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.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
I want a do over!
In the surgical waiting room at the hospital.
Hopper went to 'work' today with her day program. They went to a fun tumbling gym that has the gigantic trampolines at ground level. She was having fun jumping when she landed wrong and her leg buckled. She broke her femur. Thankfully, they hadn't eaten yet, and she hadn't eaten or had anything to drink since before she left the house this morning, or I think surgery would have been delayed even more.
They'll be putting a rod down the center of her femur and then putting the rest of the femur in place and pushing the rod even further in. It will then be screwed in place, so it can't spin around inside the bone, and it will be able to heal.
She's done amazingly well all things considered. Her anxiety swells from time to time, but they have given her plenty of pain medicine and something for anxiety, so hopefully she'll do okay when she wakes up. It's been a long day for the poor little thing. She fought the medicines and didn't fall asleep at all, even though she's beyond exhausted from the pain and anxiety.
She'll be in the hospital for a couple of days before we can take her home. We have no idea how we're going to pull it off, or even if we can, but she needs to learn how to either use crutches or a walker when she gets home. She's not going to be able to put weight on it for awhile, so it'll be interesting to see how it goes. Shockingly, she won't need any sort of brace or cast to help stabilize it. That sorta blows us away, but we trust the doctors know what they're doing.
Thankfully, Hubster brought my netbook up to the hospital for me to use, so I could have something to do. So here we sit and wait. He reading a book. Me playing on the web.
The cutest thing that happened today? Hubster asked Hopper how she liked the ride in the ambulance. She got very animated and said, "Ambulance is Good!"
The poor little thing. I'm glad she can see the adventure in the day.
Hopper went to 'work' today with her day program. They went to a fun tumbling gym that has the gigantic trampolines at ground level. She was having fun jumping when she landed wrong and her leg buckled. She broke her femur. Thankfully, they hadn't eaten yet, and she hadn't eaten or had anything to drink since before she left the house this morning, or I think surgery would have been delayed even more.
They'll be putting a rod down the center of her femur and then putting the rest of the femur in place and pushing the rod even further in. It will then be screwed in place, so it can't spin around inside the bone, and it will be able to heal.
She's done amazingly well all things considered. Her anxiety swells from time to time, but they have given her plenty of pain medicine and something for anxiety, so hopefully she'll do okay when she wakes up. It's been a long day for the poor little thing. She fought the medicines and didn't fall asleep at all, even though she's beyond exhausted from the pain and anxiety.
She'll be in the hospital for a couple of days before we can take her home. We have no idea how we're going to pull it off, or even if we can, but she needs to learn how to either use crutches or a walker when she gets home. She's not going to be able to put weight on it for awhile, so it'll be interesting to see how it goes. Shockingly, she won't need any sort of brace or cast to help stabilize it. That sorta blows us away, but we trust the doctors know what they're doing.
Thankfully, Hubster brought my netbook up to the hospital for me to use, so I could have something to do. So here we sit and wait. He reading a book. Me playing on the web.
The cutest thing that happened today? Hubster asked Hopper how she liked the ride in the ambulance. She got very animated and said, "Ambulance is Good!"
The poor little thing. I'm glad she can see the adventure in the day.
Monday, June 20, 2011
The good, the bad and the ugly.
Woke up from a nightmare this morning. Heart racing. Palms sweating.
We were apparently staying with the in-laws, but they decided in the middle of our stay to go out of town, and we had the house to ourselves. I got out of the hot tub (they don't have one, so I'm thinking that came in to the picture from the stiffness in my body over the weekend), and went into the kitchen to fix something for everyone to eat, but when I went in there, I couldn't believe the mess.
The dishes were piled high everywhere. There was trash that hadn't been thrown in the garbage can and was sitting precariously perched here and there. My heart sunk. I walked through the other rooms of the house, and I couldn't believe what a mess it was. There were clothes strewn everywhere. There floor was covered. I couldn't even find the swimsuit I'd taken off when I got out of the hot tub for the clutter.
My heart sank.
It was then I realized we'd been in town for several days and hadn't even taken the time to visit my brother, and we had to leave in the next few days. I woke up to the realization that it was going to take at least 2 full days of cleaning to get the house in order.
What a rough way to wake up. I've got a knot in the pit of my stomach. I am sure the stress of not being able to accomplish much of anything since we got home a little over 2 weeks ago. I am motivated, however, to kick some major butt today in the house!
We woke up Saturday morning feeling much better, and we were able to meet Bugster to go wedding dress shopping. She looked amazing! We were also able to find something for Hopper and me to wear to the wedding. We've had Scooter's outfit for over a year, but I'd been stressing over the rest of us. Hopper hates dressing up even more than her dad, which says a lot, but we settled on a colorful ankle-length broomstick skirt and blouse that matched one of the colors. She was happy with it, and because she sees Scooter wear skirts like that all the time, we figured she'd be comfortable wearing it.
