Mary will be staying with Alex tonight. Alex had a brief bought of nausea, but is back on track. We are hoping he (and Mary) can get some rest.
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Hoping for a good night
Author: Eric Celeste
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Relaxation
What does Alex do for rest and relaxation?
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Learning the ropes
Jordan came by to give Alex an orientation to his room’s amenities, the most vital of which is his PCA (patient controlled analgesia) button. He’s in control of this button, not the nurses and not us. We came up with a number of questions for the team, like “are there pins in there?” and “will we need a wheelchair?”
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Home away from home
Alex is now ensconced in his recovery room on the 7th floor of Regions Hospital. He’s got his own room and just went through a bunch of questions and setup by the nursing staff here. He feels a bit of pain since the incision on the back of his leg is not really covered by the nerve block they did. He will soon get his own button to control his pain meds. Meanwhile he is eating a few ice chips to salve his sore throat and resting.
“I definitely feel somewhat bionic right now,” says Alex, referring to the plethora of wires.
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The healing begins
Mary and I just met with Dr. Koop who was very positive about the results of the surgery. “His foot will be dramatically different,” he said, “he will be surprised.” Alex’s foot was placed into a much flatter position and the tendon lengthening was successful.
We won’t see Alex for an hour or so, but the short term concerns are pain management and swelling. They keep a close eye on those things while we are at the hospital. The key decision coming up will be when to go home. Once Alex can manage the pain that will be one component of the decision. The other will be whether to send him home in the Robert Jones Dressing or a cast, which depends on the degree to which swelling reduces over the coming days. We are hoping for a cast simply because it will mean one fewer trip for follow up, but we realize that is unlikely.
One surprise for me was that concerns about infection stretch out to a number of weeks. In fact, Dr. Koop pointed out that the most common period for an infection to become an issue is at about four weeks post surgery. So that is something we will be keeping an eye out for at home.
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Here we go
We have prepared. We have a second floor living-dining room, a small fridge in Alex’s room, Nate’s TV for months of entertainment, clean sheets, and two special CHG showers. It snowed this morning, but not enough to keep us away from Gillette and Dr. Koop. Alex was on time for his 6am arrival.
The team was ready and whisked him into prep. Meetings with nurses, Dr. Koop, the anesthesiologist, and more. A final CHG wipe down and a snazzy blue bear hug robe. Alex got his IV placed and was ready to go. At about 7:40am they wheeled him out.
Thanks for all your good vibrations! We are hoping for steady hands and minimal nausea. We will keep you posted.
Well, that was a stressful way to start this adventure! This afternoon Alex got a “denial of service” notice from Blue Cross Blue Shield. They somehow decided that fusing bones and lengthening tendons was outpatient surgery!
Alex got right in the phone. Our mail arrives around 2:30pm and by 3:30 we had made a dozen calls and had reached one or two human beings. At about 5pm we finally heard from the very helpful Mallory at Gillette Children’s financial office who assured us that Gillette would straighten out the snafu or cover the costs itself.
That’s what we needed to hear. Full steam ahead for tomorrow’s surgery, though not without a reminder that the American healthcare system is a mess. Luckily, it seems our hospital is doing what it can to help.