Day 3 back surgery

8-25-2011


. I walked in at 8am today thinking Avri would be in here asking for some breakfast and laughing. Nothing like that was going on. She was crying and paler. The nurse said she spiked a fever last night and that they thought her epidural had slipped out of place because they could not control her pain with it. Her bandage is just getting soaked with fluid. Her lungs have diminished (nurse’s words) she said that it meant she was getting fluid pockets on her lungs. They think Avri won’t breath right because it hurts to bad so she is only taking tiny, fast, shallow breaths. So they have been doing breathing therapy with her (they have a machine that they put on her face that blows air into her mouth. She has to push it back out forcing her to take deep breaths. They say that they think it is still high enough in her lungs that they may be able to stop it from settling in.

On a good note she is still being her strong obedient self. They have scheduled times with physical therapy to come in and help her sit up. She was in so much pain. Physical therapy came in and said they were going to sit her up. She never questioned them. She did everything they asked her to do. There were a couple times that her eyes got huge. Her heart rate would sky rocket then drop. They would tell her “stay with us” she would look at them and carry on. The dressing on her back was more saturated than they thought so they changed that while she was sitting on the bed (which took 10 minutes). Then they got her in a chair. She asked me in such a quiet whisper a couple times if she could please get back into bed. I explain how good this is for her even though it may be painful. She accepts it and continues to push through. She sat in her chair for the full 20 minutes. When they stood her up to put her back in bed the dressing was soaked again, so she had to sit on the edge of the bed again so they could put more dressing on her back. They said she sat up for a total of 40 minutes instead of the required 20. (Painful for her but very good for her lungs and the recovery of her back)

It’s been a few hours since I started typing this post. Avri’s pain is being managed much better now. Her epidural is leaking so they are giving her more oral pain medication now. I have been rubbing lotion on her feet and the nurse just helped me paint her toe nails all fancy. Everyone is doing their very best to keep her comfortable and occupied when she is awake. Her fever finally did come back down with the second dose of Tylenol. She is continuing to work on her big breaths as well. She has produced some pretty good coughs (which make the staff very happy) not so much Avri as the coughing is painful.