United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi,
We gave Hannah her first bath last night post surgery. She absoulutely loved it. One bit of advice: sit in the tub with her and have your hubby or someone else that you will allow to see you naked , and have them hold the arm up and help you transfer the child in and out of the tub. It went smoother than I anticipated. Those steri strips show no signs of falling off anytime soon though, and they told us around 10 days they would start coming off. Well, it is day 13 and they are only minimally coming up at the corners. Anybody else have trouble with them falling off? Oh yeah, get that Johnson's lavender baby bath. It really does sooth and maybe that will help with the fussiness. That is what their commercials claim , I guess. It put Hannah right to sleep afterwards. Hope you are doing well. Let me know how things are going! I hope you little one is doing better with the pain. Talk to you soon.
Nicole M

I am so glad the bath thing worked out. We couldn't get Maia to sit still when she was 19 months and had her mod quad and I was so scared about dropping her arm that we opted for sponge baths....but now, with a bit of maturity under her belt, I was so hoping that she would be able to actually sit in a tub so that her bottom could at least get washed. Thanks for giving me hope with this!!
-francine

I would suggest weaning your son down to regular Tylenol (at least during the day) and perhaps he won't have as much gas or constipation. Our daughter, Nicole, was 23 months when she had the Mod Quad. After the first day, she had one dose of Tylenol w/cod for the splinting experience and then she was on regular Tylenol as needed (mostly for bedtime). Of course, every child is so different in handling pain (as is every adult too LOL!). Don't forget, there could be other things going on too like teething. You know him best so I'm sure you'll be able to assess where the pain is originating if at all.

We never had problems with the splint getting caught in the crib. Nicole has had difficulty with sleeping post-op sometimes as well as difficulty with "going" to sleep sometimes. I think after her 2nd surgery at 15 months old, she was afraid to GO to sleep (for fear of waking up in recovery again with tubes and wires all over the place and in pain). If he does well sleeping with you right now, I think it sounds like the best thing for him until he's ready to be on his own again. Hopefully, it will be fine within a couple weeks. I must say that Nicole's MQ at 23 months was the easiest for post-op sleeping and I attribute that to a much greater awareness / understanding of what was going on and that she would wake up in pain after her surgery.

We were told by Nicole's surgeon that all weight-bearing was good the 2nd 6 wks post MQ -- as tolerated by Nicole. Of course, this conflicted with direction from the OT Dept. and program coord. -- all part of the BP clinic at the same hospital. So, I would get opinions from your son's dr and therapists and figure out where to go from there combined with your Mommy intuition. I would say no added weights, but his own weight might be fine if okayed by the dr and if he tolerates it well. Just keep a close eye for pain or swelling. Nicole wanted to weight bear right away after the 1st 6 weeks post-op. I was shocked and glad. However, her wrist got really swollen (and hurt her) sooo we cut out the weight-bearing activities until the swelling went back down and then we kept them to a minimum until the 2nd 6 wks were done. I didn't freak out every time she put weight on her arm, but kept a close eye and tried diverting her attn. for the most part. It was hard for me b/c it took us sooo long to achieve crawling (she was 16 months old when she first crawled; previously, she'd scooted on her butt until she learned to walk), but I didn't want her in pain or swollen.

I'm not sure what you're asking about tending to your 3 y.o. daughter's needs. How's she doing with the surgery and splint?

I hope this helps. Take care. -Tina

my anna 18 months is two weeks post mod quad.. we gave her tylenol 3 the first two or three days after we got home just at night..gave her lots of watered down apple juice with it to drink for fear of constipation.. then i went to tylenol or motrin during the day, now its just when she gets really fussy that I give her something.. (she is also teething) I put a extra pillow in her crib to make like a wedge to sleep on and she seems to like it.. saturday night we gave her, her first bath since surgery, we decided on doing it in the kitchen sink.. works great!! we sit her in the sink with brace on, remove brace, fill sink,wash her & she plays some, drain out water, dry, powder her, do ROM and put brace back, then lift her out to diaper and dress.. not as back breaking as tub..
her brace hasnt slowed her down one bit either, shes still climbing and going on about her day as always.. although her sleeping patterns have changed, not sleeping as long but sleeps through the night.. I also noticed since surgery shes more lovey, giving more hugs & kisses..
hope your little one is doing better..
marg & anna

Having had the mod quad surgery myself, gosh, almost 10 months ago, I can only speak from my own experience. But there really was very little pain after the first day or two. I did not even take any pain killers once I came home from the hospital. I've had lots of other kinds of surgeries and this was an easy recovery period. Of course the therapy for the past year has been pretty intensive, but when you see results, it is great motivation to keep at it.

Good luck with all your little ones all of you who have had this surgery so recently. You are in my thoughts. As I think back over the past year and all the new ROM and flexibility that I have gained, I am so glad that I had the opportunity to have this surgery even at my 'advanced' age.

Blessings to you all and wishes for recoveries filled with surprises and wonder.

Nancy

Thank you ALL for the supportive reply's and advice. Grant's fussiness is still unpredictable but I think that he is at an emotional developmentally difficult time and having the surgery was a little traumatic for him. Hence the clinginess and sleep trouble. I think he may possibly be afraid to sleep for fear of waking up in recovery(as one mom mentioned). All and all I think he is doing pretty well. I want to thank you all for taking the time to respond to my post. What a wonderful resource this board is! I hope at some point I will be able to return the favor to other families in need.
Stephanie B.