Spinal Fusion - Day by Day

DAY ONE

We arrived at the hospital a little late because the van broke down on the way there. ugh! Of all the times!

Once we got there, Kenzie got signed in and then they took her back to check her vitals and get her ready for surgery.

Then we went to the Pre-op waiting room to wait for her turn.

It felt wrong that Roger and Christy weren't there with us. They are her parents as much as Dennis and I by now. But the hospital has a strict two parent rule for the pre-op room. So Roger and Christy waited for us in the waiting room.

Her surgeon and anesthesiologist came to tell us how everything would go and then when it was her turn the anesthesiologist came to get her and gave her a dose of Versed. She was loopy within minutes. Dennis and I walked with her as she was wheeled to the Operating Room and said "See ya later!"

When her surgery was done I went to the Post-op room to be with her as she was coming out of the anesthesia. She got to post-op without a breathing tube and mostly awake which seemed to impress the nurse there. She said kids are usually still sleeping and intubated at that point.
After a short time in post-op they sent us to Kenzie's room where she stayed for the rest of the week. It took several hours to get her epidural to keep up with her pain. But by that evening she was pretty comfortable considering what she'd just been through.

And I was shown where I'd be sleeping for the week. I was skeptical at first but it turned out to be a pretty comfortable bed.DAY TWO

Day two was rough. Lots of pain. And all the pain meds made it hard for her to get enough oxygen. Despite all that, the physical therapists came in and had her sit up on the edge of the bed for a few minutes. She didn't love doing it. And it obviously hurt her alot. But she did it. She's a tough girl. They told us more than once that this is the second most painful surgery they do. I believe it!

DAY THREE

Physical therapy came in twice each day while we were there. On the third day they had her stand for the first time. I didn't dare take a picture tho. She was quite teenager-like and vicious in the face of impending pain. But the second time they came I got some pics.

They had her stand up on one side the bed and walk around to the other. Then sit in the chair for a bit.

Each time she got up her blood pressure would drop and she would get nauseous and turn so pale that her lips disappeared! yikes!

Her Dad was kind to fan her till it passed. And later he brought a clip on fan to attach to her bed.

DAY FOUR

On the fourth day Kenzie was expected to take a short walk down the hall outside her room and she did great! Still so many tubes and wires that it took the two physical therapists and myself to get all the stuff down the hall with her.

The docs turned her epidural pump off in the morning of this day and transitioned her to oral pain meds. It was a little difficult for Kenzie at first but eventually the oral pain meds caught up where the epi left off.

DAY FIVE

This was the big "removal day".
The epidural line was removed since the transition to oral meds was complete.
The catheter was removed since she was able to walk to the bathroom on her own now.
The wound pump was removed. It helps drain any blood from the wound as it heals and she had only lost 20 cc's by this day with 200 cc's being the average for other patients.
And her bandage was removed so we got our first peek at the incision. Kenzie has a friend who had this surgery a few weeks ago and I had seen pics of her friend's incision so I knew what to expect. Not too bad.
Kenzie was excited to get to wear pants now! No more commando trips down the halls of the hospital. LOL
Usually, patients would be discharged from the hospital on day five but Kenzie was having alot of tummy trouble because of all the anesthesia and narcotic pain meds. They couldn't let her go home till that got resolved.

DAY SIX

Walking up and down stairs is one of the requirements for going home. Kenzie didn't feel up to it on day five because of her tummy trouble but by day six she wanted to get it out of the way. And she did! She made it look easy!

That evening she was ready for a shower. I helped her with that and then french braided her hair for her.

I pointed out the silver lining to all this was that she and I got to spend the whole week mostly alone together. But I teased that she was kind of boring company because all she did was sleep.

Her reply:

"If we're being honest, you were pretty bossy."
LOL
I think she's only referring to my constant coaching to get up and move around so that she would feel better sooner.
Yeah, I'm sure that's what she meant.

DAY SEVEN

Kenzie ditched the hospital gown on the last day and got dressed. In pajamas, but still an improvement over a hospital gown.

She took longer and more frequent trips down the hall and even walked Dennis and Christy to the elevator after they came to visit. We still didn't know if we'd be going home at this point.

But later that afternoon the docs felt that she was beginning to solve the tummy troubles and that we could do what we needed to at home to help her completely resolve them so they let her go home!

Now it's Day Eleven and she's doing really well. She still has a lot of pain and takes pain meds very regularly to help her deal with that. The tummy troubles finally resolved yesterday evening and now it's only back pain she's dealing with. She's getting stronger every day tho and finding little tricks to make herself more comfortable.

I need to say a BIG thanks to everyone that helped us out so much.

Heather stayed here at the house all week and kept Jaxon and Emily fed and alive. Not to mention rescuing us roadside on the day of surgery!

Christy was so patient to help us get shuffled across town more than once trying to get the van to and from the repair shop. And still make time to visit with Kenzie after a long day at work.

Dennis, who is still recovering from his latest accident, made the hard trip to and from the hospital several times and helped me encourage Kenzie to do the hard work she needed to do to help herself get better.

And Roger kept everything else together all week plus made visits to Kenzie after long days at work. AND he made sure that I came home to a clean house and even dinner on the table when we got home from the hospital. He's a SAINT for that alone.