Excuse me if this gets lengthy but I want to give you as much info as possible in hopes to be as helpful as possible. Amaya will be 10yrs old in October. She is 55" tall, weighs 97 lbs, and has a ROBPI. She also has asthma, allergies and excema. Her surgery involved making two incisions on the upper right side of her back and streching her lower trapezius over. This procedure was to give her better external rotation. I was warned that she made need an Allograph ((hope I spelt that right) before the surgery and I signed all the paper work. I was told that she would then be put in cast with her arm down at about 90 degrees, palm up and externally rotated. After surgery Dr. Kozin explained to me that she did need the Allograph because her Trap couldn't stretch all the way but this was no cause for concern and that she was fine and that I could see her very soon. Here is were it got scary for me - When I finally saw my daughter her cast position was not as discussed and was having a full blown panic attack. She was yelling and crying and begging for me to help her. She wanted the cast off. The nurses told me they had already given her Fentanyl and Toradol for pain and Zofran for Nausea. Nothing I could say or do would calm her down, I was heartbroken and felt very helpless... I spoke with Dr. Kozin who explained to me that because of the allograph he changed the cast position to keep tension on the tendon and he prescribed valium to calm her down. After the valium she was much better. Everyone tried to explain to me that what I was experiencing with Amaya was quite normal because she was just coming out of Anesthia and feeling very restricted in the cast. They assured me that she was not feeling pain. However, as a mom, I just wanted to comfort my child and I couldn't and that was the worst feeling in the world. Once she was calm (which really was immediately after given the valium), she was taken up to her room. She shared a room with a 12yr old girl who had surgery on her spine. She and her family were very lovely and kind people who showed me the ropes while I was there. Amaya did have pain but nothing that wasn't manageable and by the evening she was up and walking around (taking it easy). I did ask Dr. Kozin the next day after the surger (more because I was still a little nervous) if he considered Amaya's surgery to be a success and if everything went as he had hoped. He felt that it was a success and he was pleased with the way things went. We stayed the one night and was released the next day after having her cast trimmed and recieving care instructions. She is due to go back October 11th for cast removal at which time we will be staying for 5 days of physical therapy. I will update you again then. I truly believe that God has allowed the surgery to give Amaya new movement and that we will see it when the cast is removed. Please continue to pray for my baby and I will also for yours.
I hope I didn't ramble on too much and will answer any questions that any one has. The only dumb question is the one left unasked! I thank you all for your support. Now, back to my patient...
Tiffany (Amaya's mom)
robpi