We have a surgery date!

[Cheryl M]

Hey Kris,
No one here with the same surgery. Dr. W. is doing one on Monday. We met them during our tour. I think they might live more your way.

Briann's back looks really good. She's having an extremely tough day today. Bandages came off, pca gone, catheter gone, more stuff gone and she's gone to oral meds. It's tough. She did walk down the hall and back but got really sick to her stomach. Hopefully she'll get 100% off the morphene and that nausea will go away. She doesn't want visitors today so Troy and I are just meeting with them in the hall.

Prayers to Illinois and Oklahoma Elizabeth's.

Cheryl

[nikyergen]

Cheryl,
It's good to hear Briann is doing so well. Today may be the toughest. I know it was the hardest for Crystal. Going of the PCA and onto Oral Meds. She got very sick from the percocet. I tried telling the nurse that it was making her sick. I was thankful for the shift change and a new nurse. I told her the problem. She was very empathetic and gave Crystal something for the nausea and got doctors orders to change the percocet to something else. It made a huge difference. I can't imagine having a major surgery like this and then heaving all the time because the pain meds were making you sick. Way to much pain. Don't be afraid to ask them for something for Briann's nausea.

Lots of prayers to you all.
Nikki

[dancermom]

Hi everyone. I'm just home quickly to take a shower and go back to the hospital. The surgery was successful and lasted about 5 hours. The doctor fused from T2-T12.

We were called back to the recovery room and that was the worst experience in my life to my daughter in so much pain and crying. We kind of went downhill on Monday night. Elizabeth threw up all night long and it was a very hard time.

She moved out of ICU this afternoon and we are now in a private room. The took her off the morphine pump this afternoon and gave her oral meds. She is really hurting and things are rough right now and she still has her catheter in as she is not up yet. I just got a phone call and need to get offline as Elizabeth is crying and needs me to get back. I will update you all when I can again.

Connie

[KRIS ATKINSON]

Cheryl, glad I didn't try to visit you this week at the hospital. I was debating a little. Sounds like you are dealing with what we went through, basically, and believe me, Erica was in no condition to desire guests other than dad and me for several days. At Shriners, I had other patients, some finishing their stays post-op and some having surgery while we were there. I also talked a lot to some moms of other orthopaedic conditions, such as straightening legs. That was why I wondered if you have a similar support group. I found it helpful, but then you apparently have lots of family, which is a differest type of support. I ended up emailing my family (in Ohio, California) to share with them, and that helped too. I hope you are getting lots of emotional support also.
Connie, congratulations on a successful surgery! Welcome to the other side of the road with surgery! Take care both of you and we all hope to hear from the other Elizabeth soon, too. Kris

[AnnLF]

Hi All

Illinois Liz is on the other side! Hurrah! The doctor (no longer sleep-deprived!), said the surgery was a success and went as well as could be expected. She had anterior and posterior and was fused from T2 to L4. It was a long day- 11 hours. She got the breathing tube taken out last nite about 11:00pm. Hopefully the chest tube will come out tomorrow.

Of course she is very groggy, but is totally aware of everything going on around her. She is on the morphine thing and is getting shots of valium to help with the muscle spasms.

Her doctor was amazed at how muscular she is. Said she must have had a "wicked backhand" and told us some of her muscles were 3 times the normal size of a teenage girl.The bad part of that though is that it could make her more sore.
So far she is doing great. I anticipated moaning and groaning- but she seems very peaceful and content. Hope all is well with Briann and Elizabeth. You're all in our prayers. gotta run love Ann

[KRIS ATKINSON]

Ann, congratulations! Welcome to the other side! Your Liz's surgery sounds more like my Erica's surgery, a long time in surgery! You could be right about the muscle issue, but I was surprised that Erica didn't seem to have any extra problems with her muscles, including thoracoplasty, because she is athletic. She is small, though, still not 100 pounds yet at age 15. Thank God you all 3 made it through just fine! Kris

[flowerpower]

Congrats Ann, glad dr. was finally well rested and I am very happy for all the girls that their surgeries were successful. Hope the recovery process goes well for all with no surprise complications. Ooh, big wind just kicked up - maybe its the collective sigh of relief coming from across the states, lol. Take care, everyone.

Renee

[nikyergen]

To all of the Elizabeths, Briann, and their families:
Welcome to the other side. Glad you all made it in fine fashion. Now for the recovery. You may groan now, but wait until they feel fine and want to do something and you don't catch them in time (like chasing their dad around the house and leaping over the door to the dishwasher as they go through the kitchen). I finally sat down and cried, because I worried about something happening. Now, at 8 months post op, I just turn my head and pray nothing bad happens.

Anyway, good luck and keep us all posted on how your recoveries are going.

Prayers to you all,
Nikki

[KRIS ATKINSON]

Nikki, I never thought I would be almost caught up with you in post-surgery issues, but you are 8 months and we are not far behind you finally! Erica's doctor said starting January, she can swim, play basketball, kick soccer, but not fall. So, no team sports yet. I am thankful the winter is approaching as it is hard to play basketball in our driveway then, I hope. He brothers are probably at least as aggressive to play ball with as a team! As you said, I worry and get scolded for babying her too much. Her brothers slam her up against a wall in the house or upset her in the easy chair after she bugs them enough, so I now stay out of their way and pray! They are all stronger than me, and I figure if Erica was really concerned for her safety, she would DO AS I SAY (yeah, right) and not BUG her brothers. Christmas vacation could become very hazardous at our house if my kids have nothing to do but get on each others nerves. Sure hope I don't end up hauling Erica in for xrays from too much aggravation between them all! How does if feel having those like me joining you on the other side, then ending up months later swapping worry tales regarding doing things they shouldn't do post-surgery? Take care, Kris

[nikyergen]

Kris, It is so wonderful to see all these wonderful young people making it through their surgeries, and their moms and dads right beside them. Don't you love the don't fall part of the restrictions. The hardest part is keeping these active/athletic people slowed down. Crystal can play basketball, swim, dance, etc., but can't play basketball as a team sport yet. So, she is working lots of hours at work. I think that is my only saving grace right now. She is keeping herself busy in her spare time and not here a lot to be antagonized or to antagonize anyone. It is a good thing we have a lot of faith in God, or I don't think we'd survive this.

For you moms, as your children heal from surgery, you will worry and worry. You will get to the point that the worry becomes less and you pray more. You learn to close your eyes or go to the other room. Should of been at our house last night. It was a huge snowball fight in the house, and dad started it. You might think a snowball fight in the house was just terrible. But, it's just water and wipes up easily. Kids were running, dogs were barking and encouraging the rough houseness of the snowball fight, the cat hid in the corner, and mom and dad were laughing. It was well worth it though, and everyone pitched in to clean up the water.

Kris can attest that you just have to turn the other cheek after the first 6 months or so. Don't let them do something that might be really damaging, but you have to let them start living their normal life again. Can't keep them in bubble wrap for long, they just break all the little bubbles one at a time (lol).

Try to keep your wit and sense of humor. They go stir crazy quick and need to do some activity. I have the best picture of Crystal in a hoop skirt formal on a swing last June, just 12 weeks post op. Oh, of course, the skirt went up over her head and all you saw was the underside of the skirt and her pant-a-loons. Of course, like every other child, she had to bail out of the swing. I could of scolded her, but it was an alls well that ends well situation. My heart was in my throat all the time the first 4-6 months. Can you believe that out of a 17 year old? Even at the age you think they know better, they are still going to drive you nuts with it.

Keep us posted on how your lovely children are doing. And enjoy their "NEW BACK". We noticed a difference while Crystal was still in recovery. You should see her today. Stands straight and tall. How beautiful she looks now.

Prayers to you on on recovery and worry,
Nikki

[AnnLF]

Hi All,

I'll keep this short...my husband are I are taking turns sleeping in the Marriott across from the medical center and I'm going to hit the hay here in a minute. Just wanted to give you a quick update.

Liz got out of intensive care today. They took the chest tube out and also took her off the continious morphine. She still can get it by pushing the button, but it's not constantly going into her. She's on the valium, as well. We're hoping she'll be less loopy tomorrow. Doesn't really talk unless she is spoken to.

They got her up to sit in a chair for about 10 minutes. Amazingly, she doesn't appear to be in intense pain. She rates it about a 4. Her doctor is calling her his little "stud-ette." He predicted that because of all the muscle, that she'd be pretty miserable the first couple of days. Gladly, he was wrong.

She still hasn't eaten anything. Her belly is quite bloated -- she looks pregnant! They're giving her stuff to help with that, so we're hoping for some major gas-passing!

I guess that's all. I'm hoping Briann/Elizabeth and Elizabeth from OK are doing fine and not running into any problems.

Goodnight! And thanks for all the encouragement. It's hard to imagine sports and snowball fights at this point, so it's helpful to hear. Love, Ann

[Cheryl M]

Hey everyone!

We're home!!!! We got home about 8:00 last night. She is really nauseous from the pain medicine and doesn't want to eat but other than that and a really sore back, I think she is doing great. She would disagree. She doesn't want to see anyone. She won't even see her brother so he's staying tucked away upstairs playing video games. He and his grandmother really decorated our house for Christmas and he can't wait to show Briann all he's done. I can't wait until she's up for it. I'm gonna get her up every other hour and make her walk to the front door and back. She'd sleep all day if I'd let her but then she wakes up all uncomfortable. It really does help to walk.

Glad to hear all the November girls are on the other side. My best and prayers to both of you (Elizabeth's) and Hannah too.

Cheryl

[flowerpower]

Glad to hear Liz is doing well so far. Wow, she must have a high tolerance for pain! Hope you parents are doing well also. Keep us posted -

Take Care,

Renee

[flowerpower]

Cheryl,

you must have beaten me by a second on the last post! Glad to hear Briann is home. How sweet of her brother (and Grandmother) to decorate the house! I'm sure Briann will be pleased and honored when she's able to be up and looking around more. It must be the best feeling to finally be back home. Hope all continues to go well.

Renee

[Laura P]

Finally

I regestered two days ago and must have done something wrong when I registered and couldn't post. I was waiting patiently and finally reregistered tonight and it worked right away. I just found this sight and am so thankfull for all of your helpful posts. Our 17 yr old will have surgery Dec. 16 in B'ham. We go for testing this Tues to find out exactly what technique she will be a candidate for. Thank you all again. I hope all of your girls continue to do good.
Laura