The Healing Continues

Blood Patch Part 2

We went back to RMH on Friday morning for the second attempt at the blood patch. I must first say that the front door greeter, John, at RMH is a gem. They definitely have the right man for the job. He greeted us on both days and did everything in his power to make her as comfortable as possible. I pulled up to the front door and got a wheelchair for her. He took it from me and wheeled her right to a couch and tucked her in with a pillow (which he told her to keep). She had brought along her fuzzy purple blanket (smart girl-it was freezing in the radiology department), and John made sure she was able to lie flat to minimize her headache. He hand carried her paperwork to admitting and made sure the ladies there knew that I would be registering her, as she was unable to do so. He then escorted me to radiology and told those folks the story. He pointed to Haley on the couch and made sure they knew that she needed to stay flat. When we came back on Friday morning, he looked at me with furrowed brow as if to say, "Why are you back?", and I explained that they couldn't get blood the day before. He seemed really touched to see such a young person struggling with so much. (Sometimes I get the impression that people are thinking, "This could be my child.") He sprung into action again, an did exactly the same thing as he had done on Thursday. I  plan to write a letter to the CEO of our hospital letting him know how wonderful John is. This is customer service at its finest. Here's a picture of Haley tucked in on the couch in the lobby of our beautiful hospital.

The blood patch went off without a hitch. They were able to get the blood and insert it into her spine. She tolerated it very well, and we were home in just two hours. See below for more on that.

Some Improvements

Haley is making some improvements. We notice that she is moving better, but she is still very weak. On Friday afternoon, I convinced her to climb the stairs to take a shower. This was no small feat. Our staircase is 14 steps and pretty steep. I have several bad memories of Haley and the stairs (she's fallen down them on many occasions-and I mean the entire flight), so it was scary for me and I'm sure for her. My friend Bonnie agreed to come over to help bathe her. Bonnie is very wise and very adept at most everything. She arrived with a new hand-held shower head and a shower seat. She then proceeded to install the shower head! I was impressed. Finally we got Haley and she had the equivalent of climbing the Matterhorn before her. She took her time, but I was so afraid that her legs were going to give out. (They've done that a handful of times since her surgery and she collapses. Very scary.) She made it to the bathroom and was just pooped! She went through the demeaning process of allowing two women to bathe her. She was so tired and in pain. Plus she couldn't bend her head down or twist so she was limited in how much she could help us.

When it was over, we dressed her and she wanted to go straight back to bed. Bonnie very gently combed out her hair, taking pains not to touch her scalp as she has several painful places (I suppose from the "tongs" they used to keep her head still during surgery) and a pretty large numb/sore place near the crown of her head. Our doctor thinks it's referred pain from a nerve that was disrupted during surgery. Anyway, she was really sensitive. Poor thing. To be so young and have to go through all of this is hard for me to watch.

Here is a picture of "Fix-It Bonnie" installing the new shower head:

Her neck incision is looking better. It seems the antibiotics are doing the trick. Her steri-strips are coming off on their own and the many incisions are healing. The spinal headache is still a challenge. The blood patch went well on Friday and she got a tiny bit of relief from it. She held her thumb and index finger about an inch apart to indicate how much it helped. The radiologist said that if it was going to work, she would feel some improvement within the first hour. That was disappointing for all of us. But, Dr. Marsh came by on Saturday morning, and he said it can take up to several days to see improvement! So we are holding on to some hope that she still may get some relief.

How to Pray

Please continue to pray for Haley for patience as she waits to feel better. For the CSF leak(s) to heal, for the muscle pain in her neck and back to go away, and for all of us to count our blessings every day. It's so tempting to just focus on the now without remembering how far she has come. It really does our hearts good to see her walking around the house with her walker, and to think that just a few short weeks ago she was unable to put her feet on the floor without passing out.

On Wednesday, July 17th, we will travel back to Maryland for her post-op appointment with Dr. Henderson. Please pray for safe and relatively comfortable travel. I don't know what he will say about her spinal headache, but pray that we are ready to hear whatever he does say. We have a great deal of trust in him and are forever thankful that God led us to him. The surgery really made all the difference in her life. To be able to walk again is HUGE, even though for the time being, she is suffering with pain.  Thanks, all, so very much.