Home Care

We have been home now for a couple of days.  Danielle is making progress.  We've had to make a few adjustments.....her pillow top mattress was too high so we removed the box springs and then the pillow top was too soft so we flipped the mattress. Danielle is not allowed to sit or lie down on the couch or in the recliners.  Not only are they too soft but they also sit too low for her to get into.  We borrowed a glider rocker for her to sit in.  It is cushioned but is firm enough for her to sit in.  We have a "granny lift" on the toilet also.  She is still taking sponge baths. I am unable to wash her hair at home because she is not allowed to lean forward and we cannot get her back wet.  We went downtown to Creative Cuts and Melissa wahed her hair today. She felt awesome after that!!!

Danielle is still experiencing quite a bit of pain.  Mornings are HORRIBLE.  She is stiff and her back hurts a lot.  I get up every 4 houurs at night to give her medications and help her "log roll" to her side. She is pretty teary in the mornings from the pain. I help her get in and out of bed. She really does well getting in and out of chairs but has to have someone there for support and to help her balance.  She walks around the house and yesterday she went all the way down the basement stairs and walked around a little before coming back upstairs.  She was having what she said was a horrible day yesterday. Then about 6 pm said suddenly that she felt better than ever!  Stephanie came and visited her.  After she left Danielle was back in pain again.  She was crying and said. "I just don't understand how I could feel so good a while ago and hurt so bad now."  I stay on top of the medicines to try to keep her from being in too much pain.  She is on OxyContin every 12 hours and OxyCodone every 3-4 hours for pain.  If she is still in pain she gets Tylenol.  She gets Flexeril every 12 hours as needed for muscle spasms (so far we have taken this every 12 hours).  With all this pain medication she is on a laxative 2 time a day and drinks a glass of diluted  MiraLax.  We are on a pain management weaning plan that I am following to a T.  I write down the time of day I give her medications to make sure I am giving everything correctly.   She has not attempted to do any homework since going to the hospital.  She wears out quickly.  She usually is up and awayke for a couple of hours and then rests.  Usually when she lays down to just rest a little she ends up falling asleep.  I don't think she would get too much quality homework done with all the pain meds.  She really hasn't had much of an appetite yet either.  She ususally takes a few bites and is done.  Today she actually ate a whole bowl of potato soup for lunch!

Having said all this Danielle is doing better than to be expected according to the docotor.  She is walking and can really move around quite well.  We are taking this one day at a time.  I keep telling her she just had a major surgery.  Dramatic changes were made to her body.  It takes TIME and patience to heal.

Thanks again everyone for the words of encouragement and keeping us in your prayers!