Happy Halloween!

The hospital staff does a good job of making things fun when a holiday rolls around.  They had "trick or treat" stations throughout the hospital. Vicki was left in charge of the 7 West candy.

Happy Halloween!

Up and Down and Upside Down

Today has been a day of up and down - literally.  We started the day with the goal of being up in the bed and then up in the chair.  After being up in the bed at 30 degrees, there was some drainage around the back incision.  So Vicki ended up like this:

You can see a smile on her face, but trust me, she's not always this happy about it.

In addition to being flat, Vicki has seen PT, a therapy dog, an infectious disease doctor, ATD (the chair people), Music Therapy and Rec Therapy.

PT said, that her hips may be "locked" at 65 degrees due to bone changes and not muscle issues.  She suggested we see the orthopedic doctor to get more information.

The therapy dog was a poodle and had been introduced to Hajik before.  They said "hi" again, then the poodle talked with Vicki for 3 minutes and left.

Infectious disease said that "one line" of a culture had grown something in her Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF) when it was last taken.  One belief is that it was a contaminate in the lab.  There are no other signs of infection so it is the leading theory.  We need to have another check of the CSF in the near future.

ATD came up and adjusted the back of Vicki's chair by 10 degrees.  It's more open now.  Think reclining slightly.

Music Therapy kept Vicki entertained long enough for me to talk with another professional.

Rec Therapy brought some costume options for Vicki for tomorrow.  Guess what she chose to be? a) A princess?  b) A fairy? c) A witch? or d) A doctor?  Final answer?  d) a doctor.

I'm certain she will try to tell everyone what to do tomorrow when she becomes a doctor.  She already does that, but doesn't wear the lab coat.

The day has been full, but as I said, has been up and down.  We can not go home until she stops leaking.  So I told her to "dry up."

Right now, we are waiting for the surgeon to come in and give us an opinion about the leakage.

Epilogue:  We saw the surgeon. She determined that the fluid was indeed CSF and leaking.  That's not a good thing.  She said at one point, "Let me think about this."  She was considering surgery, or novocaine  and some additional stitches.  When she left the room to think, I was wondering to myself, "Do they ever use glue in a situation like this?"  She came back in and said, I'm going to use "Dermabond" - a glue.  That felt like a good confirmation to me.

The "Upsidedown" side to all of this is as follows:

She has to be in "reverse trendelenburg" position until at least tomorrow.  We could be looking at 3 more days of being flat.  She also has to hold off on a feeding for now so we don't add pressure.  She will be getting a medicine to slow the reproduction of spinal fluid.  The idea is that by "turning off the faucet" of the spinal fluid, there will be less pressure and hopefully not make it worse.  The surgeon's last words to us were, "It's not a big deal now. Let's keep it from becoming one."

Movin on Down :(

In every hospital stay there is the 'setback' or 'hold up' or some other words that describe forward progress stopping and backward progress starting.  Today was that day.

It started well enough with one hour in her chair in the morning!  But the afternoon stint was only 45 minutes.  After that there was some very slight drainage from her back incision.  It doesn't seem like a big deal when it is less than a dimes worth, but when you consider it might be spinal fluid, then it could be a big deal.

She went from having the chance to be in her chair and to eat some things by mouth to being flat for the afternoon/evening and nothing by mouth.

It's disheartening, but it's not life-threatening.  So we wait and try again tomorrow.

Movin On Up!

Vicki has been cleared for take off!  No, she can't go home just yet, but she can have the head of her bed raised!  She started with 10 degrees and will move to 20 by this afternoon.  See how she is:

It's not a big change, but it keeps her happy and it's foreword, or should I say upward progress.

Back in the Saddle Again

I suppose you think Vicki is sitting up in her chair by the title.  Well not quite, she was watching a horse movie when I got back so the title seemed fitting.


When I arrived, Vicki was very calm and Sarah reported she had an OK night and a good day.  I suspect the calm is partially due to the pain meds she's on.  I've watched her come out of surgery before and appear as if some miracle of calm had overtaken her only to see a few days later that she was not quite as calm.

I can tell that her tone is significantly better and that is very, very good news.  The sad part is I don't know how long she's really been suffering.

We are anxiously awaiting 7pm.  If the back incision is dry at that time, then she can have her head elevated slightly.  We will progress with increased height as she tolerates it.  I guess you could call it, "movin on up."


At home this morning, I realized how truly blessed we are.  When we hit these "bumps in the road,"  we receive an a great amount of support.  Meals have been provided, visitors have stopped by, prayers have been said, and PCA's have stepped up to support us in ways that are outside of the job description. 

I've said this before, but it bears repeating - I believe that when one member of God's family goes into crisis and others respond, that is what God means when he talks about the fact that we are the 'body of Christ.'  We are being taken care of by others in the body of Christ during this time.  Later on, when we are better, we will have the chance to strengthen and support others.  

Scott

Sleep is good

Vicki slept all night!!  Never even had any pain medication.  She is so much more comfortable sleeping on her tummy.  So far she has only had Tylenol for pain this morning.  Things are looking great.

Scott is packing up the garage stuff at his parents' and plans on coming home this evening.

Sarah, our wonderful PCA, who came home from college to be at our house this weekend, is going to bring the rest of the kids this afternoon to see Vicki and then she has offered to stay here with Vicki overnight.  Scott and I will get to be in the same city, the same building and the same bed at the same time!!  That will be a treat.

Laura

Mom's Turn

So, it's my turn with Vicki. After juggling the other kids at home, I was ready for a change. Scott was too.

Vicki has ALWAYS slept on her stomach. Yesterday she came out of surgery saying she was tired, so we turned her onto her stomach to get some rest. The nurses were not sure that that would be OK since she has a back incision that was seeping a little and they thought the surgeon would want pressure on it by laying on her back or propped up on her side. They could not reach the surgeon and decided they needed to keep her off of her tummy for the night. I was sure that would set us up for a bad night. Vicki surprised me. I would not say that either of us slept "well" but she was restful. After weeks of tightness, pain and crying, it was so good to see her relaxed again. The dose of Baclofen she is getting is less than half of what the pump was set to give her before surgery but it is SO much more effective. The surgeon said it was probably not working right for quite some time.

Today she has continued to be quite relaxed. She is not sleeping. Her eyes are open, but she is quiet and calm most of the time. She keeps asking when we can go home and I am sure the next 3 days of having to stay in bed will get boring, so if you have the time and ability, I am sure Vicki would love a visit or phone call. Be prepared to wait for her responses as it takes her a little while to get the words out and they are quite quiet, but I will take that over yelling and forced.

Vicki is on the 7th floor of Regions Hospital in the adult unit for Gillette, room 7319. Her phone number is 651-726-2670.

Thank you for your prayers.  They are working!!
Laura