Spinal Fusion Surgery – Day 4
September 30, 2008
It is day four and Katie is currently stable and comfortable. They took out four of the desired six discs on Thursday and on Tuesday her spine will be wired to a stainless steel rod.
Katie did very well the first 24 hours after surgery and was able to come off the ventilator. However, in the middle of the night she developed some problems caused by some fluid shifts in her chest cavity which required her to be put back on the ventilator. This was a disappointing setback as the last thing we want is for Katie to become dependent on a ventilator. This set back has resulted in her remaining in ICU until after the second surgery.
So far all the preplanning is paying off. Several of her regular doctors are checking in with us and following Katie’s progress closely. The nurses and attending physicians are monitoring her closely and are ready to answer/explain/clarify any questions we have. Each nurse/doctor/support staff assigned to Katie understands her medical history and why we are here. It has not been necessary for me to repeat myself to every person who walks through her door. These are all good signs.
During the intake process when we first arrived here, I was pleasantly surprised the hospital had recently installed a new computer system that stores all of the patient’s medical history. To illustrate how detailed this system is the nurse showed me a few screens where someone has input “Katie at a Glance – Statistical Fact Sheet” which includes a list of our pets among other things.
She assured me that it was no longer necessary to repeat myself to every department. It’s now all in the computer. This is all good news and I’m glad after 12 years of coming to this hospital they are finally keeping a computer file on repeat customers such as us. But just in case, I’ll keep giving them the updated paperwork.
The current game plan is to continue monitoring her vital signs. In preparation for tomorrow’s surgery they have ordered another unit of blood and decreased her pain medication a small amount. Once she’s done with surgery, they will increase it again to the higher level. Now there is nothing to do but wait and try not to think about tomorrow.
October 22, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Need to know if Katie can communicate…our 12 yo daughter needs surgery to correct scoliosis. Trying to find someone else with similar issues to see how it went…thank you.
October 25, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Hi Donna,
Thank you for question, I hope my response will help you in your research. Katie is nonverbal and cannot communicate her wants and needs. We know she is happy when she smiles or laughs and/or unhappy when she cries. We also watch for additional body language such as back arching, avoidance to touch on the hand/leg etc.
We have been trying for several years to develop a reliable form of communication, however, this requires Katie to be healthy enough to multi-task (for example, mentally process what is being asked of her, look for the object, reach for the object, and hit the appropriate switch in response. Her declining health has prevented her consistent success in this area.
Regarding how she is doing, I’m sad to report Katie has developed some significant complications, which has brought us back to the ICU. We were discharged from the hospital on October 11th only to be readmitted 8 days later in septic shock. They discovered she has a staph infection in her back and had to reopen her and clean out the infected areas. This will need to be done every two days until the infection is gone.
Her blood pressure and respiratory functions have become a concern and she is requiring additional blood transfusions, drugs to help regulate her blood pressure and oxygen to bring her stats back up. We are told this should begin to level out once the infection is controlled.
If you have additional questions/comments, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Sincerely,
Brenda Sullivan