Since about an hour after I delivered Maylea, I have had a headache. At first I just assumed it was because of stress, and a side effect from the epidural. As the day(s) went on, the headache and the pain has gotten worse and worse. I had gotten to the point that I was prescribed a muscle relaxer, could barely get up to go to the bathroom, and almost cried through taking a shower. As long as I was laying down and staying still I was fine. Trying to sit up or use my arms was nearly impossible. Today, the Dr. finally decided that we needed to bring the anesthesiologist back in just to make sure.
He got to my room about 3:00 this afternoon, and after talking to him for about 15 minutes, he knew that I had a leak in my spinal cord. I had to go down to surgery to get the problem fixed. The procedure was short and simple. Joshua had gone into work to tie up a few loose ends and was waiting to hear from me that we were ready to come home. I text him and told him that we weren't going home, but I needed him to come up here as soon as he could. He just happened to already be on his way.
When he got here, I explained the situation to him, and with in 10 min. I was on my way down to the recovery room (they did the procedure there). There they started me an IV with fluids and some fentanyl. Then they put an IV in my other arm and reinserted the epidural needle in my back. Once the needle was in place, the nurse withdrew blood out of my arm, handed it to the anesthesiologist, and he inserted it into my back. This is supposed to create a blood patch to fix the leak. Once it was inserted I had to lay there for 10 min. and then was on my way back up to my room. The whole thing from leaving to getting back to my bed was about an hour. With in 30 min. I was a completely different person.
We were going to go home yesterday, but Maylea had lost too much weight (I just got my milk in) and we had to stay to monitor her weight. Thank God for small favors!!! Had I gone home, I am not sure we would have figured this out. When talking to the anesthesiologist about it, it doesn't sound like it would have corrected itself to quickly (if at all) and I could have suffered permanent damage. I have to stay in bed for 24 hours, and then we will be able to head home. So about 4 tomorrow, God willing, the Hamlin family will be home together.
2 comments:
Oh my gosh, how scary!! Glad they caught it and hopefully you'll feel much better tomorrow. I'll be praying for a speedy recovery so you can get home with your sweet family. Thanks for keeping us updated.
Weird...I thought you were feeling bad...had no idea THIS bad. My gosh! Who would have thought!?! They don't tell you that kind of stuff can happen...glad you are okay and everything is better--Now that your boobs are big, get to feeding that baby! I expect chubby cheeks when I see her next week!
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