Jackinator

Surgical & Super Bowl News

Jack goes in for surgery tomorrow to remove the plate from his hip.  We need to be at the hospital at 11 am and I figure they'll probably start around 12:30 or 1 pm.  The procedure will take about 2 hours, followed by an hour in the recovery room.  If all goes well, he'll be able to come home after that.  I'll be posting updates throughout the afternoon tomorrow, so check in often.

Jack enjoyed the weekend, stocking up on DS & PS2 games for his recovery period, and going duckpin bowling with Dad.  We had him annointed after mass, too.  It makes me sad that he's only 10 years old and has already been annointed twice.  But hopefully he won't need annointing now for another 90 years.

Despite the score, it was still kind of festive around here for the Super Bowl.  We had Jake over to watch the game because his parents seized the chance to go to Dallas, lucky them!

 

Bed Rest and...Bats?!?

Here's an interesting article I came across; I can't imagine 3 years in the hospital but it looks like that's what they used to do for Perthes Disease.

Courtesy of Pontefract and Castleford Express

Wartime hospital experience

  

TOWNVILLE man Terry Swift has submitted this picture of patients at the Marguerite Hepton Orthopaedic Hospital in Thorp Arch, near Leeds, taken about 1944.

Mr Swift, now 75, was a patient at the hospital for three years after being diagnosed with Perthes’ disease in his left hip when he was eight. The disease, which causes a limp and other symptoms, commonly affects children between the ages of four and eight, mostly boys.

Mr Swift said that during his stay he was given various treatments mostly consisting of bed rest and fresh air.

He added: “We were put out on a covered veranda on some winter nights and sometimes we woke up with snow on the end of the bed.”

As well as freezing nights the patients were also exposed to sunburn, visiting bats and bomber planes during wartime air raids.

The picture shows the youngsters on the veranda – Mr Swift is indicated with a cross.

He added: “As the years have gone by I’ve forgotton the lads’ names but they all came from surrounding 
districts.”

Discharged!

We are home!  Jack hung out for a bit in his wheelchair in the living room and found a good place to rest the remote.  A trapeze bar was installed over his bed so he can 'monkey' around and help when he needs to be shifted.

   
 
  

Medicine Wars

Another medicine war last night.  I had to threaten turning off the TV to force compliance.  The TV is pretty high up and there's a tall, wooden stick in the corner that I would use to reach the power button.  After WAY too much crying, complaining and stalling with his night-time dose, I yelled "THAT'S IT!" and grabbed the stick to turn off the TV.  The student nurse jumped and ran to Jack.  I said, "Don't worry - I'm not going to hit him."  Then Jack said, "That's what I thought you were going to do."  After that, he was much more cooperative.

Hanging Out

Jack spent some time this evening playing on his DS and watching TV while hanging out in his lift hammock.  Now we just have to get through the evening meds and then off to bed.   

Good Afternoon!

This afternoon, the Wettergrens stopped by with some treats for me (thanks, Jenn!) and letters from Jack's classmates.  The letters were great - thanks Mrs. B's class!  Later on, we got Jack into his new wheelchair and cruised to the hospital cafeteria.  Jack got some popcorn and then we stopped by the mini zoo.  There were some active turtles, a tarantula and a giant millipede.  The millipede was really cool but I couldn't get a good picture of it. 

Busy Morning

I came in at 9 am to a medicine fight.  The IV was taken out in my absence (clever move by the staff).  Then PT came in.  The therapists today were more pediatric-y than yesterday, and I brought in a bean bag chair, so that made a HUGE difference in comfort for Jack.  Also, after constant reminders by Nana, I requested a lift.  Jack LOVED that.  It's like a ride at Disney - Jack's friends are going to be jealous!  Next time he's in it, I'll get a picture.  So a HUGE THANK YOU to Nana for being Nana and not letting up about the lift.  The doctor was quite amused that I was getting one; I guess her other patients don't have pushy Nanas :)

Lunch was mac and cheese and surprisingly good chicken nuggets.  We mixed Jack's yucky medicine with ice cream and that went over much better than the apple juice from the morning.  He still held his nose while taking it, but no tears or screaming.  AND, the doctor said if Jack is not in pain, we don't have to give him the Valium.  (Don't worry Nana, I'm still going to fill the Valium script.  And hey, it may come in handy for other people in the household ;)  We can try chewable Advil tomorrow to see if that's strong enough.  The Valium does work though, so I will continue my quest for a more palatable option.  This afternoon, Jack is thinking of taking a ride in his new, reclinable wheelchair, and he's been cleared to go home tomorrow.

Jack consented to a profile pic, while he was spending some time on his stomach:

Quiet Night!

Dad said Jack had a nice, restful night.  To borrow a clever phrase from Jack's Pop-pop - hip, hip hooray!

Quiet Afternoon

Quiet afternoon - Jack and I napped for a bit and watched some movies.  Not much pain until 5 pm, which was a severe episode.  Morphine kicked in at 5:30 and Jack fell asleep.  Big sister Amanda came for a visit and then Mom went home.  I wish Dad and Jack a restful night...

Rough Morning, too

PT came this morning to show me how to move Jack around but it caused a lot of pain.  More morphine got him settled and then PT came back and flipped him on his stomach.  He HATED that.  PT said to leave him there for 2 - 3 hours but luckily the sympathetic nurse and student nurse got him off his stomach in about 40 minutes.  He was just too miserable.  At home, we can put him over a beanbag chair which will be much more accommodating.  Then it was time (so they thought) to switch to oral pain meds.  They attempted to start with unflavored valium.  Guess where that landed?  Jack was screaming and crying but we finally got him settled and he ate some lunch.  I think the stomach problems are behind us and the catheter can come out this afternoon, so that will be 2 pluses.  Dad is 'relieving' mom this evening so it will be much easier dealing with these things tomorrow, on a full night's sleep.

So far, a pretty calm afternoon.  They are going back to IV meds for this afternoon and night, and we'll try good-tasting oral meds tomorrow.  Jack is still not up for a picture so here is one of his IV pole instead: