Straight back Chrissy for the first time

Tim here again thought I would give you a bit of an update on what has been going on in the last few days since Blogger is now back up and running. Last time I mentioned how Dr Tucker told me how well the operation went. Since then both the Anesthetist and Dr Tucker have visited a couple of times to see how she has been doing and I have a few more details to share. 

So originally Chrissy was going to get a fusion from T2 to L4, during the op it was decided that a slightly smaller T2 to L3 fusion would be sufficient to get the straightening they were after which was great news. For those non scoliosis folk out there this basically means that the fusion of the spine is shorter by one vertebra in the lower back. This has means a couple of things, firstly that she will retain more flexibility and secondly apparently she will have a lower risk of getting further back pain in later life.

The other good news was that she didn’t have to have a Costoplasty also called a Thoracoplasty which is a cutting of specific sections of the ribs to realign them after the spine is rotated back to the normal position. Sometimes humps in the chest can form after the rotation which needs this cosmetic adjustment, apparently this is one of the parts of the op that can cause the most pain and prolong the recovery, lucky for us Chrissy didn’t need this :)

I first managed to see Chrissy after the op in the High Dependency Unit of Wellington Hospital a couple of hours after the surgery. As anyone who has taken a general she was pretty out to it, I stayed there until visiting hours where over about 10pm but didn’t manage to get much out of her except a couple mumbling. She had one on one care from the Nurses in HDU which was a nice relief as I knew she would be looked after.

All in all I think she looked amazing considering the trauma she had just been through. The Nurses had fitted her with a catheter so she didn’t have to get up to use the bathroom and she was receiving countless numbers of painkillers through her drip along with a self administering morphine shot to manage the pain if it got a little too much. The morphine worked a treat with the pain however it did mean she needed to be fed oxygen, it also had the side effect of causing nausea which needed to be managed with anti nausea drugs. 

Chrissy in HDU:

DAY 1 after the op:

Chrissy’s biggest fear was never the actual op, she seemed to have complete trust in the Dr Tucker and the team who were going to operate on her. She had done so much research about the procedure and understood everything that was involved and the risks she faced. It seemed to me the thing that scared her most was the potential pain after the operation. So far the team here has been amazing at managing the pain and she has hardly mentioned it, more talking about the general discomfort she is experiencing saying that she felt like she had an ironing board stuck in her back. Guess this is expected when you have a whole bunch of bolts, screws and rods placed in your back to make you straight!

Chrissy got transferred out of HDU to room 401 in the South Building today (if anyone fancies sending flowers ;)). First chore of the day was to sort out the bird’s nest that had somehow developed on her head over night.  If you are going through this op defo recommend putting your hair in plats so you don’t end up looking like a Rasta with one big dreadlock.

Pippy Longstockings:

Second chore of the day was to get the newly Straight Back Chrissy (yay!) out of bed! I know I couldn’t believe it either, so early after such a major op. We had a great Physio who really calmed down a slightly nervous Chrissy. She managed to roll onto her side and push herself up into a sitting position without too much difficultly. The Physio then fitted her for a corset which she is going to wear until she manages to get her back brace fitted next week which I think she is going to have to wear for a couple of months when she is moving about the place. 

After the corset was put on she managed to stand up and do a little march on the spot, I never had any idea that less than a day after major spinal surgery this sort of thing would be possible. She didn’t feel too much pain more discomfort before she was slightly overcome by nausea brought on by the 3 shots of morphine she took in anticipation of the Physio coming to make her stand up. 

All in all a pretty good day I think. Not to mention the truck loads of flowers, penguin and monkey she has received from all those that care. She loves them all!