I am Meghan's mom and I am writing an update for her because she is in quite a bit of pain yet. She has undergone two big operations on the 11th and 14th of this month. The first operation was about 8 hours long and they approached anterior and removed two vertebra and put in titanium cages and also did a posterior approach and put in the hardware in her back (T2-pelvis). She went directly to the Post Surgical ICU where she remained until mid afternoon on the 12th. She was transferred to the orthopedic floor until her next surgery on the 14th. In the ICU she received five units of blood and was intubated for about eight hours because she had so much swelling. She was also on the PCA pump for about 24 hours.
On Thursday morning she was again taken to the OR and this time for almost 10 hours. The doctor said it was difficult because she had so much blood loss and her bones were soft. He did not get the correction he had hoped for because the alarms went off twice during the procedure and he did not want to push it any more. She did fine and he did get the curves to 70 degrees and also got rid of the hump on her back. She was really happy about this. After this surgery she was taken to the Post Anesthesia Care Unit where she remained until Friday afternoon. Again, she had lots of swelling and was again intubated for 10 hours. She did well and was a lot braver than I would have been.
Once she was on the orthopedic floor she had a great room-mate. They got along well and were a good support to each other. She was weaned from the PCA pump after about 24 hours and this was not fun. She had lots of pain and could not get comfortable. Finally, she was put on Dilaudid and Tylenol every 3 hours and this seems to be doing the trick. Oh yes, I forgot but she is also receiving Valium every eight hours for back spasms and this seems to be her biggest complaint. She also has a TLS brace which she has to wear 23 out of 24 hours.
She was discharged to home on Wednesday, 1/20/10, and has been doing OK. Thursday was a real good day. Her grandmother, 98 years old, came to visit along with her uncle. She had the VNA nurse and physical therapist and did oh so well. At night two of her friends came to visit and brought pizza. At night her feet were very swollen and she was in pain. Thursday, Friday and Saturday were set backs so it seemed. Spent most of the time in bed, getting up only to go to the bathroom.
Sunday was the first shower since surgery. This was a major accomplishment because she had to climb a flight of stairs. She did a great job and the whole process probably took two hours. Needless to say after this she took a good nap.
Her eating is just starting to pick up a little. She had a turkey sandwich on Saturday and goulash on Sunday. She has been eating fruit, oranges and a banana. She does drink quite a bit. She does get a little discouraged, but I really think she is doing great.
On Thursday morning she was again taken to the OR and this time for almost 10 hours. The doctor said it was difficult because she had so much blood loss and her bones were soft. He did not get the correction he had hoped for because the alarms went off twice during the procedure and he did not want to push it any more. She did fine and he did get the curves to 70 degrees and also got rid of the hump on her back. She was really happy about this. After this surgery she was taken to the Post Anesthesia Care Unit where she remained until Friday afternoon. Again, she had lots of swelling and was again intubated for 10 hours. She did well and was a lot braver than I would have been.
Once she was on the orthopedic floor she had a great room-mate. They got along well and were a good support to each other. She was weaned from the PCA pump after about 24 hours and this was not fun. She had lots of pain and could not get comfortable. Finally, she was put on Dilaudid and Tylenol every 3 hours and this seems to be doing the trick. Oh yes, I forgot but she is also receiving Valium every eight hours for back spasms and this seems to be her biggest complaint. She also has a TLS brace which she has to wear 23 out of 24 hours.
She was discharged to home on Wednesday, 1/20/10, and has been doing OK. Thursday was a real good day. Her grandmother, 98 years old, came to visit along with her uncle. She had the VNA nurse and physical therapist and did oh so well. At night two of her friends came to visit and brought pizza. At night her feet were very swollen and she was in pain. Thursday, Friday and Saturday were set backs so it seemed. Spent most of the time in bed, getting up only to go to the bathroom.
Sunday was the first shower since surgery. This was a major accomplishment because she had to climb a flight of stairs. She did a great job and the whole process probably took two hours. Needless to say after this she took a good nap.
Her eating is just starting to pick up a little. She had a turkey sandwich on Saturday and goulash on Sunday. She has been eating fruit, oranges and a banana. She does drink quite a bit. She does get a little discouraged, but I really think she is doing great.
Comment