1 week Post Surgery

It has been a week since Jane had her hip surgery. The day of the surgery, things didn't start out like we planned. As we sat in the pre op room, we met with the doctor and anesthesia team to go over the plan one last time. Jane was supposed to get an epidural in her spine for the surgery. Due to the tumor removal surgery that Jane had when she was a baby, caused complications to the plan. Jane was now possibly; in a high risk of having spinal nerve damage. But they weren't exactly sure. Her tumor surgery was in her lower spine so technically, she should have been fine for the epidural. However she already has some nerve damage to her legs and we just don't know the extend of the damage in those nerves. So we didn't want to take that risk. But we also didn't want Jane to wake up and be in extreme pain. The surgeon really wanted to do the epidural because he was worried how Jane would handle the pain when she'd wake up from the surgery. He has never done this kind surgery without an epidural. So we kept going back and forth. We finally decided not to risk it. We got a team of pain specialist to make a plan for Jane so she'd wake up in as less pain as possible but also not completely over drug her.

Getting ready for the surgery

Surgery was supposed to start at 10am and take 6 hours. It didn't start till 12.  The reason the surgery started so late was they had a hard time getting the catheter in. They had to get her neurologist doctor to come in and help. Other then that, the surgery went well. No complications. Praise God. The doctor was able to get bone from her pelvic area and attach it to both her hip sockets. Jane was now in a spica cast and was to remain in it for 6 weeks. No walking, no baths. It took Jane a long time to wake up from her surgery. I waited another 3 hours before I got to see her. I was so surprised how sweet she was. She was excited to see me and wanted a hug and gave me kisses. I showed her the cast and she loved it. It was purple. Her favorite color. Within 5 minutes she was asleep again. After 9pm we got into our recovery room and got settled for the night. Jane did well at the hospital. She was under so much medication, she slept most of the time. She did have pain when we moved her around  (getting her fitted for the car seat straps, wheelchair, diaper change, etc.) She preferred to stay in bed.

Waking up from surgery

We were  discharged to go home day 3. (Wednesday) We were both ready to go home. Jane did well on the drive home. And she has been doing very well at home since. She is almost off all her medication. She takes Tylenol whenever she has pain (usually about 2x a day) depending on how much movements we do throughout the day. Jane has been such a trooper through all of this. She's handling the pain and cast much better then I ever expected. She's very patient when I have to go attend to her baby sister (Gracie is only 6 months and started teething this week) Jane is able to lay on the couch and watch some cartoons while I go shower, etc. She likes to play with play do and her kitchen toys. Overall she is doing so well. There are times when she does have pain and gets uncomfortable. Especially during the night. We have to wake up every 2 hours and re position her and the pillows around her. She has her moments where she get emotional. She's sad that she not able to go places with me or her siblings. Its just hard to get out of the house with Jane and a 6 month old baby by myself. So we are counting down the weeks until we can do little dates together. She is already making a list of things she wants to do.

Playing with Slime

I want to thank everyone who has been praying for Jane. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. We feel your prayers. We see how God is working in every little detail. We couldn't have gone through all this without God and everyones support. I'd like to thank everyone who has come to visit Jane and all the gifts and food that has been brought to us. It has kept Jane busy and helped me to focus on my babies and not worry about cooking. Thank YOU!

"The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,

And give you peace."

Numbers 6:24-26