Sunday, January 25, 2009

Walking For First Time; Not For The Weak Stomached!

This morning after her bath, P.T. came and got J up to walk. She did EXCELLENT!! It was very painful, but she did it and is now sitting up in a chair. She does not like sitting up in the chair at ALL, but "no pain, no gain" holds very true in this case.

Here are her walking photos. After the last photo, if you have a weak stomach, then don't read after these walking photos:

100_9919-Getting up to walk for 1st time
Doing the "LOG ROLL" to pull up to sitting position



100_9923-photo 2.5 walking
Learning to use her leg muscles to stand



100_9924-photo 3 walking
Bearing weight for the first time



100_9925-Photo 5 Walking-Way to Go Woog!!
YAY!!!


100_9926-photo 4 walking and hug from dad
Stopping for a Hug from Daddy



100_9929-photo 6 completed walk and now resting
Completed Walk; Sitting up in a chair and Nana giving her words of praise!


WARNING-If you are weak stomached, do not scroll down for this part!




As I told you in a previous post, J has been having an allergic reaction to either metal or the morphine. Once her pain is managed, we will be able to reduce the morphine and once she is off of that we can tell if it is the meds or something else...like the rods. For now, we are trying to keep her comfortable. The rash had spread throughout the day and also during the night. She clawed her belly, feet, underarms and chest in places until it was bleeding. We tried to watch her, but she is quick!

On top of this, which I had already told them...her skin is sensitive to latex and some adhesives. Apparently the surgical assistant that bandaged her up did not realize this, and they put the wrong pads and adhesives on her back yesterday. Therefore she had welts developing around her incision and back. This still does not explain the other rash issues.

The morning nurse was EXCELLENT and she has skin issues too. So she was ON TOP of this. She took it upon herself (because her Dr. had not been in yet) to take the bandages off and re-dress them with paper tape and a gauze that would not break her out.

So...below are some photos for her incision for those who are curious. If you don't like this sort of thing (the realities of medical science), then don't scroll further!







100_9915- Not for the Weak Stomached!
She had thick welts where the adhesives were. We cleaned off the sticky and bathed her well. We also got some of her allergy cream from the pharmacy and it helped so much.


100_9917-Not for the Weak Stomached!
Full view of incision


100_9918-Not for the Weak Stomached!
Lower Lumbar region where you can see her drainage tube and also the small incision where they took bone from her hip to do the 12 spinal fusions You can also see how red and rashy her skin is on her hips in that upper region.

4 comments:

Jaime said...

Oh wow Jenn, I hope J gets better soon. I am sorry that she has this rash. You don't need that on top of the surgery.
How is the pneumonia?

I for one love looking at these types of pictures. I know I am weird...but I think it is very interesting. I am in the medical field so it doesn't bother me. Thanks for sharing this journey with us. I bet it helps you to journel all of this. And at the end J will be able to see how far she has come.

I will keep you all in my prayers.
Get better soon J.

rebecca said...

These photos brought tears to my eyes. She is SUCH a strong, brave girl!
Thank you for keeping us updated and letting us share in this tough journey.
Tell your sweetie that there are lots of prayers being uplifted to the Heavens for her!

Andrea said...

Way to go on taking your first steps!!! And I agree with Rebecca's comment...what a strong, brave girl! I'll keep the prayers coming...and especially that the rash goes away FAST!!

Wendy said...

wow! That certianly looks itchy! Poor girl. Man, she is a trooper. I love that you are sharing her journey with us!!