After seven hours of not peeing (seriously), Mad finally let loose and we were allowed to leave.
We are back home and she is doing great, almost back to normal.
February 11, 2009
Wednesday update
We are currently sitting in Madeleine's hospital room waiting for her to pee. They won't let us go home until she goes. It's been hours! Her catheter was removed this morning, her IV was taken out, and her leads removed. We spent some time in the playroom, but have mostly been hanging out in her room.
She did pretty well overnight. She was mostly kept doped up on the tylenol with codeine which made her sleep except for between 2-3:30 am (of course).
She walked this morning, and is continuing to become more and more stable on her feet. She is just on tylenol now, and doesn't seem to be having any pain.
We've been loading her up with fluids, she's got to go sometime soon, right? We're eager to get home.
The next step is waiting on the pathology of the tumor. I believe that this will take a couple of weeks. We are hoping that the pathology comes back showing that the tumor is maturing.
She did pretty well overnight. She was mostly kept doped up on the tylenol with codeine which made her sleep except for between 2-3:30 am (of course).
She walked this morning, and is continuing to become more and more stable on her feet. She is just on tylenol now, and doesn't seem to be having any pain.
We've been loading her up with fluids, she's got to go sometime soon, right? We're eager to get home.
The next step is waiting on the pathology of the tumor. I believe that this will take a couple of weeks. We are hoping that the pathology comes back showing that the tumor is maturing.
February 10, 2009
From the hospital
The hospital now has wireless intenet, yes!
Mad is doing pretty well. She can't really sit up yet, it hurts too much, so she leans to one side, propped up with pillows. She had some tylenol with codeine, which knocked her out for a few hours. Right now she is just on tylenol, but she's pretty cranky. I think we may switch back to the codeine for tonight.
There really isn't much to update. Ryan stayed with her overnight last night, so I will stay tonight. It was weird to be home with no one there, but the full night of sleep sure was nice. We are hoping to be out of here in a day or two.
Mad is doing pretty well. She can't really sit up yet, it hurts too much, so she leans to one side, propped up with pillows. She had some tylenol with codeine, which knocked her out for a few hours. Right now she is just on tylenol, but she's pretty cranky. I think we may switch back to the codeine for tonight.
There really isn't much to update. Ryan stayed with her overnight last night, so I will stay tonight. It was weird to be home with no one there, but the full night of sleep sure was nice. We are hoping to be out of here in a day or two.
February 9, 2009
Surgery Update
Madeleine's surgery lasted about two and a half hours. When we met with the surgeon he said that it went just about perfectly, which was great news to hear after some anxious waiting around.
The tumor from her spinal column has been almost totally removed, and the column is now clear. She is recovering in the IMU, a step between the PICU and the regular hospital room. We are VERY relieved not to be in the PICU. She is currently hooked up to a catheter, and some heart and respritory monitoring leads, but that is it! She was extubated and the arterier line was pulled before we saw her, which is a first. Her pain is being managed with morphine and some other drugs and she is doing very well. She woke up briefly this evening, and was very groggy, but was able to eat.
They estimate that we will be in the hospital for 2-3 days. Much better than we were orignally expecting.
So things went very well. Thank you for thinking of us today!
The tumor from her spinal column has been almost totally removed, and the column is now clear. She is recovering in the IMU, a step between the PICU and the regular hospital room. We are VERY relieved not to be in the PICU. She is currently hooked up to a catheter, and some heart and respritory monitoring leads, but that is it! She was extubated and the arterier line was pulled before we saw her, which is a first. Her pain is being managed with morphine and some other drugs and she is doing very well. She woke up briefly this evening, and was very groggy, but was able to eat.
They estimate that we will be in the hospital for 2-3 days. Much better than we were orignally expecting.
So things went very well. Thank you for thinking of us today!
February 8, 2009
Preparing
We are getting ready for the surgery tomorrow. I'm starting to feel a little anxious. You may think that by now, the third surgery, I would have this all under control, but I do not. I don't think this is something that ever gets any easier.
The MRI and CT scan went fine on Friday. Of course the timing got all messed up, as it inevitably does and we were at the hospital for much longer than expected. When we check in for a procedure that involves sedation they always ask when the last time was that she ate. I know that she is not allowed to eat solids after midnight, and can drink liquids up until 6 hours before the sedation. Because they told me that the MRI would be at 1:30, I calculated that she could be fed at 7:30am. Well, the person that called me either had the time wrong, or it somehow changed over night because when I told the registration person that her last feeding was at 7:30am (it was actually later than that. I always fudge a little on the times because I know that breastmilk digests pretty fast), she wrote "NPO VIOLATION" in a big red pen on her binder. NPO somehow means nothing by mouth. Anyway, everything ended up working out okay because the MRI people were running late.
