One Month!!

It has officially been one month since my surgery!! I am extremely proud of myself! I can go the whole day of school without being too tired! I do get Tylenol from the nurse once a day, I just don't want to go without meds then realize how much pain I have. But the good news is that I "accidentally" went almost 9 hours without meds!! Which means that the pain is becoming more manageable.

I think that is all the new updates I have for now!! So ta-ta for now!
Chelsea

Update!!

Sorry, been pretty darn busy!!

WELL, I got my staples removed August 3rd..I have 56 and I got to keep them!! It does not hurt to get staples removed, just a slight pinch. The staples create tension in my back, which makes it feel like one wrong move could rip them out. But right now I have a few dozen white butterfly bandaids up and down my back and hip.

I am finally sleeping through the night!! I don't get up in need of pain pills..which is great!! During the day I have gone from taking 6 pain pills to only 3!! I start school Wednesday, so I will still be taking a narcotic/ Tylenol mix. Soon all I will be taking is Tylenol.

So I think that is it for now, I will try my best once school start to update whenever I can!! Be patient!

~Chelsea

Picture: Me before surgery and IV and all that stuff..I was watching TV!!! It was a show called Angel (spin off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer). I never knew it was on this early in the morning and I said "Gee, I should get up this early all the time!!"

At Home!!!

From Chelsea!
Hi everybody!!! I just wanted to update everyone on my "condition" at home!!

Saturday started out icky. I had trouble keeping food and ultimately medicine down. My Mom (I love her!!) called my doctor and he prescribed a softer dose of pain medicine. That helped alot..and for the rest of the day I felt pretty good!!

Sunday was even worse. I had the worst heartburn, which caused me to not want to eat. So my Mom called the doctor again and he told her to buy heartburn medicine. It helped and the day got much better!!!

Monday, today, is awesome!! I am sooo hungry!! I am eating everything from chicken to mochas!! I feel really good!!

I do have to say the worst pain is my hip, which was to be expected. I can feel the staples on my hip too..kinda weird feeling.

Thanks for the bunches of prayers and thoughts and stuff..sure is working..so keep it coming!!
Chelsea

At Home

Chelsea is home!!! Trixie was so excited to see her! Chelsea has been spending a lot of time in the bathroom since they gave her that laxative. She also took a 2 hour nap in her own bed. We've filled her new Rx's and have to juggle one every 4-6 hours, one 4 x a day and the last one 3 x a day.

On Monday before the surgery, Chelsea & Devin and 3 neighbor kids were riding their bikes to McD's for free mochas and lunch. They were crossing 146th on a red light but the lane turning right onto Hazeldell had a green arrow. A Ford F-150 didn't see Chelsea at first, but then saw her and slowed down. If he had kept going all would be well, but he slowed down and Chelsea ran into the truck. She and the bike fell down. Hit her head, shoulder, knees, shins. One of the kids went to the strip mall for help. Someone called 911. Devin called me at home and told me Chelsea was hit by a car and fell off her bike. I thought for sure he was joking. I thought he was trying to get me to come to McD's because he forgot his lunch money. So I get in the van and when I get to the intersection I see lots of people standing around. When I first saw Chelsea she said "It's not that bad, mom." She had blood running all the way down the left side of her face from a scrape above her eyebrow. Her knees and shoulder were skinned. The ambulance arrived and they suggested she go with them to get checked out. I agreed because I didn't want this accident to interfere with her surgery the next day. Since she didn't lose consciousness, the surgery was on. The hospital sent her home after they cleaned up her wounds and told her to wear a helmet. There are 5 kids now who will never ride a bike again unless they have a helmet - they learned their lesson. This Friday we received 6 envelopes from attorney firms in the mail - all as a result of this accident. It's a public record when the file a police report. Interesting...

