Thank You to All of our Friends and Family for Caring and Praying for Our Emma
With all she has been through, she is such a brave little girl!
They finally took her to surgery at about 8 something Tuesday morning. Thank God she didn't have to have any pins put in the bones, but they still had to knock her out to set the bones and a couple of hours later this is what she now sports around. This cast goes from her chest on down the whole of her right leg to her ankle, and half of her left leg, all round her back and pelvis, and then leaving an opening for her to potty where a diaper is just laid under her and pulled up over the front to make sure her cast doesn't get wet or soiled.
In two weeks they will remove all of this and x-ray her leg. If it hasn't healed enough, they will put this same thing back on her for another two weeks and then check again. They say it could be like this for 6 to 8 weeks. They stopped the morphine today with her last dose during the night last night. They now give her Tylenol and she had only had one dose all day today. As I was leaving last night (Wednesday Night) she told the nurse her leg was hurting so they may have given her another dose after I left which was about 10:15PM. Her spirits were really good today, a bit on the crabby side at times but who wouldn't be in that condition. The most painful time is when you have to lift her to change the diaper, or she found out today they had a wheelchair like wagon for her so we could get her out of the room and stroll the halls. Guess what Emma wanted to do ALL Day and most of this evening?! We walked, walked, and walked today. She'd cry when lifted up and over to the stroller wagon, but once we got her settled and legs propped she was good to go. She loved getting out of that room! I wonder though that the reason she didn't want to go back to the room was because she knew it was going to hurt again to put her back in the bed.
She is such a big girl now and so proud of that, that right after she had come out of the anesthetic pretty good, she had to go potty. Now mind you when she was taken to the first hospital the night before around 6:30PM, a bit later she had to go potty. They had put a diaper on her so she could but she refused to go in the diaper. We tried to tell her it was ok but she would just shake her head no and said she was a big girl. Well Emma has been totally potty trained now for about 6 months and she says only babies use diapers and she wanted to go on the potty because she is a big girl she says. We couldn't get her to use the diaper and that baby held it all night and it wasn't until she was unconsious that she fianlly went! After her leg was set and out of recovery back in her room, and several hours later with the IV's running through her, she had to go potty again. Once again we tried to get her to go in the diaper. Once again Emma refused. We would say it was ok to use the diaper but she would shake her head and say nooooo....so the nurse said, "how about a potty for the bed (bed pan), Emma says nooooooo and shook her head, she wanted to use the bathroom and that was it! So the nurse and mommy said ok lets try the bathroom. So they both got on either side to lift her and of course she started crying because it hurt her leg. They went to lay her back down and Emma says noooooooo, she wanted to use the bathroom! So once again they lifted her all the while Emma is crying those big gator tears, and mom and the nurse carried her to the bathroom. It wasn't an easy feat either trying to get her through the doorway without banging her legs or feet. Her little body is in a bit of a curved position so she couldn't sit straight up and down either. While mommy and the nurse held her over the potty, she relaxed a little bit as I think she is so afraid of the pain she tenses making it worse, but she finally started to go, but then stopped. She said she wasn't done but nothing was happening and mommy and the nurse were really struggling trying to hold her there. She is really heavy with the cast on. So I turned on the water in the sink and wala! She went and went. You should have seen the smile on her face. She was beamig with tears still rolling down those sweet little cheeks. Well now she is using the diaper because I think once that was over, she realizes how much pain it causes her to use the big potty, so the diaper isn't so bad at least for now. She is so funny you can't help but laugh at her.
Her nurses have said she is one of the most amazing patients they have ever had. They can't believe how smart and intelligent Emma is for her age. They also can't believe her high tolerance for pain., so that goes to show how much pain she must have been having the night before when her leg was broken. Her screams were unbelieveable! They said with the injury she has and the age she is, most of their patients are given pain meds every 30 minuets. Emma was going about 6 hours in between doses. This was after her leg was set though. When they have to do something that she knows will make her hurt, the tears start flowing and she says nooooo, but will do or let them do what they have too. They have to keep checking her circulation and watch for any swelling. She is always afraid when they have to take her blood pressure and temperature. She also won't let them take her temp under her arm either. Big girls do it by mouth don't ya know. They just get the biggest kick out of her. They have all fallen in love with her. Her nurses have been so wonderful and soft and gentle with her. They are so amazed at how strong she is and tries to be even when she knows it's going to hurt. We're having trouble getting her to eat and she's not even drinking much which is really odd for her as she normally is drinking something all the time. She is hopefully going home today (Thursday), but last night before I left she started spiking a fever, plus she needs to eat more, so we'll see. Hopefully tomorrow she will feel a bit better to make the cut to go home. Keeping our fingers crossed. We are thankful that she is now on the mend, lets just hope it will be sooner than later for her sake. This is going to be really tough on her, because Miss Emma was one very active busy little girl!
The next dilemma is finding someone who can care for Emma while her parents work. She can't go to daycare now and I live 45 minuets away and can't leave my husband everyday for all those hours. My daughter doesn't think I would be able to lift her either because of my messed up back. Her other grandmother is going through therapy for her back and there is nobody else. Her parents can't afford to miss work or they will sink financially...so another issue and trying to find the answer.
She's talking to her daddy and brother's Chase, Parker, and Aiden.
The best part is we are seeing her smile and laugh a little bit again and she is acting more like our Emma! :) Yea!
Thank you so much again for your thoughts and prayers for Emma and her family. This time around has not been as horrifing as my last memory at that hospital. Maybe now I can get some decent sleep and we'll see what our day brings today. My Emma is a beauty inside and out and even though she is doing so much better, it still cruches my heart seeing her like this. Thank goodness she is little and strong and hopefully a year from now she won't remember any of this! And, if her little bones heal quickly she won't have to endure too much therapy so she will be running and playing again soon and once again making my heart leap into my throat waiting for the next boo boo from this little princess wild child! :) Don't ya just love em!
TaTa for Now and Good Night!
Hugs and stuff!
Debi
