Pain Management

We're learning lessons in pain management...trying to take it slow, work through the pain, and realize that this is going to take some time. We forget how well she is doing, and that it is only a little over 1 wk post op, and she is doing things like climbing stairs. She's entitled to a few hard days...but sometimes she is a little hard on herself, or gets frustrated that she cannot do what regular kids are doing. So, we are teaching her to work through the pain.

Last night and this morning was rough on the woogie. She had a lot of pain that the meds weren't cutting. She said her shoulder blades feel like they are ripping through her skin. Her left shoulder blade felt like it was burning inside. She had trouble breathing this morning...short and choppy and couldn't take in a good breath. So it scared her, and she panicked...could not stop crying. I had to give her tough love, and it was hard to snap her out of it. I had to be loving and firm at the same time, and she was able to get a grip on her pain. After some relaxation techniques, almost forcing her through the breathing exercises, we made it through her shower and breakfast. Then she walked some in the upstairs area, and then rested.


Afterwards she was much better and after lunch her daddy took her for a short walk outside. Walking with him is like walking a race...he forgets to slow his pace for her. It probably wasn't a good idea, but she was looking forward to some time with daddy during his lunch break, and we thought a short walk would be nice for them to do together.



The bubbster wanted to trail along. At one point he reminded Dad to slow down. Dad was tending to rush her walk b/c he was doing this on his lunch hour (like I said, we'll rethink that for next time and not do this on his lunch hour).



She walked up and back the sidewalk in front of our apartment. Then sat up in a chair for 30-45 mins.



She and Bubb watched a movie together, and now it is about time for me to get her up for another short walk. Tomorrow if she is feeling up to it, we are going to do school together. I allowed Josh to take a day off because he is sick with a sinus thing going on, and toothache from a loose tooth. Also, he is very tired from his busy week last week and traveling back. The weekend kept us pretty busy as well, but it was a nice visit from our family. We enjoyed every minute, but now time to get back into our normal routine.