several lab things/final blood work I need to get done. This is my last post before surgery, and my last one for a while. I'll get back on as soon as possible, or I will have my mom write for me. Talk to everyone hopefully soon!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :D :cool: ;)
~Jill

[lily]

Jill,

I said a prayer for you when I read your post today. you are probably in surgery as I write this. You will be in my thoughts and prayer. I am glad you are calm. God is in control. He will take care of you.

Lily

[mumof5]

Hope everything went well for you and your recovery goes as well as Amber's has. Keep up the positive attitude it really helps.
Cheryl

[OneofFive1]

Jill K,
Hope u recover soon. Write as soon as u can!
I'll be praying for u!

[dapsbounce8]

Hi everyone!

I live in an area by Jill and we have the same doctor, so Jill and I (and our mothers) met about a week before her surgery, so they could ask us any remaining questions.

Her mother emailed me yesterday to say that the surgery lasted four hours and went well. Congratulations to Jill and her family, and good luck!

[dapsbounce8]

Here is the latest message from Jill's mom:

Doing well great nurses taking care of her.Off oxygen now.Small fever.
Liquids .Ice cream.Sit up tomorrow i think!

[mumof5]

That's wonderful. Hope the recovery keeps going well. Don't worry too much about the slight fever. Amber's temp went up and down for the first 5 days or so. Best of luck and warm wishes.
Cheryl.

[dapsbounce8]

New message from Jill's mom:

"Physical therapy was pretty rough. She was afraid of throwing up, but she didn't. She go pasty and so pale, even her lips were white! More Later. Some of the nurses here remember you!

Jill is resting nicely now after her first sitting up and then!!!ready
for this STANDING UP. She did great. White as a ghost, but she did it. Now she is sleeping. Physical therapy taught her some exercises and it was quite an ordeal, but everyone assures us it will get better. Jill still has a little temp of 101.4 but they tell us that is normal. She is still hooked up to her epidural and the pain team just visited her. Tomorrow physical therapy will get her up twice. Not eating yet, just juices (barely and by her choice) They said she could eat when ready. She still has quite a way to go but everyone tells us she is a superstar! Great nurses, doctors, what a place :) "

[Jill K's Mom]

Thank you all! Jill will be so excited when she comes home and can read all your nice messages. It's true! She was wheeled in to surgery (the longest and hardest moment of my life EVER) at 7:45 am and at 12:30pm her doctor called us in the waiting room to say she was getting her incision dressed and then to recovery. We were with her by 1:30pm and were ready for a "scary puffy face" (Charlotte told us to take pictures) but she wasn't that puffy, I took pictures anyway as I am trying to make a teeny album for her to document her surgery. She is making slow progress but she has her pain managed so well (epidural) that she is a star in the floor at the hospital. She has many ups and downs and gets discouraged that she feels icky after having a great 2 hours of feeling like herself. I know this is all part of recovery. After physical therapy today (when she turned whiter than white when they had her stand up) I prayed that she would be farther along before they release her!!! But after that, she took a great nap and slept a long time and woke up feeling GREAT only to fade after about 2 hours and feel crummy again. WE will hang in there. I am glad it is behind us and her, she will get through this as will we. She really is doing well, but it takes time. Thank you one and all!:)

[spincon58]

Dear Jill and her mom...

Wow, how brave you all were..congratulation on doing such a great job and having the thought of surgery behind you...now just focus on the recovery and before you know it you'll be back to your old self but better!!!please keep the play by play recover...it helps all of us and we are all so concerned.....Jill great job and hope to here from you soon. feel better fast

[Carmell]

I'm so happy to hear surgery went well! Take the recovery one very small step at a time. Sounds like Jill is doing GREAT! Keep up the great work! May there be many more good days than bad from now on out. Woo-Hoo for Jill!

[dapsbounce8]

More messages from Jill's mom:

Jack is there tonight and I came home for the first time. First time outside since Friday - gosh summer is here. Jill did NOT want me to leave, but Jack (her Dad) is there and he is very attentive. Although he is NOT her mOM. (that makes me feel good, but I feel like I am deserting her) SHe had a great hour or so after she slept, after her physical therapy bout...then as the day progressed she started looking pale again and asked for wet rags on her forehead (a sure sign that she feels nauseaous) but so far no throw ups but I can tell she is worried....we had a whole day with no roommate and it was awesome, Jack even got to sleep on the other side in the bed chair so we were both there. Last night it was just me and (the roommates huge, noisy entourage) and we had a great nurse Abby who she has again tonight. The floor is nice, everyone is so caring...I just wish Jill would round the bend for good and not have anymore bad hours. I know tomorrow is going to be rough. Thank you SO MUCH for your information and help through all of this and for posting to Jill's thread! She will be so excited to read it when she gets home. Thank you thank you! You have been so helpfuol.

