Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Maria Is Home!

Maria is home! We stopped twice an the way home to walk a little. We are all excited to have Maria home! Joe, Libby and Henry all welcomed her. She is resting in Mom and Dad's room and will recover there for a while (a week or so). Just need to get her to eat something. Thanks to everyone who offered their thoughts and helped out. We will keep you posted. I am trying to get Maria to post to the blog but she prefers FaceBook.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Today or tomorrow

Well, Maria has been walking and slowly working away from morphine and on to pills for pain. She is in street clothes and has been on her facebook page. I am heading down to Rochester and may be coming back with Maria and mom this evening. If not, we will come back tomorrow morning. Grandma Kathy will be watching the kids while I am out. She will have details. Grandma has been awesome!! The kids have been awesome too and they are excited to have their big sister back.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Second Day After Surgery

And she walks! It's different getting the news from Cathy (and tough not to be there) but I wanted to share that bit of good news. I talked with Maria on the phone today and it was good to hear her voice. She sounded good and was quick to pass the phone to Cathy which is pretty normal. Cathy said she sat in a chair during this afternoon and took a few steps. Maria is very determined. She has to be reminded to take it slow which can be hard for her, I suppose. The doctors checked her dressing and everything looks very healthy. The latest word is that Maria may be coming home on Monday. Make sure to visit Maria on FaceBook. She is looking for ways to pass the time.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Maria In Her Own Room

Maria was moved out of ICU and into her own room at 2:30 this afternoon. She is still in St. Mary's Pediatrics but has been moved to the Francis Building room 3-146. Maria had a few sips of broth and juice and had a few bites of lemon ice today. She is even ordering dinner for tonight. And if everything goes well, she will be eating dinner sitting in a chair. I will be going home this evening. The plan, at this moment, is to come back down on Monday and return with Cathy and Maria on Tuesday. Maria is resting right now while the movie, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" plays on the TV in her room. FYI: at home (when she used to wear a brace), she would go to bed with a movie playing to help her fall asleep.

First Morning September 3

Maria’s first night was spent being turned ever every hour so she did not get much rest. Despite that, Maria looks great this morning. She will likely move out of ICU today and into a private room. The Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeons, the anesthesiologist, the nurses, and doctors have all checked in this morning and are impressed with Maria’s progress. The care as been very good and everyone is working hard to make Maria as comfortable as possible. Right now, she is going to try and get some sleep.--bill

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

The Surgery Was A Success

Cathy and I just got done meeting with Maria's surgeon, Dr. Shaughnessy. The surgery went well. He showed us the x-rays and explained the procedure and Maria has a beautifully straight spine. Right now, it is corrected from a 60 degree curve to less than 20 degrees. Maria's goal was to have less than 30 degree curve. Dr. Shaughnessy said Maria has VERY strong bones and he said she is very healthy and everything is looking good. As of right now, he was able to leave a little extra flexibility at the top of the spine (T-3) where the rods start as well as at the bottom (L-2) where the rods end. Maria will be happy about this. Maria is a strong, brave girl. To put this into perspective: Dr. Shaughnessy said that this is the most difficult and painful surgery a child can be put through (twice as bad as open heart). So she has a rough few days ahead of her as she deals with the pain. But we are glad things went well.

Update

Maria's procedure is going well. We have been getting updates every 2 hours from the nurse. The instrumentation is done (the rods installed on either side of her spine). They are going to let us know when they will start closing. That will take about an hour and a half. Then they have to "wake her up." that will take about a half hour. So we are hoping to see her at 6:00 this evening. We will also see xrays of her corrected spine for the first time. --bill