Friday, Day 4

Brian spent the night last night. Somewhat better rest. Chelsea was feeling great and walked the hallways at 4am. But then she bottomed out, probably overdid it. She was in a great deal of pain. The worst part is that she can't get comfortable. The doctor said she could go home this evening as long as she had a bowel movement. The laxative they gave her tastes awful. The nurses changed her bandages. The scar looks good, same size and location as last year. The bone graft scar is about 3" long and located just below and to the right of her original scar. When I thought "hip", I was thinking on the side of the body. So Chelsea said "Darn, my butt won't look good anymore. I wanted cute buns."

Day 3

From Mom again: Rough night up until about 2am when they adjusted her alarm again and we slept 1.5 hours!! Whoopee!! Then another 1.5 hour nap until the doc came in. Doc ordered all her tubes to be taken out. So no more breathing alarm, self-administered drug pump, catheter. That in itself make her feel 100% better. She's been up sitting in a chair/recliner and walking with a walker. Feeling much better.--Connie

Day 2, evening

Chelsea is still very sleepy. She ate some crackers and some eggs today. She was out of bed twice, sat in a recliner, and walked a few doors down the hallway. The Physical Therapist said she is amazed at how well Chelsea is doing. She said grown men cry when they are up and walking the first time. She is still very sore though. Hoping tomorrow she will get rid of some of the IV tubes, etc. Then maybe she will be ready for visitors.

Day 2

From mom again: Brian spent the night last night. Rough night with lots of interruptions, alarms going off, etc. The drugs slow down her breathing rate and that makes an alarm go off that wakes her up. She takes a few deep breaths and the alarm turns off. Viscious circle trying to get some sleep. She's still very drowsy. She was up and sitting in a chair when I came in this morning. Just getting up and moving caused some nausea. She's taking sips of water. She will be up in the chair again tonight and probably up walking tomorrow. More later... Connie

In Hospital room

From mom: Got to her hospital room about 4pm. She is doing ok. Complains of pain at the top of her back. Asking lots of questions about what happened and what the nurses are doing. It is comforting for all of us to see familiar faces. Lots of the nurses are still here from last year. Some of them remember Chelsea too. The ICU doc came and talked to us. He looked at her chest xrays and said everything was normal. Whew!! It took a while to get her pain meds delivered and her pain level was 7 out of 10, but once she got the meds she went right to sleep and is resting well now. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes coming our way today.

From Mom: Surgery is over - 5 hours total. The upper 2/3's of her spine had healed/fused. The lower third had not healed hence the loosening of the hook. Doc removed right rod and replaced it and had to go down one level lower - T2. Wired it all tight. Gave her 2 units of blood this time. Harvested bone graft from her hip. Went under the skin to repair the rib/shoulder pain she had been having and found the rib he cut last year had healed but was lumpy. This was what she felt rubbing and numbing. Unfortunately, when he attempted this repair he touched the lung and she may have a pneumothorax (I think that's deflated or damaged lung) so they will do xrays in post-op. If damage, she will have a chest tube. We're waiting for her to recover in post-op and then they will get her to her room and we will be able to see her. Brian went home to get Devin and bring him to the hospital. More later...

Surgery morning

From Chelsea's mom: Chels was taken into surgery at 8am. They had a delay because the hardware salesman brought the wrong size rods (too big for Chels) so they had to check to see if the right size was in town. At 11 am the nurse told us that all was going well. No surprises. We were allowed into pre-op this year. Last year we weren't allowed in. So we were with her while they put her IV in and got her ready. She watched Angel, a vampire show, while she was waiting and I think that helped take her mind off things. She did have some tears, just being nervous.

The Big Day!!

Well, today is the big day!! I am extremely nervous and hungry!! Thanks for all the prayers and good luck!! I am in good hands and I hope everything turns out great this time!!

I'm hungry, Chelsea

One Week!!

Today I went for my pre-op appointment. It was just the norm..making sure I don’t have tuberculosis or if I am pregnant. Just a whole bunch of questions. Also had to get a chest x-ray, EKG, and blood tests, my least favorite. But otherwise..all systems are go!! I will do my best to keep everyone posted!!

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers!!!

Love, Chelsea :)

2 weeks!!

