Kinley spinal fusion surgery T3 to L5

Kinley spinal fusion surgery T3 to L5 --   Thursday 1-17-13
Surgery went well and she should be in PICU shortly. Surgeon
said they were able to get a very good correction on the spine. We
actuall just saw the x-ray and it looked great. Had to give her 2
units of blood during procedure but said that is very common. Will
post more details later. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and
encouragement.

Day 1 wrap up --    Thursday 1-17-13
We got to see Kinley late afternoon in PICU and she looked pretty good considering what she had been through. Face pale, lips, cheeks, eyes were puffy due to being face down on the operating table for 5+ hours and taking in lots of fluids. Evidently she started pawing at her breathing tube and since she seemed to be doing ok they went ahead and removed it. By evening she was starting to look better although was still very sedated. She whispered a few words once in a while and then would drift back off to sleep. Blood pressure wasn't up as much as they were wanting it to be so trying to get it there with some meds. Also a few nausea issues so gave her something to help with that as well. Wonderful, compassionate nursing staff here in PICU and everyone on the surgery team was fantastic too. The lead surgeon came out right after surgery and sat down with us to go over everything, answer our questions, etc and even tracked us down later to give us a copy of the xray that showed the rods, pins, etc and how straight her spine is now. Wow what a difference from the "before" xray for sure. Probably will be in PICU until Saturday but an outside chance she will go to private room late Friday. Thank you again for your outpouring of love for our kiddo.

Day 2      --      Friday 1-18-13
Overnight was a little rough with some lingering nausea but that seemed to subside by morning. Also her blood pressure situation stabilized so they were able to discontinue those meds. During the morning she had a couple of breathing treatments as well as getting her PCA pain med dispenser set up. Physical therapy came in before noon and Kinley sat up on the edge of the bed for the first time. She was a little scared about that but stayed up for several minutes. In the afternoon she had another breathing treatment and then physical therapy came back and showed Suzie and I the proper technique for helping her sit up. We were able to help Kinley transition from bed to a recliner type chair and she stayed there for about an hour. The main spine nurse says she is doing very well and is a "rock star". Around 5:30 Kinley was moved from PICU to a private room on the 6th floor where she will stay until going home next week. Suzie immediately put up a poster of Kinley's favorite singer right now and that would be Harry from the band One Direction. She had another breathing treatment and now is getting some good sleepy time. I of course am taking advantage of that by watching some NBA hoops on ESPN. She doesn't let me do that when she's awake. :)


Day 3 -- Mid-day update   Saturday 1-19-13

Hi all, It's Suzie. Kinley had a good night. They turned her every 2 hours and she was pretty good about getting back to sleep. She is also having her respirtory treatments every 4 hours and does better at each visit.
Late morning she sat up on the side her bed, walked about 12 feet with the help of a walker and sat in the recliner for about 50 minutes. She didn't seem to have any pain but cried as she was very scared that it would hurt. She ate her first real food (other than Jello and crackers) while sitting in the chair - a pancake and some mandarin oranges. She's now back in her bed completely wiped out and asleep.
I got a good night sleep in the hotel across the street while John stayed in the hospital with her (we're switching off). He slept in the recliner and, at one point, tipped it back so far that it fell over backward - right when one of nurses walked in. I thought that was funny. :-)
We were told there were 3 therapy dogs scheduled to visit our floor today so Kinley is looking forward to that. I'll post a pic later today.
Thank you again for all the encouraging messages and texts.

Day 4  --- Mid Day      Sunday 1-20-13

Today Kinley sat in the chair for about 90 minutes and also transferred to a wheelchair so she could go to the therapy gym for some PT. She practiced standing up and then tossing some bean bags into a small basketball goal. She has a sweet left handed shot just fyi. :) After that we went to an area at the west end of our floor 6th) with lots of windows where you can look out at the mountains and also downtown. While there she ate some mashed potatoes and we talked about being brave in her recovery. Kinley's big hurdle right now is overcoming her fear of movement and that it will hurt her back. She is very afraid of sitting up, standing, and especially walking. However has powered through it even though there have been lots of tears. She also had several breathing treatments today, had another iv removed, and the surgeon came in to check on her. Dr said she is doing better than expected so that is encouraging news. Her appetite seems to be improving and she has requested cheese quesadillas for dinner. She has watched some tv and movies today and i let her borrow my Kindle Fire for a while. One of her favorite things is to watch Rachael Ray or Laura Vitale cooking videos on youtube........yep you read that correctly. Well gotta order up some quesadilla's so signing off for now.