Day 1 Post-op evening

What began as a calm morning did not continue throughout the day. Haley was off doing the MRI when I showed up at the hospital this morning. She came back and was sleeping for a while. That was great because she had a bad night.

She woke up happy, smiling, laughing, drinking and drinking some more which is very normal for her. She is my thirsty child! She ate a few bites of food. She tried watching a movie but the tv was on the left side. She would need to lay her head on the left side (the surgery side) to see it. That was something she was not willing to do. So instead she listened to the movie while she rested. Then she saw the buttons on the bed. She had great fun pushing them to make the bed go up and down in all different forms. It didn’t bother me, and luckily it didn’t bother the nurse. She would say “weeeee” when the bed went down! Such a little thing made her a very happy girl for a short amount of time.

Then she started becoming unsettled. She would move her legs up and down and move her shoulders back and forth. Now I know these are signs that the pain is becoming too much. She only became more agitated and in more pain. From that time until now her pain has not been under control. She flops back and forth in bed not wanting anything and not wanting to be touched by anyone. Her nurse was trying to figure it out to make her comfortable, but over time it isn’t working. We need a plan, not quick fixes. I really hope they try something different tonight so that she can sleep.

Now that we know the signs, the shaking of the legs and shoulders, we should be able to help the staff stay on top of her pain. We always need to remember she is only 2 and cannot communicated well. She cannot use the pain scale. She just knows when it gets too much. She must have a high pain tolerance and then reacts when she peaks. We need to catch it before that peak. It was just so sad to watch. It is so sad leaving her there not knowing if she will be crying for 40 minutes every little while until the medicine kicks in.

I’m hoping for a better night tonight and day for her tomorrow.