It is now 2 weeks until game time!!

OFFICIAL!!

My surgery has been scheduled for July 21!!
I will be at the community north hospital in Indy!!
AND I will be with my normal doctor.

Surgery??

At Shriner's Hospital my scheduled surgery is August 4th. Wow, that is coming up quick.

At Community North they still have not contacted us yet, so i am afraid that means they have run out of time. If they do contact us my surgery will be scheduled on a Tuesday.

I will have three incisions (as far as I know):

1.) Dr. will open up my back and take out all metal, then redo the surgery using new metal
~ new metal means it is possible for me to keep the old metal.
2.) Small incision on my hip for bone graph.
~ I've been told this is the most painful.
3.) The last is a small incision on a rib that is bothering me and my shoulder.
~ Dr. will just shave off excess rip.

So, anyway, I am just hanging in there.
Keep me in your thoughts and prayers!!
Love, Chelsea

Next Big Update

It has been almost 11 weeks since we found out about this problem. Nothing has changed. I don't have any pain, but every once in a while I will have those days, where I am super, super sensative. Otherwise, I feel very fortunate because today we finally got some good news!! My favorite parents were able to qualify me for a childrens insurance that covers only my scoliosis, which means if we get confirmation by next week, my second surgery will be in the next 2 weeks!!!

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers!!
Chels

Quicky

No big news lately.
Schools almost out, so I will do some big updates in the next week or so...

Mock CAT Scan

This is what it looked like (without hearts and flowers). The view is like you are looking throught the top of my head. The red is the crack.

The Bad News...

Well, in the beginning of the new year I started to notice a lump on my back. It was a bit uncomfortable, but nothing I could not live with. But, bythe end of Feb. I decided I would mention the bump at my 16 (!!!) year old check-up with my pediatrition. She was concerned, and she was touching it, then she put pressure on it. It hurt, and she thought it could be the metal. So we scheduled an appointment with my back doc. He took one look and said..."I don't like the look of that. Let's take an x-ray"

After 7 x-rays, he still had not determined what it was... a rib? metal? muscle mass? nerve mass? an organ? So, he sent me to get a CAT scan, and wanted to see me back in a week to see the results.

When we were at this next appointment he walked in and said "Bad news.."[omg!] "a rod has come out of place." I was just...just..appalled. The hook at the bottom of my right rod has poped off of my vertibre. This means that he would have to cut me all the way open again to re-hook the rod with wires and make sure there are no other problems.

He showed us the picture from the CAT scan that showed the proof, and as he was explaining something he paused... scratched his head... mumbled something...took the picture and turned it every which way..and I said "UH-Oh." He caught something in the picture he had not seen earlier...my vertibre was cracked. Now a totally different plan... cut me open again, take out all hardware, cut down lower, possibly into my lumbar spine, and re-hook the metal in a more sturdy vertibre. I do not have any more ribs for bone graph, so I will have an incision on my hip in order to scrape bone from there.

Sooo, as of today, April 15, 2009 the insurance might or might not pay for a second surgery...f.y.i. $70,000...so i have an appointment at the Shriners Hopital in Chicago. But luckily the insurance company realized it was missing papers and is now re-evaluating. If so my surgery will be next week on a Tuesday or Thursday, maybe, I hope.

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers!!!
Love, Chelsea

I AM Back!!

Sorry about the gigornic amout of time between the last post and this one...so to fill in the gaps I have a quick update..

July 2008: Enjoyed my summer!!:)

Aug 2008: I went back to school with a pink rolling backpack, and pillow in a small backpack strapped to my back, and the **ELEVATOR PASS**

Sept 2008: I think by this time I had no more restraints, just horseback riding

Oct 2008: Continued to recover

Nov 2008: Had a check-up, x-ray, everything was perfect...I AM ALLOWED TO RIDE (yay)

Dec 2008: Enjoyed another nice break!!

Jan 2009: Began Horse lessons, and had another check-up, x-ray...everything was great

Feb 2009: Continued with horseback riding