Long day Tuesday. We arrived at Community North at 5:30. At about 6 they took Chelsea in to get her into a gown and get her IV started. After that we were allowed in to be with her. She was very nervous and crying saying she didn't want to do this. They gave her an anti-anxiety med thru her IV. That calmed her down a bit, then they gave her a little more and we noticed a difference because she started to relax and look drowsy. They took her to the OR at 7:10.
At about 8:30 the nurse came out to tell us that Dr. Biel wasn't going to take bone from her hip, He had removed enough bone from the 3 ribs to use to fuse her spine. That was good news because it means only 1 incision to heal and 1 scar.
At 11 am they came to get us to consult with the doctor since he had just finished her surgery. She did very well. He had planned to fuse vertebra T4 to L2, but only had to do T5 to L1. The fewer lumbar vertebra they fuse, the better, because that's where you bend. So that was more good news. We asked the doctor what her curve was now and he said 15 degrees! It was 70 and we expected a 50% or better correction! We got the better!!
She was in recovery for quite a while then they got her to her room about 1:30. She is in Pediatrics room 1212. She is still very groggy, but alert enough to ask what her curve was, tell me to take a picture of her (she's documenting all this), she asked about her hip and was generally looking good. She can't have anything to eat or drink until she passes gas and that bothers her. She usually eats all the time. But mostly she is just drifting in and out and asking questions about all the equipment and stuff.
The doctor will be in tomorrow morning early (6:30am). He said today that they would get her up in a chair tomorrow and walking after that.
She's already asked the nurses twice if Trixie can come visit her. We've gotten conflicting answers on that one, so we will have to ask the doctor.
Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts and wishes!
