Open wound and lots of stress

Monday night after her shower Amaya called up,  “mom, I want you to see my incision in person.” Ugh, overcome with feelings of stress and worry I headed down. This is what I saw…

I felt sucker punched, I thought things were fine and healing well. In fact, earlier that day one of her teachers  asked me how she was doing. I happily and honestly said she was doing well. She’s off her crutches, her pain is minimal, she’s walking well, and her incisions were healed (or so I thought). So when I saw this incision, one that looked healed weeks and days ago, I was shocked, disappointed and worried. I put some antibiotic cream and a bandaid on it. On close inspection it looked deep, much deeper than I’d like and would expect six and a half weeks post surgery. She also complained of pain at the site, not only when she moved but coming in waves. Worried and stressed I sent her to bed, not how I want to feel before bed. 

I woke up early Tuesday to make some calls. I wasn’t sure if this was an urgent care or emergency room visit. I spoke with a nurse who sent us to the emergency room. The ER doctor said it looks like one of the lower layers had come apart before fully healing so when the top layer of stitches came off the wound opened. He said he was unsure how to proceed; he said it was a tossup between either using a scalpel to open the wound and make fresh edges then stitch the wound or to continue with wound care (daily bandage changes and a lot of waiting and hoping). He asked for my preference which I had none then I asked him for his (after all he’s the doctor). He said if it were him he would go with option one but asked what Amaya would prefer. As the patient and almost adult I felt she should have some input. Through tears she asked that we wait on the recuting and stitching, mostly because of timing. See we were about to start a full days drive to visit family friends. I agreed the timing wasn’t great, but her well-being was most important. I hate the tossups; it’s a gamble and I don’t want to take any extra risks with Amaya’s health. I hated the idea of re-cuting and starting over with a new wound. The doctor said it wouldn’t hurt to wait a week, he suggested adding steri-strips to help gather and close the wound. Then we would continue with wound care and monitor for infection at home. He cleaned the wound thoroughly then applied the steri-strips. It took four steri-strips to close the wound; showing it was bigger than I had realized. He showed me how to replace them and sent me with a kit to do it at home. 

On our way home Amaya apologized for causing us more stress and thanked me for taking her to the doctor. She’s always done that, but I reminded her she’s got nothing to apologize for. This is what we do, we love her and we take care of her. It’s part of the mom job, stress and all. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

He added some gauze and tape over the steri-strips so that the wound wouldn’t get bumped on our trip. 

My steri-strip kit…wish me luck. 

 

A month later

Time has been a huge blur since Amaya's surgery. So much so that we went to get Amaya's x-rays this past Friday then realized that it had been three weeks and not four since her surgery. I had counted multiple times and could have sworn it had been four weeks. While we were in the waiting room, Amaya pointed out that I was wrong. We've sent the pictures to Dr. Nelson and are anxiously waiting his reply. Although it maybe too soon to see a difference in bone growth. 

Thankfully she’s doing real well. Amaya said that she’s noticed the area around the broken part in her femur isn’t in discomfort or pain like it was before the surgery, so that’s great news! She's walking without crutches and fully weight bearing. She has almost full range of motion. She has minimal pain that ice and Tylenol alleviate. Walking up and down stairs is what seems to be causing her the most pain. Her wounds are healing well but the stitches are still there and haven't dissolved like we were told they would. I asked Dr. Nelson if there is a chance they aren’t dissolving stitches and we should have her local pediatrician remove them. 

Its been nearly a month now and life is starting to feel normal again. Those first few days after surgery were intense, long, tiring (actually more like exhausting) and draining, especially those first twenty-four hours. Once we got home it was wonderful to be back home and reunited as a family. It took a few weeks to catch up on sleep, and get back on track. We're so grateful that Amaya is recovering well. 

Two weeks after surgery Amaya went to the local pediatrician to have her wounds looked at. She was not feeling the kiddie room as you can see by her face. The nurse practitioner said her wounds looked good. 

Here's a look at her incisions...

they used glue on top of her incision this time which she didn't enjoy how it felt and it irritated her skin

these are the two tops ones where the screws were removed and a new one inserted.

Here's the incision on her knee, this is the longest one and the one that caused the most pain and discomfort. As she walked it was irritating and uncomfortable. That has eased a bit. 

These are on the side just above her knee. 

This was taken three days ago. 

Amaya noticed it was a little pink so we washed it and added antibacterial cream for a couple days.

Here's a look at the x-rays...