What a relief!
Seriously! A huge relief! Things will go so much more smoothly, if Hopper is comfortable in what she's wearing and doesn't freak out. She wore a shorter skirt when we took Hubster out yesterday for Father's Day, and she freaked a little. She doesn't like the attention that wearing new clothes brings, so it was a rough start to an otherwise great day out, and by the time we were halfway through dinner, she was talking about how cute her outfit was. It was worth getting the stress out of the way now, even though it did put a bit of a damper on the celebration to start.
We were able to pick up a pair of black jeans the hubby will be wearing for the wedding and got them washed and hung to dry, so they don't fade. He won't take any chances by wearing them before the big day. We still have to find a dress shirt for Hubster and get some shoes for us girls, but otherwise we're set. I am so relieved! It's weighed on my mind a lot, and it's just one more big thing off The List.
Another big one marked off? I finally finished the paperwork that had me so stressed out since we got home from vacation. It was dropped in the mailbox at the post office last night. Thankfully, it's just being mailed here in town, so it shouldn't take long for it to get there, and hopefully everything will get straightened out in short order.
I've got entirely too much to do, but I'm hoping I get enough done today I'm not dreaming stressful dreams about the inlaws and the house again.
I'll be starting in the refrigerator. Found out the hard way that it's not a good idea to lay an opened bottle of sparkling apple cider on it's side, even if the cap is back on as tight as it will go.
:::sigh:::
We were apparently staying with the in-laws, but they decided in the middle of our stay to go out of town, and we had the house to ourselves. I got out of the hot tub (they don't have one, so I'm thinking that came in to the picture from the stiffness in my body over the weekend), and went into the kitchen to fix something for everyone to eat, but when I went in there, I couldn't believe the mess.
The dishes were piled high everywhere. There was trash that hadn't been thrown in the garbage can and was sitting precariously perched here and there. My heart sunk. I walked through the other rooms of the house, and I couldn't believe what a mess it was. There were clothes strewn everywhere. There floor was covered. I couldn't even find the swimsuit I'd taken off when I got out of the hot tub for the clutter.
My heart sank.
It was then I realized we'd been in town for several days and hadn't even taken the time to visit my brother, and we had to leave in the next few days. I woke up to the realization that it was going to take at least 2 full days of cleaning to get the house in order.
What a rough way to wake up. I've got a knot in the pit of my stomach. I am sure the stress of not being able to accomplish much of anything since we got home a little over 2 weeks ago. I am motivated, however, to kick some major butt today in the house!
We woke up Saturday morning feeling much better, and we were able to meet Bugster to go wedding dress shopping. She looked amazing! We were also able to find something for Hopper and me to wear to the wedding. We've had Scooter's outfit for over a year, but I'd been stressing over the rest of us. Hopper hates dressing up even more than her dad, which says a lot, but we settled on a colorful ankle-length broomstick skirt and blouse that matched one of the colors. She was happy with it, and because she sees Scooter wear skirts like that all the time, we figured she'd be comfortable wearing it.
What a relief!
Seriously! A huge relief! Things will go so much more smoothly, if Hopper is comfortable in what she's wearing and doesn't freak out. She wore a shorter skirt when we took Hubster out yesterday for Father's Day, and she freaked a little. She doesn't like the attention that wearing new clothes brings, so it was a rough start to an otherwise great day out, and by the time we were halfway through dinner, she was talking about how cute her outfit was. It was worth getting the stress out of the way now, even though it did put a bit of a damper on the celebration to start.
We were able to pick up a pair of black jeans the hubby will be wearing for the wedding and got them washed and hung to dry, so they don't fade. He won't take any chances by wearing them before the big day. We still have to find a dress shirt for Hubster and get some shoes for us girls, but otherwise we're set. I am so relieved! It's weighed on my mind a lot, and it's just one more big thing off The List.
Another big one marked off? I finally finished the paperwork that had me so stressed out since we got home from vacation. It was dropped in the mailbox at the post office last night. Thankfully, it's just being mailed here in town, so it shouldn't take long for it to get there, and hopefully everything will get straightened out in short order.
I've got entirely too much to do, but I'm hoping I get enough done today I'm not dreaming stressful dreams about the inlaws and the house again.
I'll be starting in the refrigerator. Found out the hard way that it's not a good idea to lay an opened bottle of sparkling apple cider on it's side, even if the cap is back on as tight as it will go.
:::sigh:::
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