Post Op Day 3

Today was a wonderfully progressive day. G has walked the hall multiple times with rare difficulty. She has a bit of a tightrope walker gait that she didn't have before. So PT is working with her on that. She is to continue neck exercises prescribed by her therapist.

Her left wrist IV was removed this morning. G was freaking out slightly due to the arterial line incident in ICU. But once it was done, she couldn't believe how little it hurt. Her IV fluids were discontinued but her saline lock will stay in until we leave. Once she was free of cords and tubes, she was much more free to move around. Plus, she has a free hand to eat and drink. I think this helped her emotionally.

PT was very a positive experience today. There are various milestones that Chiari/neuro patients must do before they are discharged. Some are bodily functions, some are pertinent negatives and others are PT related. G has now checked all PT items off.  The last of which is to walk up and down some stairs. One slightly odd thing did happened during her last PT session. After stopping to rest, she reported moderate pain in each foot. It only improved when she stood up. Laying in bed and sitting with feet dangling off a chair made it return and get worse. To the point of her body shaking and an 8 on a pain scale. NS was consulted and they are not too concerned. If it continues, then they will look into it more. 

Eating has continued to be a struggle. Stomach pain and nausea continues as well. It is better, but not gone. However pain the the neck is better. To the point that we spent about 30 minutes in the playroom at the hospital. She accomplished her goal of playing pool on the kids sized pool table in the playroom. The true turning point this morning was a FaceTime session with two good friends of G's. She was so close to being herself during the conversation, it was pretty amazing. She was very animated and talkative. 

 We hope with all the improvements today, we will be discharged to go home tomorrow. Fingers crossed!