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12 Days After Surgery

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  • 12 Days After Surgery

    Just wondered how much everyone was doing at this point after surgery. My daughter has been home 4 days. She wakes up around 8:00 and stays up for an hour then goes back to sleep for about 2 hrs. Stays up for 2-3 hrs and then feels like sleeping again for 2 more. In between she is walking every 20 minutes and sitting up off and on. Does this seem like enough activity? I worry that she might be laying around too much or does this seem normal for this time period? Thanks.

  • #2
    Hi, Peggy,

    This sounds just about like our experience. I had to pester my daughter to get up for about the first week she was home. She lay, slept, or sat most of the time and the word "languishing" kept popping into my mind. At the end of the second week post-op, she seemed to turn a corner, so to speak, and became more self-motivated about getting up and about. I planned a little "outing" every day that took us someplace of interest to her for about two hours or so, which required that she get showered and dressed as well as out of the house. These were good (and tiring) accomplishments for her, and each one seemed to somehow give her confidence about something that she didn't think she would be able to do at the time. She was generally not enthusiastic about any of them at first, but always came home more cheerful than when we left. Staring at the four walls of her room and making "laps" around the inside of the house ultimately became REALLY boring! Car rides were kept short because potholes and bumps in the road were painful (and in Chicago, these are plentiful!). It sounds to me like things are going fine, though.

    We just had our six week checkup, and things are going fine. Dr. gave us a prescription of salicylic acid mixed into some sort of cream to apply to the incision to deal with making the scar less noticeable. The pharmacist had never heard of this and wanted me to let her know if it works because she had just had surgery, too! Has your dr. mentioned anything to apply topically after the scab is gone?
    Paula

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    • #3
      Several years ago I had a (very stupid) skiing accident, and fractured my pelvis. I spent six weeks on my back, and was on crutches for almost a year. For about the first six months of this, I was very, very tired. I started to worry that I'd hit my head or something, and a pathologist friend of mine explained to me that, when the body is repairing tissue, it generates some chemical called cytokenes, which has a natural sedative effect. He says this is the body's way of insuring that you take it easy so that it can concentrate its metabolic resources on building new tissue. This helped me to view my overwhelming need to nap as simply cooperating with my body's healing mechanism. After enough time passed, I got over being tired. Perhaps all the tissue trauma and resultant repair has the same effect after surgery.

      If in doubt though, I think you're justified in calling the doctor. If he thinks you're being an overprotective Mum, that's just tough. You're just doing your job.

      Patricia
      Patricia
      Scoli Mum from New Zealand
      Daughter Caitlin's surgery 2nd May 2005
      Posterior fusion T3 - L1

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      • #4
        My mom worried about my sleeping after coming home too. I remeber being exhuasted! Everything seemed to take more energy than before! I know now that it is a reaction to the upheaval of surgery. That takes a lot out of the body and the body repairs itself during sleep. Her need to nap should start to tapper off. The naps will be less and her activity will increase. The 1st couple of weeks after getting home seem extra tiring! Let your daughter know that the tiredness will go away and her energy will come back soon!

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        • #5
          I spent a week in the hospital, and for my first two days home I would take a nap half way through the day. After that I would be up all day, but I spent a lot of time sitting down, working on a craft project, or lying down and reading in bed.

          At this point, I think its okay for your daughter to be sleeping as much as she wants, but the sooner she gets back on a normal schedule and starts moving around again, the sooner she will start to feel like her old self. Let her take her time, but encourage her to spend more time moving around.

          Good luck.
          Charlotte

          48 degree upper curve
          L2 to T4
          Braced for 4 years
          Surgery 2/4/04

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          • #6
            Thanks for all the help everyone. Its nice to know she is being normal. It was a beautiful day here today so she sat outside reading in a lounge for an hour. Wore her brace for 3 hrs so we are making progress. Tried to get her down to one Tylenol 3 last nite but that didn't work out. Too uncomfortable. So I guess I'll wait for a few more days to cut down to one every 6 hrs instead of two.
            Paula, can't believe it is 6 weeks already! Sounds like she is doing great. So happy for you. I never talked to the surgeon about her scar yet. I'll mention what your doctor ordered and see if he has heard of that. Sounds like your daughter feels confident about going out in a suit this summer (even though she needs to keep it covered). That is a good sign that she isn't self conscious about the incision. My daughter hasn't even asked to see hers yet. Not looking forward to that.
            Boy Patricia sounds like you were having it rough for quite a while. They say that breaking your pelvis is really painful. Glad to see you've recovered well. Crutches for a year! Hats off to you.

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