Another successful surgery

Surgery went great.  Dr. Novacheck sounded very pleased.  He said that all three procedures went well, and that she has really healthy bones and tissue so they were good to work with.  There was another orthopedic surgeon named Dr. Healy who worked with Dr. Novacheck.  Each of them did one side of her leg, so it went pretty quickly.  She was done with surgery around 10:45, I think.  Then while she was still under anesthesia, they molded new AFOs, so she will get those after the casts come off.

I was able to go back to the PACU and see her around 12:15.  She came out of the anesthesia much, much more calmly than she has in the past, so that was a relief.  She also didn't seem as groggy and loopy, which I think was a result of using the epidural for pain control rather than the pump that she had with SDR.  It sounded like the medication spread out well from the epidural site in her back despite scar tissue from the SDR and tethered spinal cord surgery, so the anesthesiologist's choice was good.

After SDR, she recovered in the Rehab Unit, but this time she was taken to the Orthopedic Unit.  Apparently this unit was renovated just this past June, and I was super happy to see that we had a single room - no chance of a roommate - and it's very nice.  It has a shower in the bathroom and a fridge!  No more showering across the hall.  It's also quieter and just more pleasant.  There is a nice glider right next to the bed.

She recovered so well yesterday compared to what I remember about the first day of SDR recovery.  Some sleeping, but she also watched TV and talked on the phone.  She didn't fuss or cry that much at all.  The nurses came in periodically to administer pain medication and shift her position in the bed.  She has big puffy bandages all the way from her toes to her hips that look like this:

And now check out this big smile:

Last night, however, was a different story.  She slept pretty well from about 9 to 10:30 pm, but then not well again until 6:30 am.  Off and on dozing and lots of crying and fussing.... I think she was in pain from muscle spasms, and as the night wore on, she started to get anxious about not sleeping and that added to her upset.  She would wake up, start crying, we would press the nurse button, but then when the nurses would come in, she would quiet down, maybe because she didn't want to seem so upset in front of them.  This was pretty similar to the first night after SDR but I had forgotten.

She slept well from 6:30 am to maybe 9:45 am or so.  Then she had breakfast, got washed and her gown changed, and they just turned her onto her stomach to help stretch out her hip muscles.  She is watching the Disney channel right now.  I'm soooo tired.... maybe I can get a nap in this afternoon.

It sounds like today and tomorrow may be kind of the same.  Monday will be a big day though.  The epidural will come out.  Her long puffy bandages will be replaced by casts from the feet to below the knees.  These casts will stay on for the next six weeks; we'll come back here for a couple days in early September to get the casts off and get her new AFOs.

Thank you everyone for the messages.  I read them all to her and they make her so happy!