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  • On the other side

    Alex's surgery went well. At 9:43am they called that they had cut skin, and by 5:09pm Doc came out to talk to us. We had a scare for a while there. Doc came out of the OR room to tell us that the monitor attached to his spinal cord was giving a "funny" reading so they had taken the rods out, and they were going to wait for a bit then do the wake up test to make sure he could move his legs. If he moved them they would proceed to put rods back in place, if he couldn't they would go from there. They did the wake up test 3 times, once after rods were taken out, once when rods were put back in and again before they closed him up. The following day the anesthisiologist came in to see if he remembered any of it, and if he remembered picking up his head and looking at her! That kind of creeped me out, all that while he was opened up. Good thing he doesn't remember.

    On Post Op Day 2 he sprang a few leaks. So on Day 3 docs gave orders for him to stay flat on his back the entire day to be sure he wasn't leaking spinal fluid (he also had a stent inserted into his spine to relieve some fluid build up). And as you can imagine getting up on Day 4 after being in bed all day was very difficult. By day 5 he was released to come home. Being home made all the difference in the world, he said he just felt so much better at home, and it showed.

    We saw xrays of the rods and screws and the correction looks amazing! He really has handled it like a champ. He's not taking pain meds anymore. Since being home he has only taken two pain pills and two muscle relaxers.

    Only thing strange to me is that he has developed fever at night only. Anyone else experience that? His fever has gotten as high as 101, which I called docs for but incision area looks good and we were told to give him tylenol and call if it persisted. But, he's fine during the day only gets the fever at night. Kind of strange to me.

    Also, we never did any kind of breathing to keep fluid from developing in his lungs. Nurse noticed the unopened device when we were leaving, should I be concerned? I guess not if he's not sick now right? Also, he wasn't sent home with any kind of exercises, just has to get up and walk for 10 minutes 4x a day. Is that the norm for everyone?

    Thanks, and Happy New Year!
    Angie Romero, Mom to Alex, Dominic & Marissa.
    Alex was fused from T2-L2 at the age of 12 on Dec 22, 2010
    By Dr. Hanson at Texas Children's Hospital

  • #2
    Hello,
    sounds like everything went great!!!
    My son had the wake up test too, from the time they started monitoring him he never showed any signs on the right side, they think that may have been from his spinal shunt last year caused some damage..My son was questioned to about the wake up and he doesnt remember any of it or for that matter doesnt remember most of his hospital stay. My sons hospital was VERY strict on the breathing treatments and machine they had respratory come in every couple hours to make sure it was done....& yes my son ran fevers too I have seen several others children did too I wouldnt be too alarmed unless it gets higher , sticks around for awhile or if he starts showing other symptoms...
    Kelly
    mom of Cameren 12 yrs. old
    Chiari,retroflex odontoid,syringomyelia,scoliosis
    Chiari decompressions 6/2005,5/2006
    Syringopleural shunt 6/2009
    Boston Braced off & on 6.5yrs
    scoliosis surgery- 9/15/10 T4-L4 Dr. Bridwell
    Fell & broke finger,surgery 3/2011

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    • #3
      Congratulations! All in all, Alex's surgery went well.

      When my surgeon told me he would perform a wake up test, I was totally freaked out. But I too, don't remember a thing.

      Hope Alex improves every day and the remainder of the journey is smooth.
      Surgery March 3, 2009 at almost 58, now 63.
      Dr. Askin, Brisbane, Australia
      T4-Pelvis, Posterior only
      Osteotomies and Laminectomies
      Was 68 degrees, now 22 and pain free

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