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Spinal Fusion with Pleura Effussion(fluid around lung) post op complication

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  • Spinal Fusion with Pleura Effussion(fluid around lung) post op complication

    Our daughter Emily had her surgery at Childrens Hospital in Phila. with Dr. Dormans on Jan. 29. She is fused from T-2 to L-1. She spent 4 nights in the Icu and then went to the surgical floor with fluid in her right lung. We left the hospital with the lung still having fluid around it, but the chest x-ray showed clearing and we were discharged after 9 days.. However after 12 days we saw a rapid decline and having a hard time breathing and very pale and low- grade fever. We went down for a visit and was immediately readmitted with a collapsed lung.. Needless to say, we did not expect this complication at all and we were there for an additional 9 days, three of which were spent in the ICU again, having to go thru two operations to place chesttubes into her to drain an amazing amount of fluid from her lungs... We have been home for almost two weeks now and she is regaining her strength. She is still very pale and is not ready to go back to school. She is in 12th grade. One of the things that we did not do is have a visiting nurse when we came home. In hindsight we should have and we have one now for two more visits this time. I hope that any parents going thru this surgery with their children have some sort of follow thru at home. If we had the nurse, she would have picked up Emilys decline way sooner than we had and we would have gone back to the hospital sooner than we had and certainly not in the situation we experienced. I was wondering if any parents had pleura effusion post-op after spinal fusion? Also wondering when her strength will come back as she is still having pain in certain areas in her back and a lot of stiffness in her neck region. In her x-rays her rods seem to go pretty high in the neck region and perhaps this is the reason for her pain.. She also has Down Syndrome and it is hard to really know what she is describing. To all the parents out there, did it take a long time for your children to "come back" to their appetite, to their weight before surgery, paleness go away, and when they really got their stamina back???? Thanks for any advice or thoughts. thanks too to Melissa, Lori and Martha for all their continued support!
    Ann
    Last edited by dusty508; 03-11-2008, 03:51 PM.

  • #2
    Ann,

    You know how sorry I am that you all had to go through this. I know how difficult it has been. I know that Nicole was back at school full time at 6 weeks and even went trick or treating at that time. But ended it ealy because she didn't have her stamina back. I think it may take a good 2-3 months until Emily starts to really seem like herself. But that is not to say she won't seem stronger and more like herself every day. Nicole started to really eat a lot by 2 months post-op. She is still very hungry. I would say to keep a close watch on her and make sure she is constantly improving. I know we took walks outside every day. Each day we would increase it by another house. When she went back to school, we only walked on the weekends. I really hope and pray the next weeks and months are good ones for all of you. Thankfully the warm weather will be here soon and that should make everyone feel a lot better. We are all here for you, Ann.
    Melissa
    From Bucks County, Pa., USA

    Mom to Matthew,19, Jessica, 17, and Nicole, 14
    Nicole had surgery with Dr. Dormans on 9/12/07 at Children's Hospital of Phila. She is fused T-2 - L-3

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    • #3
      Ann,
      I had a VERY similar experience to your daughter. After my fusion I developed a pleural effusion on the right lung, partial lung collapse (right lung) and pneumonia. I was in the hospital for 6 days (if I remember right) and did not discover this until the Saturday after I was discharged (almost 1 week). I went to the local emergency room and they decided not to admit me, they had me return the next morning to have the fluid drained and sent me to my primary care physician for antibiotics and follow up care. It took me 8 weeks to go back to school part time (I was a senior in high school, like your daughter) and another few weeks to build up the stamina to return full time.
      It takes a while for strength to return and all the aches/pain to go away. This is a VERY extensive surgery and at some point she might need a round of physical therapy to build up her strength.
      She might be having muscle spasms in her upper back/neck region that she is relating to "pain" (they do hurt like a son of a gun!) You could have her lay on a heating pad, give her a light shoulder massage (if she will let you touch her) or do some gentile side to side neck stretching to help loosen up these contracted muscles. I know that I get these A LOT (also fused to T2). They should start to get better with time. At less than 2 months post op, she will still get aches and pains but by 6-12 months she should be back to normal.
      Feel free to ask me any questions you might have. I would be happy to send you my e-mail address if you want.

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      • #4
        Hi Ann,

        I'm sorry Emily has had such a difficult recovery. I wish I had better advice. My nephew has DS but hasn't had major surgery like Emily. I do know that his body doesn't recover like most people. Maybe with the hyper-loose ligaments and overall body structure, her lungs weren't supported the way they should have been, allowing the pleural effusion to happen? I know everyone recovers differently, and I'm sure her body requires extra TLC.

        Has she been on antibiotics? Even if she hasn't, have they done blood work to see if she's anemic? Being anemic is quite common for most people. Her stamina may be a little better if she can take iron supplements. Be careful tho, with the narcotics and iron, constipation may be a problem (if it isn't already). Her energy/paleness/stamina may take quite a while to get back to whatever is normal for her. This was a HUGE surgery. Her body has been severely manipulated and beaten up, surgically. Not a gentle procedure. She needs time to rest and get her strength back, while at the same time doing as much as she can to help boost that stamina by walking. It's a fine line.

        She's just barely 6 weeks post-op. If she didn't have the PE issue, she'd still be working on stamina, for sure. With the readmission for PE, that has set her back even more. Don't worry. Don't push too hard, but keep a good eye on her and help her make little steps of improvement each day. You are doing great.
        Carmell
        mom to Kara, idiopathic scoliosis, Blake 19, GERD and Braydon 14, VACTERL, GERD, DGE, VEPTR #137, thoracic insufficiency, rib anomalies, congenital scoliosis, missing coccyx, fatty filum/TC, anal stenosis, horseshoe kidney, dbl ureter in left kidney, ureterocele, kidney reflux, neurogenic bladder, bilateral hip dysplasia, right leg/foot dyplasia, tibial torsion, clubfoot with 8 toes, pes cavus, single umblilical artery, etc. http://carmellb-ivil.tripod.com/myfamily/

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        • #5
          Sorry that you guys had to go through all this. I would recommend some liquid iron supplements to help with the energy level. Go to a healthfood store and ask for a non-constipating liquid supplement, I think it is made by Flora. It's what I gave my daughter before and after her surgery and it didn't take long before she was feeling back to "normal". She did end up with 3 units of blood transfused and was pretty pale after the surgery. It took about 2 months before she was back to her pre-surgery weight.
          ******************

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          • #6
            Hi Ann,
            You have all been through hell and back and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think of all of you. This surgery is tough enough without any additional complications. My heart goes out to you for the misery you've been dealing with these past few months.

            Unfortunately, I don't have much to add to what everybody has already said. I know it's tough to feel helpless and want to speed up the recovery process, but I think Emily just needs a little extra time to heal.

            Chris returned to school 1/2 days when he was 7 weeks post op and full time at 9 weeks. The stamina returned slowly but his appetite was back on track as soon as we returned home from the hospital.

            I wish that I could give you a magic potion to speed things up for Emily so that things could start to feel more "normal" again for all of you. I'll work on it and get back to you!!


            Hang in there!
            Lori

            Mom to Christopher, age 17, Mark, 13, Heather, 10 and Michael, 8
            Chris had surgery with Dr. John Flynn at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia on December 12, 2007. He is fused T4 to L4.
            Dr. Flynn is an AMAZING surgeon!

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