Monday, July 27, 2009

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

Friday, July 24, 2009

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."

Thursday, July 23, 2009

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

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

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

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

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

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

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 :)

Monday, July 6, 2009

2 weeks!!

It is now 2 weeks until game time!!