Starting on tylenol with codein soon.Did u feel naseous on it?Walked 2
door had 2 sit down really pale and shaky.When better?

[dapsbounce8]

Great news:

I just got a message from Jill's mom saying that Jill is returning home today! Congratulations Jill!

[mumof5]

Congratulations Jill and family. I hope your recovery goes well. Everyday will get better and better now. Keep us posted on how you are.
Cheryl and Amber.

[Jill K's Mom]

Wednesday! Today we came home from the hospital with Jill! It was a long day as we were supposed to have an xray and be on our way by noon, but we didn't get xrayed until around 4:30 so we finally arrived home around 6:00pm. She was doing so well the physical therapist said she had met all their criteria for going home and when the doctors visited this morning they said she could go home today! She is now in bed sleeping soundly and I think she will be so happy to be home tomorrow when she wakes up and realizes the hospital stay is really behind her. She still tires easily, but she is so strong that she makes big strides everyday. It was so fun today to make her first Post-Op appointment and to have all the Pre-Op stuff in the past. Thank you again to all of you that have cared and supported us from the beginning. Without all of you it would have been a much more difficult road to travel. Having been through it, I can honestly say it was much easier than I ever would have expected. But we will have to wait for Jill's reply to see what she really thought. She was pretty quiet in the hopital so it's hard for me to say what she felt. I only can tell you that with our great staff of doctors and nurses at Children's Memorial, it all went so perfectly. Plus the epidural worked really well and helped her right off the bat. She never had any side effects from any drug or iv medicine. Her pain was always managed and I'm guessing one of the worst things she might say is how slowly the time passed and how boring it was being in the hospital. I still think we got off easy with only 5 nights! She was a superstar, and the whole floor of medical personnel agreed! :D

[Carmell]

Congratulations on being home! It sounds like Jill is doing great. I'm so glad for you. And, if the biggest complaint she has about being in the hospital is that it was boring, they must have done a great job. Keep up the good work! May she continue to have a smooth and speedy recovery. Take it one day at a time and don't overdo. My best!

[Jill K]

Hi everyone!!! This is actually me typing and everything :) ! As you all know I got home on Wednesday sometime around 6pm. Today is Saturday and I am feeling a lot better. My mom is slowly getting be off of my pain killers. Lots of flowers and cards!!! The hospital seemed to go by really slowly and the first night seemed like eternity, I kept asking my parents "is is saturday yet, is it saturday yet.....". I am sleeping on the first floor of my house with my mom in the king bed and my dad took my room upstairs. Today I went for a walk to my neighbor's/end of the block, then around and through the back of my house. My friend is coming over to visit in a minute so I have to go. Oh yeah, I grew about and 1 1/2 inches or so :). Now I am 5' 7"+. Talk to everyone soon!!! Thanks for helping me get through everything!!!
~Jill

[OneofFive1]

Jill,
so glad ur doing better!!

[Joe's Mom]

wow! You are so tall now! That is very good news, indeed!

[dapsbounce8]

Good job walking Jill! Keep up the good work!

[Boo]

Well done for getting through it and i hope you arent a ghost any more

love Boo:D

[Boo]

Well done for getting through it and i hope you arent a ghost any more

love Boo:D

[Jill K]

walked to the end of my street, turned to the next, walked to a caldisack, walked back home, up the stairs, down the stairs, to my back yard, then to the couch.....what a work out :). getting better day by day!!!
~Jill

[Boo]

well done did u get worn out?

[mumof5]

Today the neighbourhood tomorrow the world. Congratulations!
Cheryl.

