What a Busy Day

It all began at 6:15 am this morning with a knock on our hospital room door. "Hello. Hello?" (I knew this wasn't our nurse as she just slips in quietly, checks what she needs to on Charlotta and slips out again). As I'm rubbing the sleep out of my eyes (and let's be honest, trying to remember what I'm wearing for pajamas and if they are decent), a young doctor walks into the room and introduces himself as the orthopedic resident. He gives me his name but in my fuzzy state I promptly forget it. He announces he's here to change the dressing on Charlotta's back. This ought to be interesting...

We turn on a few lights and go to rouse her. By this time, another young doctor has joined us. We roll Charlotta on her side, and the first doctor who is standing at her back begins picking at the 2-foot-long bandage that runs the length of her spine and covers the incision. Despite being stuck on with super-glue, the bandage comes off fairly easily (or maybe he's just very adept at removing it). I'm standing on the other side of the bed, facing Charlotta and trying to keep her lying on her side, but once the bandage is off I can't resist the urge to peek over to the other side and see her incision. I'm generally pretty squeamish about these kinds of things, but all-in-all it looked pretty good and was a neat row of 60+ staples. The new bandage went on and the doctors were gone. "Good morning, Mommy," mumbles Charlotta.

We had visits today from Charlotta's teachers, who brought an amazing bouquet of balloons along with a huge Get Well card from her class, and mini Get Well cards from the Kindergarten class that she helps out in. Steve's parents also came to visit, which allowed me to get outside for a bit and go for a walk in the rain (it felt good).

This morning and afternoon we had visits from the physiotherapists, whose goal it is to get Charlotta up and moving. This morning we sat her upright, with her feet dangling off of the edge of the bed for about 4-5 minutes. She looked kind of woozy and needed our help to stay upright. This afternoon we had a different (more ambitious) physio who not only had Charlotta sit up, but stand up and then shuffle a few steps to a chair and then sit in the chair for 10 minutes. She complained a bit, but did quite well, all things considered. We got her back in bed, and about 15 minutes later she threw up, and then she went to sleep. What a trooper!


She has actually spent most of the day sleeping. The doctor said this is normal, as the medication they used to sedate her during the operation is working its way through her system, and plus the morphine she is on can also make her feel tired, nauseous, woozy and just plain yucky. Tomorrow her chest tube comes out, so we will probably taper off the morphine after that.

Later on this afternoon, I got a great "before" and "after" look at Charlotta's spine. Her surgeon came in to check on her, and asked me if I wanted to see her before and after x-rays. Well, of course! As a fan of home reno shows, I love the dramatic "reveal."

Pretty cool, huh?

Before (left) and After (right)

Tomorrow, we've got more physio on the agenda, and they will take out her chest tube, which should make her feel much more comfortable.

Finally, I wanted to say a big thanks for all the good wishes, prayers, big hugs, positive vibes and casseroles you've all been sending our way. They are very much appreciated!