Monday, March 28, 2011

All done

Okay, they are finally all done.  The surgeon came out and told us that she did great.  She lost a lot of blood, but that wasn't surprising.  She said that she could tell that if she didn't do the fusion on the kyphotic part (upper area) that it would be way worse.  So, leaving it untouched wasn't really an option.

I am trying to remain calm, but as I write this I am struggling with my feelings.

The GOOD news is that everything is moving the way it should - her arms and legs - so it appears that she's okay as far as spinal damage goes.  Before I go on - I want you to know that I realize that this, along with the fact that her heart did fine - is ultimately what's important.  And I am thankful.  Always so very, very thankful.

However, SHE LOST TWO MORE EFFING TEETH (sorry for my language) AND I'M PISSED!!!!  PISSED!!!!

It's moments like this that I find myself thinking those horrible words I try SO hard not to think - it's just not fair.

Dammit!  The worst part is the theory as to how they were lost.

Apparently (not that I had ANY idea of this beforehand) in order to test neurological function to see if any spinal damage was done, they put leads on her head and stimulate some sort of jolt in her body.  This jolt (does it sound barbaric to anyone else, or is it just me?) makes the patient clench their mouth, their teeth???  Anyway, they put gauze in their mouth to try to protect the tongue (they have had patients bite through endotracheal (intubation) tubes before) so they know how powerful this jolt is and the damage it can cause.  They give this jolt like 25 freaking times or something to measure what happens throughout the body.  They think that she kept on clenching so much that they just came out.  I really don't know how else to say that.  She bit her own teeth out of her mouth.  Oh. My. God.

I can't even write about it anymore right now.

Oh, and the ortho anesthesiologist said that she has about 1,100 ccs of blood volume and she LOST 800 ccs.  So they pretty much completely transfused her.  They expected a high blood loss - but that amount surprised them.

She's alive.  She's moving.  He said that she's let them know how she feels about them (you go girl!).

Gotta go and see her now.

8 comments:

allie said...

Love to Harlie. Love to you.

Tanya said...

Wow! That sounds really really rough. I'm so sorry about the lost teeth.

I hope she keeps on telling them how she feels about them ;-) And that she goes easy on YOU!

Grandma said...

WOW. THE SHOCKING SOUNDS SO BARBARIC. THANK GOD SHE IS OK. I guess pretty soon her baby teeth were going to come out..it is a shame it had to be this way.

Anonymous said...

She is some little girl. I wish when they were jolting her they would have had their fingers in her mouth. That would have showed them. I know the makes you wonder. I am glad that everything looks great. She will gain strength when they replace that blood. Love, hugs and kisses to all. Still saying those prayers. Love Ron and Sue (Pgh)

B-Mama said...

Grandma is right, she's going to lose the teeth soon anyway. No worries.

She did it-- WAY TO GO HARLIE! And they didn't get her spirit!! Love it. Deep breaths--you guys are all doing great

Susan said...

Alive and moving is good, REALLY good. But F isn't keeping their teeth a priority too? They were protected with gauze?! REALLY?!!! The only good thing is that they are baby teeth, so some day they'll come back but STILL. (((((HUGS)))))

Lindsay said...

Oh christy...I can't even imagine all that you are thinking. I'm so glad she's out and you get to be with her now. Hugs to you all!!!!

Anonymous said...

I really don't know how you do it all. I can't believe the shocking thing. That sounds terrible and I am so sorry she lost more teeth. I am so glad she is doing OK and we will be checking in on you all.
Love Marcy

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