And now we're just getting ready for tomorrow. The surgery is scheduled for about 12:30, but Neurosurgery asked if we could check in a little bit earlier than normal because they think that they will be able to start earlier. Both grandmas and grandpas are here and we're ready to do this thing! I will update here tomorrow when I can. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prayers tomorrow!
The MRI and CT scan went fine on Friday. Of course the timing got all messed up, as it inevitably does and we were at the hospital for much longer than expected. When we check in for a procedure that involves sedation they always ask when the last time was that she ate. I know that she is not allowed to eat solids after midnight, and can drink liquids up until 6 hours before the sedation. Because they told me that the MRI would be at 1:30, I calculated that she could be fed at 7:30am. Well, the person that called me either had the time wrong, or it somehow changed over night because when I told the registration person that her last feeding was at 7:30am (it was actually later than that. I always fudge a little on the times because I know that breastmilk digests pretty fast), she wrote "NPO VIOLATION" in a big red pen on her binder. NPO somehow means nothing by mouth. Anyway, everything ended up working out okay because the MRI people were running late.
And now we're just getting ready for tomorrow. The surgery is scheduled for about 12:30, but Neurosurgery asked if we could check in a little bit earlier than normal because they think that they will be able to start earlier. Both grandmas and grandpas are here and we're ready to do this thing! I will update here tomorrow when I can. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prayers tomorrow!
February 5, 2009
Fundraising Awareness
I have always wanted to complete a half (or whole) marathon.
This year, two of my friends who are on quests to better their lives, and rediscover themselves are participating in the San Diego Rock 'N Roll half-marathon. I am very proud of them. I will be out of town during the marathon, or I would be doing it with them. They are training with Team in Training.
Team in Training's goal is to raise money for cancer research. They focus on leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma. These are blood cancers, but I believe that any cancer research and funding will ultimately help find a cure for all cancers. The team as a whole has "honorary teammates," and each participant can also walk or run for personal honorary teammates. Danelle has chosen to include Madeleine as one of her teammates.
I know that money is tight right now, but if you can spare something (even a couple of dollars helps), please make a donation to Danelle or Jenn's fundraising goals to help to find a cure. The links will take you to their personal blogs where you can read about their journeys. From there click on the Team in Training logo to go to their fundraising pages. If you can't donate anything right now, post a comment on their blogs and help to cheer them on!
This year, two of my friends who are on quests to better their lives, and rediscover themselves are participating in the San Diego Rock 'N Roll half-marathon. I am very proud of them. I will be out of town during the marathon, or I would be doing it with them. They are training with Team in Training.
Team in Training's goal is to raise money for cancer research. They focus on leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma. These are blood cancers, but I believe that any cancer research and funding will ultimately help find a cure for all cancers. The team as a whole has "honorary teammates," and each participant can also walk or run for personal honorary teammates. Danelle has chosen to include Madeleine as one of her teammates.
I know that money is tight right now, but if you can spare something (even a couple of dollars helps), please make a donation to Danelle or Jenn's fundraising goals to help to find a cure. The links will take you to their personal blogs where you can read about their journeys. From there click on the Team in Training logo to go to their fundraising pages. If you can't donate anything right now, post a comment on their blogs and help to cheer them on!
MRI tomorrow
Insurance finally authorized everything and we are good to go for tomorrow's MRI and CT scans.
The surgery will be happening on Monday, around noon. I will update here when I can. We are hoping that this surgery won't be as long, or difficult as the previous surgeries. The surgeons are going through the spine again, and will be getting enough tumor for a biopsy, as well as debulking what they can.
I'm not looking forward to the surgery, but I'm certainly looking forward to being done with it. Hopefully this will be the last surgery and she will be on her way to recovery.
The surgery will be happening on Monday, around noon. I will update here when I can. We are hoping that this surgery won't be as long, or difficult as the previous surgeries. The surgeons are going through the spine again, and will be getting enough tumor for a biopsy, as well as debulking what they can.
I'm not looking forward to the surgery, but I'm certainly looking forward to being done with it. Hopefully this will be the last surgery and she will be on her way to recovery.
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