Lauren stayed the night at the hospital with Mom and Dad took the other two kids home to sleep. The hospital wanted to make sure she was taking in fluids and starting to eat. She has been on a liquid diet the last 24 hours and was hooked up to an IV to stay hydrated. She has been in some pain and is unable to eat anything solid. We have been giving her medication for the pain but it puts her to sleep. Which is probably good for her. This afternoon, a doctor came to visit and felt good about discharging her from the hospital. I don't think she wanted to stay another night and would rather be in her own bed. Last night she had trouble sleeping with the pain and the hospital staff coming in every four hours to check her pressure and temperature. I will say we have been very happy with the staff at Primary's. They do such a great job of making the stay for the children as comfortable as possible. The staff is very friendly and took the time to answer our questions.
Lauren is swollen from the surgery and can barely open her mouth. She has some bleeding and draining from the surgery but it should stop after a couple days. For the next few weeks, she will have a small tube that comes out the bottom of her jaw. This is what we use to attach the wrench to and turn daily. We will do the first turning on Saturday. We will give it three complete turns every day. This should apply enough pressure to lengthen the jaw bone 1 MM per day. Once the jaw has gotten to the desired length, we will stop turning and the tube will be removed. The small internal plates that were attached to the jaw will remain with her always. They say it usually doesn't cause further problems, but if they do, they can be removed. It just requires another surgery. Lauren is still a trooper although you can tell this causes her more discomfort than the previous surgeries.
Lauren is swollen from the surgery and can barely open her mouth. She has some bleeding and draining from the surgery but it should stop after a couple days. For the next few weeks, she will have a small tube that comes out the bottom of her jaw. This is what we use to attach the wrench to and turn daily. We will do the first turning on Saturday. We will give it three complete turns every day. This should apply enough pressure to lengthen the jaw bone 1 MM per day. Once the jaw has gotten to the desired length, we will stop turning and the tube will be removed. The small internal plates that were attached to the jaw will remain with her always. They say it usually doesn't cause further problems, but if they do, they can be removed. It just requires another surgery. Lauren is still a trooper although you can tell this causes her more discomfort than the previous surgeries.
1 comment:
I'm very glad to hear that all went well at PCMC. Hopefully you are all at home today. Best wishes to your family and especially Lauren. She is a courageous little girl. Dave.
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