[Jill K]

Thanks :) !
I didn't get worn out at all :) :)!!! I am also able to sit down and get up on my own more, too. talk to you later (probably a longer walk today :) )
~Jill

[Jill K]

Tomorrow is my first post-op checkup (2 weeks post-op). Everything is going fine except one thing. Yesterday my friend was over. She twisted my back and then shoved me!!!! I am so mad at her!!! What should I do? She didn't do it on purpose, but she didn't seem too sorry. My doctor said that tomorrow there is a slight chance of regetting a brace, but I don't care if I do, I actually like my brace. My doctor also said that since the chairs there are hard and might hurt my back, they'll let us in ahead of everyone...VIP treatment :). So the only thing bad was what my friend did to me, she didn't even apologize!!!!! Talk to everyone soon....I'll write again after my appointment.
~Jill

[mumof5]

As a parent of someone who has had this surgery this is what I would say to my daughter if that happened. You may not feel this way.
Did your friend understand what you have just had done? If not explain quickly. If she did, wait until after you have seen the doctor, then ring her (asking her to come over is your choice, but keep someone with you for support.). Tell her why she should not have done that. What could of happened or ( I hope not ) anything that did happen. Be truthfull, let her know of any extra expense she has caused or any other problems. If she didn't say sorry at first, maybe she just didn't understand what she did. If she still doesn't seem sorry (even if she says the words) then she's not the sort of person that you need as a friend in the long term. I know that may sound harsh but if she can do that to you now what else is she likely to do. It doesn't matter what caused it to happen. Even if you were both mucking around and you were twisted she should never have shoved you.
My guess is that you have been being careful and hopefully no damage has been done.
Let us know what the doctor says. We are hoping for a good report for you.
Best wishes.
Cheryl

[Jill K]

Today I went to the doctor for my 2 week post-op check up. My doctor's main nurse told me to say hi to this one girl who was having the same surgery in a few weeks. So I said hi and we exchanged screen names and email adresses. This all happend after I got my x-rays. I went back to the room I was staying in and waited with my mom for the doctor to come. When he came he said that my back was "textbook perfect" and that everything was going fine. He said I have to wait 2 weeks to move my arms and waist more that 90 degrees. He said I could shower standing up, but I still want my mom to help me. He said my curve might be IN THE SINGLE DIGITS!!!! Also my mom and I have been noticing that at night I am very slightly hunched, but in the mornings I am fine. We asked the doctor about this and said it was normal for the first 3 months. Has anyone had this happen to them or someone they know? So basically my doctor said things are going great. If I think of anything I forgot, I'll write more, but otherwise I'll talk to everyone later!!!
~Jill
P.S. About my "friend" you cant EVER convince her she is wrong.....believe me.....I have tried :) ;)

[mumof5]

Amber 'hunches' when she is tired as well.
I am so glad that everything is going well for you.
Cheryl.

[Jill K]

I don't remember if I said this...but now I can shower without a shower chair!!! Talk to you later!
~Jill

[Boo]

what was the degree of ur bak b 4 the op?????
:D

[Jill K]

Mine before surgery was about 44. What's yours?
~Jill

[Boo]

last tme i checked about 45 now i think it is 50

[Jill K]

hey everyone! I would like to reopen this thread to anyone with questions about surgery or bracing

[mamakay]

Jill!!!
My gosh listen to what mumof 5 told you!!
That is NO friend and I bet you are her only "friend".
She sounds like my daughter's "friend" who gets very jealous when any attention by especially boys is directed not to her.
I explained to this girl Ste needs her , but even text messaging to someone else sends this girl into the silent treatment towards ste.
This is very upsetting to her as well and I don't know why you young girls put up with people like that. Your backs should be the only concern a friend would have and I think she will try and hurt you again but act like it is an accident.
I am not trying to scare you but I think you should tell the Dr or your mom and maybe have them explain if any thing happens she will be questioned. I am really on a soap box here but you must stand up and protect what you've worked hard to get thru. I think she maybe jealous bc you are probably taller and prettier now..good luck,kay

[Jill K]

thanks mamakay :)
Yeah my friend and I haven't talked in 6 months!!!:):). I was invited to go see her concert for this HUGE choir thing and I rejected the offer. She told her parents that she just touched my back but really she shoved me a good few feet forward (either way touching or shoving she still shouldn't have hit my back). My mom was not home but when I told her she said she would have yelled at her (go mom!:)). This happened to another person I know too. Our friendship was based off of me feeling sorry for her (she was a "outcast" in our class). Then in 8th grade she was taking advantage of our friendship and me. So when she hit my back that pushed me over the edge and I now still hate her. if you have anymore comments or questions feel free to write back:)
~Jill

[mamakay]

Jill,
Good for you!! I told my daughter what she did to you and she was shocked!! We're glad your back is ok and you are not a victim or co dependent of this type person. I would have said the same thing your mom did.
You are a mature thinking person and I bet that makes your family proud to see all your strengths..
good luck and stay in touch.
Mamakay