It’s been a long week but we’ve been home for a few days and Ella is doing well. She was admitted to Shriners in Chicago a week ago today but didn’t have surgery until Wednesday. We met with the occupational therapist, resident, and hospital pediatrician on Monday and then had Ella’s cast fitted on Tuesday. Ella received a tendon transfer called the Hoffer procedure in which the tendons to two muscles(latissimus dorsi and teres major) were released and reattached to the posterior portion of the rotator cuff. This allows the use of strong muscles to be used in a new way. The purpose of the surgery was to improve the position of her shoulder and allow for better overhead reach and improved arm and hand placement for function. The surgery went very well and Ella was really upset about the cast for the first couple days but is doing much better with it now. Ella had a great time during her first couple days at the hospital. She really enjoyed the play pit and exploring the hospital. She walked up to people and introduced herself and told plenty of stories. She’s not shy! I did my best to keep her out of the room since pushing all the buttons on the bed was way too tempting and even though I locked the controls she figured out how to unlock them. It was difficult for her to get to sleep, especially the first night. She needed a lot of reassurance that I wasn’t leaving. I think we need to go somewhere fun for a weekend so that she doesn't think she's having a test or surgery every time we go away for the night, which has happened three times now.
Shriners and the staff were great. When Ella had her cast fitted, she couldn’t stop crying, so the OT and Ortho Tech sang “You Are My Sunshine” and “London Bridges” along with me to try to calm her down. She received a monkey from the Ortho Tech at the end. Later that day, they returned to try the cast on her and there were a lot more tears. The Ortho Tech borrowed the monkey and made a cast for him too so that Ella will have a buddy going through the same thing. There were volunteers at the hospital one evening and a group of teenage girls colored with Ella while some of the other volunteers played wheelchair basketball with some of the patients. They had a dog there for pet therapy on our last night and that’s how we were able to get Ella to get out of bed despite the IV in her ankle. I have much respect and appreciation for the men in the crazy hats. They are doing great things for kids! 
The Occupational Therapist asked me what I hoped for Ella to be able to gain or what I’d like to see her be able to do that she hasn’t been able to do. She really does almost everything that she wants or needs to do. The little goals for Ella right now are to be able to hold onto stair rails when they’re on her left side, be able to wash her hair, and be able to hit a pinata. As she grows older, though, I know that it will become important to her to have better ability to do things like participate in sports or even just to do her hair or reach high objects. When the resident went over the consent with me, he said the alternative to not doing the surgery would be an increase in her disability. “Disability” sounds strange to me each time I hear it because I don’t think of her as being that limited. I do realize the importance of doing this now and am so thankful that there’s something that can be done to do help Ella for the future. We won’t know the effects of the surgery until a few months from now so I’m hoping and praying that it will have been successful. Thanks so much for your prayers for her during her surgery and recovery!
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