Praise the Lord!

[KRIS ATKINSON]

We came home from Shriners yesterday and are struggling with comfort issues. Thank God it is just comfort issues and nothing more serious. She sleep downstairs on a hospital bed we are renting. We are looking into a Memory Foam Topper for her bed upstairs for when she is ready to climb stairs easily. I plan to get 4 inch topper from somewhere (I forget where you all recommended to get one) and it occurred to us that it may be difficult to get fitted sheets to go over the combination of the mattress and 4 inches of memory foam. Any suggestions out there? Thanks again for all the prayers! Kris

[Alison]

Hope everything goes well for your daughter, must be a good feeling to be home.

Couple of suggestions re a fitted sheet; would a double or queen size fitted sheet work. I know Mum and Dad have a queen sized bed, whilst I have a single bed and there fitted sheet's accidently ended up on my bed a few times. The sheet fitted pretty well length wise was just a bit more 'loose' on the bed (which I quite liked cause it meant that the sheet didn't fall off during the night lol). The extra bit of room should be enough to acccomadate a memory foam mattress topper as well as the normal bed.

Regards

Alison

[dawndd]

WOW, I can't beleive you are home already. I can't offer much advice on the comfort issues you are facing since Wells's surgery was much less extensive. ERica and the rest of your family have been in our thoughts and prayers constantly and we will continue to hold you there. Good Luck for the next week. Tell Erica that Wells just had his first shower and he said it was FANTASTIC. Certainly something for her to look forward to.

[Cheryl M]

Kris, so glad to hear you're home! We bought a memory foam mattress when my daughter started sleeping in the brace. I don't think it's 4 inches though so let me know if and where you find one. We have sheets from Pottery Barn and they are actually a little on the big side so I'm sure they would cover a thicker memory foam. We go to Shriners, Greenville, on August 12th for a 2nd opinion. Dr. W has been great and has called us at home to try to ease our fears of waiting. Hopefully we'll hear the same from Shriners and feel a little more confident. I hope time will quickly heal Erica completely and she'll be back to doing all the things she loves. We'll continue to pray for all of you. Cheryl

[nicoles mom]

Hey Kris
Glad To Hear Your Home And Things Are Going Well.

I Got My Memory Foam From Overstock.com Its 4 Inches Free Shipping And Came With In Two Days. The T Shirt Sheets Fit Good On My Nicoles 16 Inch Mattress. They Stretch A Lot So The Foam Fits Fine. I Think Hanes Makes The T Shirt Sheet You Could Get It At Walmart.

In My Prayers
Theresa

[KRIS ATKINSON]

We got a legless wheelchair on loan or gift from a nursing home for Erica. It is a godsend! She can now sit comfortably in the house in the wheelchair when she is not in her hospital bed in the dining room. Dawn, congratulations on Wells' shower! I gave Erica a sponge bath yesterday and that felt wonderful to her. We are howhere near being ready for a shower, as she still has bandages, etc. Theresa, thanks for the hint on where you got your memory foam pad, etc. Thank all of you for your ideas about the fitted sheets. We will look into these items. Erica is weaning off her norcotics now and taking short walks outside when it is only in the 70's and 80's. Take care all!

[nikyergen]

Kris,
Erica thought that first sponge bath felt good, wait until that first shower. She will feel wonderful after it. It should be soon. Crystal got to start showering 10 days after surgery. Once we got her in, it was hard to get her out. Glad to hear Erica is feeling so well. Sure glad she is going for short walks. Those walks will do more for her healing process than anything else she does. Tell Erica keep up the good work.

Nikki

[KRIS ATKINSON]

Our next appointment is August 9 at Shriners, and I assume we are unable to shower until at least then. That will be 22 days post-op. I have given her 2 sponge baths since we got home last Monday and changed her bandages today. Dawn, how did you get permission for Wells's shower so soon? You didn't have to have your post-op visit first? Cheryl, good luck with your upcoming appointment also. Erica wants me to call Shriners and ask if she can twist and turn without hurting the spine now. I told her I assume she would feel pain if she turned too far. Maybe I should call Shriners, though. Nikki, as you said, the pain pre-opt is gone now from the scoliosis aggravation, and is just pain from the inscisions and rib removals, I think. It was wonderful to hear Erica tell me tonight that she has no pain anymore!!! That meant a successful surgery to her. I hope the sitting improves in the months ahead from the surgery done on the thoracoplasty, as it is hard to tell yet. I notice she still has some rib hump, but hopefully it will at least be more comfortable to her in regular chairs in the months to come. It is wonderful to join all of you on the "other side." Kris

[nikyergen]

Kris,
I would most definitely call your doctor's nurse about the shower. Most of the time they are allowed to shower after the incision has healed, which is usually 10-14 days from surgery. I'd hate to see Erica wait that long, especially if it was really okay for her to shower.

Erica will experience other pain, but nothing like what she had from the scoliosis. Her muscles are going to get sore as she starts to function again, because they are going to have to stretch to where they are supposed to be.

'til later,
Nikki

[dawndd]

Dr. Pete told us approximately two weeks post op Wells could shower. He can not turn his back to the water in the shower but it is OK for the water that hits him in the front to run over or splash on the back. We are limiting his shower to 10 minutes because we don't want his incision to get too wet. He has no bandage now, but the incision is still covered with steri strips. But remember, he had much less extensive surgery than ERica. I would imagine the issue might be more when she is ready to stand in the shower. You might want to call Shriners on this. Taking a shower was a really big deal to him and he loved it.