Post Op 48 hours

We have been busy.

Emily has been working hard and we are reminded that Dr. Joyce mentioned in her pre-op meeting, he would do 2/3 of the work on her leg, the other 1/3 would be up to Emily.  Emily's work has begun.

Moving to the side of the bed yesterday was good.  Today's effort included that + sitting in a chair + standing with two physical therapists, a waist belt and walker.

In addition, she had to mentally prepare herself for what happened an hour ago... the "reveal" and unwrapping + rewrap of her leg dressing. For fear of pain, Emily was double fisting her magic green buttons and the anxiety was building.  Daddy-O, Momma, Mackenzie and Joe happened to all be present, (along with JCU bear with a new bandage on his left leg... thank you Nancy, Regis and Don!)  We were very pleased with how beautiful Dr. Joyce's work is.  Essentially, she has one long incision on the outside of her left leg from mid-quadricep down to her knee.  Her leg looks good in color, size and there is minimal swelling with the two drains that are still in place.  Every few hours the drains are emptied, measured and contents discarded.

As was mentioned in an early, early post in February, there is a wonderful symphony of care.  Emily has three teams that are coordinating her recovery... orthopedics + hematology + pain management.  They all know what the plans are and Emily is good about asking her own questions and feeling comfortable with the path.    Pain management has been balancing her needs with the goal of getting her off of the epidural so both legs can be slightly numb, but there is some more muscle control.   She also needs pain relief that does not completely knock her out so she can be awake and move around.  The hematology (blood) experts are led by Dr. Plautz and Dr. Thompson and they are helping Emily "bounce" back.  Today Emily did receive a blood transfusion of hemoglobin and that is to rebuild her iron and strength of her blood to heal and be full of healthy red blood cells.

Emily had a nice night of rest and looks forward to the same tonight.... her message:

Due to the double fisting pain buttons, I have been kind of loopy, my eyelids are heavy but I am not in pain.  I got really nervous for the unwrapping of my bandage, not only to see it but the anticipated pain associated with the unwrapping process.  I was a little bit overwhelmed when I first saw my tumor free leg.  I quickly realized how fantastic it looks and how lucky I am that the surgery went so smoothly.  I also was a bit overwhelmed by the loss of some muscle in the surgery sight and the potential length difference in my legs.  My doctors and my parents assured me that I would be back to normal, any difference is minimal and would not affect my gait or activity.  I will be healthy again.  I could not be happier that the cancer is GONE!

Thanks again to everyone for asking about me.. caring about my progress and helping my family.