progress with some challenges

(still Russell)

Red is continuing to do better. She had the catheter out and came off the IV fluid/painkiller mix on Saturday, then both wound drains taken out Sunday morning. Keeping food down has been a real problem though, we've been through a few different oral painkillers and anti-nausea meds. Right now she's back on an IV to boost her sustenance a little and carry some more direct anti-nausea med that I didn't catch what it was. She had nothing at all hooked up to her for a bit though, and I'm hoping this one won't be needed for long. She does seem to be keeping down the latest set of painkillers with some chocolate milk.

She's able to get all the way from prone to sitting up on her own, and from there to standing with just a little help arranging her walker. She's able to get to the bathroom and back with minimal assistance. I've been told that this morning she was able to walk with Max all the way to the elevators and back!

I've been reading everyone's comments to her and she's been very happy to hear them (and I bet ready to hold a computer herself tomorrow). We've had a bunch of people who've been wonderful coming in and helping take care of her. Her mom came in Saturday morning, V spent all last night here, Puck relieved her this morning, A. visited at some point today, both her dad and Autumn were here much of the afternoon, and of course Kaylee and Max have also been here a ton.

Lots of progress

(Russell summarizing stuff Red says)

The big news is the two rounds of physical therapy yesterday, and two today. She had low blood pressure yesterday so didn't get far- sitting up in bed for half an hour or so, then back down. She did better today- up and to the bathroom, thence up and into the chair, then back into bed. This means she should be able to have her catheter out tomorrow. She's had broth a couple of times, then yogurt, and is now theoretically on a full diet although she hasn't ordered anything yet.

She says she's had good experiences with the nursing staff in general, and it makes a difference that she learns their names.

Kaylee spent an heroic night here last night while I got a good block of sleep, then I relived her this morning. Before I came in I stopped at Table 219 (formerly El Greco) for breakfast, and I must have looked pretty thrashed because Gary wouldn't let me pay for my food. I then did my best not to cry in the middle of his restaurant. :) Red's dad and Autumn came in to visit at about the same time early afternoon, and Autumn covered for me a couple hours while I got more food and picked up DVDs (the TV in the room has a little dvd player hooked up to it).

Red is getting better impressively fast, they're saying she should be able to go home on Tuesday.

Update

(more Russell)

Red got into her room somewhere between 8:00-8:30 last night, and we got in to see her around 8:30. She looked pretty flattened, but not in a lot of pain. Her voice was a quiet squeak from being intubated for so long, but she was conscious and coherent.

Her mom and I spent the night in her room alternating who was awake, until Kaylee came back and relieved us around 10 this morning. Red spent most of the night asleep, waking up briefly a few times. She was pretty puffy when we first saw her, but that got better over the course of the night. When I left this morning she looked more or less human, albeit about as stationary as you can get.

I just got off the phone with Kaylee (after a nap in my own bed, and good company and Thai food with A.), who said that Max had shown back up, and the physical therapist was there. When I left six hours ago, I think her limit for physical therapy would have been something like lifting one hand a few inches three times in a row (I'm not exaggerating), so this seems promising. ^-^

More Details

(Russell again)

We're back from food, but she's not in her room yet. The guess was that she'd be out of recovery somewhere in the 7:30-8:30 range, so we're good. I think the plan is that we see her installed, then Max and her mom head to their respective homes, and Kaylee or I spend the night curled up in her window-seat. We'll then rotate around over the next few days, (and I'll make sure to let people know when she's well enough for more visitors).

Surgery went an hour or two longer than they'd expected- her thoraco-lumbar curve corrected to about 24 degrees (from 57), and they had to balance that out in her thoracic curve so as to keep her shoulders even and lined up above her hips. I gather that was a pretty fiddly process to get just right. We've been told she'll be more or less unrecognizably puffy when we see her- being face-down for so long means that there's been a lot of fluid pooling. I'm going to be really happy to see her, though.

in recovery

(Russell)

Red's in the recovery room, we just met with the surgical team and she's good. We're going out for food, more details soon. ^-^

Yay!

(Russell)

Just got a call that they're done and closing the incision. :)

ETA: anesthesiologist just walked by, said she'd been relieved because it went long but that the neural monitoring looked just fine.

Still Going

(Russell)

I just got a call from the nurse with an update. Red's fine, they've got the rods done and her thoracic spine straightened, but are taking some extra time with her lumbar spine.

Doing Good

(Russell again)

The nurse just stopped by, said Red's doing fine. They're just about finished installing the screws. Next is attaching metal rods to those screws (bent carefully so as to align with her spine), then straightening the rods as much as possible to correct her curve and rotation. The nurse said another couple hours, my impression is she was referring to the surgery itself. After that there's closing up the incision etc, then some time in the recovery room, so probably another couple hours after that. Once she's awake they take out her breathing tube, then she goes up to her own room, then we can visit her. ^-^

Here we go!

(Russell with an update)

Red is in surgery now, she looked happy and as relaxed as could be reasonably expected during prep. :) Max, Kaylee, her mother and I saw her in. Kaylee and I ran back to the apartment to get some stuff, heading back over to join Max and her mom at the hospital shortly. I think Max had found a wireless net there, so should be more updates later. Her surgery is scheduled to be over 3 or 4-ish, then recovery room for a couple hours, then we get to see her.