No hopping for Hopper. At least not for awhile...

All things considered, Hopper is doing quite well after her surgery.


She was able to get about 6 hours of sleep straight through the night following her surgery, but that's about it. The poor little thing has always fought sleep when she's in the hospital or on a road trip. I think she's afraid she's going to miss out on something, so her eyes will be drooping, her head will be nodding, but she won't allow herself to relax enough to drift off. Normally, the different pain medicines she's been on would knock a person on their butts, and they'd have a hard time staying awake, but it's been a real struggle for her. 


The night of the surgery, The Hubster and I both stayed with Hopper at the hospital. The charge nurse was nice enough to block off the other half of the semi-private room, so we'd have a place to sleep. It's the first time she's been in a non-pediatric ward after surgery, so the nurses were more than happy to have us both there. They weren't sure how to handle the situation, and I think she intimidates them a bit. Where she has difficulty communicating, says 'yes' when she means 'no' all the time (and vice versa), and she can't put into words how much she hurts (the pain scale along with the little faces is worthless for her), they were just happy to have someone there to help them bridge the gap. It just happened to work out very well for us, and we are very, very thankful.


Hopper was able to get out of bed with the help of the physical therapists yesterday, but even though all she did was sit in a wheelchair, it was rough on her. She was in the chair for a couple of hours, while the staff changed her bedding, I gave her a sponge bath and braided her hair, and she ate lunch. Unfortunately, she needed morphine to get back into bed. She having difficulty understanding how not to put weight on her foot, and as a result we had to increase her pain medicine after her excursion out of bed. 


This is not going to be easy for Hopper. 


Hubster is at the hospital with Hopper right now. He stayed with her overnight. I'll be going up later today, but I am home with Scooter right now. I'm hoping to be able to get the house a bit closer to being ready for her to come home. I was so far behind before she got hurt that I'm really feeling the pinch now. I'm hoping I can get something done while I'm home, so it won't be as overwhelming when she comes home.


Plus, we're worried about her slipping into a depression. She's realizing everything she's not going to be able to do for several weeks...go to her day program, bowling, hiking, swimming, walking.... She apparently fell apart and cried really hard last night after Scooter and I went home. The poor thing. My heart breaks for her. Needless to say, I don't want the condition of the house to add to her concerns. 


I was able to get a little bit of sleep last night, and Scooter waking me up came entirely too early for me this morning. All things said, though, I'm thankful she woke me up. I can sleep later. I need to get some more laundry in the washing machine, get Scooter's room ready for Hopper to move in (it will be awhile before Hopper will be able to navigate the stairs well enough to sleep downstairs), and get something else done as quickly as possible in the rest of the house. The way it is, Hopper will really struggle getting around.


She's likely going to need a walker, a wheelchair or crutches to get around, and right now there's not room for any of them. 


On that note...I need to get busy before I fall asleep. My eyelids are feeling rather heavy about now. 


Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers. They're much appreciated.