Post-Op Recovery

Here's the scar from the decompression surgery Madeline had about 2 weeks ago.  The incision is actually very straight but I can never get Maddy to hold her head still for a picture.  The hair is already starting to grow back where they had to shave it.  Other parents have told me that it should be barely noticeable as she gets older.

Maddy had a follow-up appointment with the neurosurgeon yesterday.  Everything's looking good.  He used absorbable sutures so there weren't any regular stitches to remove (yay!!).  When the doctor was done examining her, he turned to the other doctors (because there are always more than one) and said, "She's the only patient I've ever had who woke up after surgery and smiled at me."  Our sunshine girl.

The whole point of the surgery was to prevent problems associated with spinal cord compression.  She didn't have any symptoms to resolve.  So while other kids go through this surgery and their parents see improvement like better appetite or moving around better, all we have is the peace of mind that we are hopefully helping to prevent those problems for Maddy.  The one issue she had before the surgery that we thought might be compression-related was her unexplained vomiting.  Unfortunately she is still throwing up about once a day.  Kind of a bummer that we still don't know what's causing it.  The neurosurgeon was disappointed that the surgery didn't help with that.  We are still taking her to a GI specialist who she'll see again in February.  She's still growing and gaining weight, so no one is overly concerned just yet.  And really, most of the time Maddy doesn't seem to care that she throws up.  As long as we give her more food when she's done, she's pretty content.

Since she's been back home, Maddy has been moving around just as much as she ever did.  She's still combat crawling and trying to climb the stairs.  Sometimes when she's on her tummy she puts her forehead on the ground and flexes her neck like it's sore and she's trying to stretch it.  But she really hasn't given any other indication that she's in discomfort or pain lately.  In the first few days at home we gave her a couple doses of the heavy-duty painkillers.  We gave her milder pain medication daily, as needed, for about a week.  This past week it's been every other day that we give a dose of Tylenol or Motrin.  

The biggest post-op problem she's had has been with sleep.  Before the surgery she had been sleeping through the night.  The last two weeks have been like her newborn months.  She got up, on average, 5 times each night.  Sometimes nothing I did would comfort her.  After talking to lots of people, we're thinking that these are the negative effects of the experience of going through surgery and being in the hospital.  It makes me sad to think that she has undergone trauma.  But I know it's better than the alternative of doing nothing and watching her suffer the effects of compression.  Last night she only got up once.  Of course, I woke up half a dozen times thinking that she was about to cry.