There’s No Place Like Home

Wednesday 17th August

Yesterday was definitely a long, long day for me. In the morning the pain nurses came to see me and said that it would be best to try and stop using my PCA button and move on the medicine instead. So that’s what I did.

I managed to get out of bed and have a shower which didn’t feel too bad at first!

But by the end my back had really begun to ache and so I felt like I really needed to lie down. The nurse removed the pressure dressing and put some clean dry dressings over my wounds.

Just having a shower really wore me out and I quickly needed to have some rest.

When I woke up I had a little visit from one of my best friends from school which was nice and we sat on my bed and watched movies on the hospital tv.

I also sat out and managed to do some of my activity books. This was good because the physio ladies had said that if I managed to sit out in a chair for an hour then they were happy for me to go home.

It took all day for my medicines to properly work and for me to manage sitting out for long enough but I did eventually manage it. I also had to go and have an X-ray to check that the rods looked ok before I went home too. I went down to X-ray in a wheelchair because it was quite a long walk, I had two X-rays – one from the front and one from the side. Everything looked ok, but we will get to find out how everything is doing again in 8 weeks time when I have to go back and see my dr.

Because I managed to do these two things the nurses said that I could go home and they gave us the medicines to take home with me.

I finally got home last night at about 8 O’clock. I was very tired and in quite a lot of pain because of the journey but felt amazing to be back!

Emilia x

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Operation MAGEC Rods 2017

MONDAY 14th AUGUST

Well Monday 14th August was a very big day for me! I came into hospital to have my broken MAGEC rod replaced and a second rod put into the left side of my back.

I woke up really early and drove to the hospital with my mum and dad, I hadn’t eaten anything since the night before and wasn’t allowed any breakfast or even a drink before I got to the hospital.

I was admitted to the Theatre Admissions unit at 7:30am where they checked my height and weight, my temperature, heart rate and blood pressure. I had chance to see the Drs and the anaesthetist before my operation. They also allowed me to drink water, while ch was great because I was really thirsty.

The nurses gave me some cream on my hands – magic cream- to make the skin numb for when they had to give me a needle.

This was to stop it from hurting and I think it really does work, Magic! Then I was given a Theatre gown to wear so I got changed right away. When it was getting close for me to go down to the Theatre, the nurses gave me some medicine to relax me and help make me feel less nervous. It was funny because it made me feel quite giggly – not sleepy!

When I got down into Theatre the nurses gave me a Where’s Wally book to look at while they got my medicines ready, which helped take my mind off what they were doing. They put a needle in my hand and then an oxygen mask on my face. Then they told me that the next thing they gave me would send me to sleep. It worked very quickly because I don’t really remember much else until I was woken up in recovery after my operation.

When I woke up I was given a button to press. This is called a PCA – patient controlled analgesia. It allows me to give myself the pain medicine as I needed it. Which to begin with has been all the time. It really helps me feel more comfortable.

I went straight to the ward after recovery and that is where I still am now. It’s not too busy right now so that’s good.

My doctor came to see mum and dad to let them know that the operation had gone well. I now have two new MAGEC rods and they should continue to work when we start to lengthen them in a few months time.

I have been having hourly checks since my operation to check that I don’t have any nerve damage. The nurses come and test how well my arms, hands, legs and feet work. This also means that they wake me up – every hour, all night long!!!

TUESDAY 15th AUGUST

Well I felt very tired yesterday, but the ward got quite busy and noisy so I didn’t sleep much.

I did get to have some food though which was lovely because My tummy was really rumbling by then!

My PCA really helped me to move about and in fact I managed to quite a lot of activity.

The physiotherapist ladies came to see
me in the morning to help me get out of bed. They helped me to sit on the edge, but I felt like I wanted to stand up. They were amazed and asked me if I wanted to try and walk. I couldn’t wait to try that because I was so bored just sitting in bed!

I had a little walk, just a few meters away and then back to my bed. It didn’t feel too bad, I was a bit achy and my back felt sort of heavy. I then sat out in my chair for ten minutes, it was so nice not to be lying down.

I carried on moving from chair to bed as I needed to be comfy and using my PCA. Then in the afternoon the physio ladies came back to try a bit more moving. I had a little walk off the ward and down some stairs. I felt ok, my back felt heavy and ached a bit afterwards, but it felt good to get moving.

I think that I’m moving around quicker this time than after my last operation. I have been using my PCA quite a lot though!

The worst thing about being in hospital is being so bored, I really am already fed up of sitting still all the time. I have lots of things to do like games, colouring and dvd’s but it’s hard to anything for very long before I need to lie down.

I have a really BIG dressing on my back, the nurses have called it a pressure dressing. It feels very strange and sort of heavy but will come off soon hopefully.