Michaela goes home!!!!

Well, we really weren't sure we would be taking Michaela home today, but miracles do happen!  This morning Michaela called me to tell me that the nurse said she could go home.  About 2 hours later, she called to tell me that she was vomiting again:(  I got another call about 2 hours later telling me that she had eaten 2 bags of pretzels and if she didn't throw them up, she could come home.  I knew that Michaela would do ANYTHING not to have to stay there another day.  I think it had something to do with Kirk having a birthday tomorrow:)  She really didn't want him to have to sleep on that uncomfortable pull-out couch another night.  I also think she wanted him to take a shower since he hadn't taken one in 3 days. LOL!  ( I may get in trouble for posting that) 

My flight got into SLC about 2:30pm and we were on the road about 4:00pm.  We were a little scared about the trip home, but again, Michaela proved us wrong.  She was a trooper.  She looked funny holding her pan in front of her (in case she got sick) and singing along with the radio!  We had to stop 3 times so that she could stretch and use the restroom.   I'm not sure what people thought of her when they saw her in her bathrobe, but she didn't seem to mind. 

When we arrived home, we stopped in to see the family.  My parents and sister, KK, and her husband, Bryan, were there to greet us.  DeAnne and Kortney had made a 'welcome home' sign which we noticed on the front of the house.  That brought a smile to her face!

The best part of the night was going over to DeAnne's house to wash Michaela's greasy hair. LOL!  DeAnne has a hair salon in her home with a chair that reclines back to the sink, and because Michaela can't bend over to wash her hair, it was the perfect solution.   Her hair was so greasy that we needed to use Dawn to get the grease out before using shampoo!  Yikes!  Michaela was determined to have clean hair before getting into bed!  That's my girl!!!! 

Thank you so much for all you have done to help us get through this tough time.  We are so blessed to have great friends and family.  Your prayers and words of comfort have meant the world to us.  Michaela has felt  of your love and support as well.  The doctors want Michaela to take it easy for the next 2-3 months.  She will be be ordering us around all summer, but we are more than happy to help:)  We continue to pray that Michaela's body will recover fully from her surgery and that she will be able to live a normal life again. 

Again, thank you!!  We will keep this blog to inform you of her progress. 

Well, Kayla finally had a bowel movement!!! yes, i know thats exactly what you wanted to know!! But you have to believe how good that is! There is now a chance that she could be discharged tomorrow! YES!! I'm sure Kirk is super tired of sleeping in that hospital room! Tomorrow looks promising and if we can keep up on her pain meds then hopefully tomorrow will be the day!! Thank you all for the prayers and thoughts, I know that they have been the deciding factor in all of this. There have been moments that I've felt so helpless and all I had was prayer and faith. Thank you again!!!

I just talked to the nurse about Michaela's progress.  Since she is not able to eat solids or drink liquids, she will not be able to go home tomorrow:(  Michaela is really frustrated and upset about this news.  There is a chance that she won't go home until Wednesday. 

I have been staying with a relative of mine who lives in Bountiful.  It has been wonderful to have a nice place to sleep and shower everyday.  However, because I need to put in a few hours at work, I will fly home tonight and come back tomorrow afternoon.  Kirk will stay with Michaela and keep us posted on her progress. 

Please keep Michaela in your prayers.  We know that Heavenly Father answers prayers and will heal her body so that she can return home soon. 

Michaela has been sitting up for most of the day.  She is much more alert and her pain is under control for the most part.  She has been off oxygen for about 5 hours. Yeah!  She is still not allowed to eat or drink.  She says she is STARVING!  She is craving a pretzel with cheese from Preztel Time.  Funny!  Kirk has her hooked on them.  She has been walking without her walker and she even went up and down the stairs!  The PT was explaining how to climb the stairs, but before she could finish, Michaela was already all the way up and starting to come back down.  Michaela is a very determined girl!  She really wants to go home tomorrow.  Keep your fingers crossed! 

Michaela is feeling good enough to join Kirk and I in our Monopoly game.  Kirk has been beating me every time:(  I need some help!

Sunday, May 22

It looks as if we are here for at least another day.  Michaela was completely out of it last night due to the heavy medication.  She is still hooked up to the IV and oxygen.  The doctors took blood tests this morning and it looked a lot better than yesterday.  It looks as though she will not have to have a blood transfusion:)She is tired of being so drugged up on medication and sleeping all the time.  I think she is going to try and go without as much pain medication so that she can be more alert. 

Kirk has been so incredible through this whole ordeal.  He is constantly trying to make things more comfortable for Michaela.  He won't leave her side.  He has slept in her room every night.  I know this is very hard for him.  I couldn't ask for a better son-in-law! 

Kirk and I have taken up playing monopoly against eachother on the computers.  Yes, we are BORED!!!!
I don't know for sure, but I think he is winning:(

We appreciate hearing from all of you and your support during this difficult time. 

another rough day

Just when we thought Michaela was improving and on her way home, things started going downhill.  She is back on the oxygen, and in a lot of pain.  She has been sleeping quite a bit which is great, but the narcotics are the cause of the vomiting and lack of oxygen.  They still need to figure out how to balance everything.  The nurses and aids have been so kind.  They are so willing to help with anything we ask.  Luckily, she hasn't had to get a blood transfusion yet, and we hope she won't need to.  They will wait until tomorrow to determine that.   She has just been taken off of all liquids and food for the next 12 hours.  They hooked her up to the IV again and we will see if she improves.  Poor girl.  She is trying so hard to be strong and get well.  She apologizes to the nurses when she is not feeling well:)  She is an angel. 

We are hoping for a better day tomorrow:)))))

The Zipper (Beware: This is not for the weak hearted!)

doing well this morning.  The doctor took her off of oxygen and she seems to be oxygenating pretty well on her own.  Lots of pain meds but she is feeling and looking well today, other than some stomach tenderness and discomfort.  There is a good chance she will be discharged tomorrow--Sunday.

Michaela has been sleeping most of the day.  They changed her medication again so it is making her very tired.  They also put her back on oxygen.  She hasn't had much of an appetite either.  It doesn't look as though we will be leaving the hospital tomorrow--there are issues with her red cell count and oxygen saturation, in addition to pain.  Michael, Kirk and I are exhausted.  We are ready for some new scenery. 

Michaela was very excited to receive letters from some of our neighbors back home.  You can go to http://healthcare.utah.edu/hospital/giftshop.html  and click email a patient to send Michaela a letter.  She is listed as Michaela Welker (not Esplin).  She is in room 6308.  The hospital prints off the emails and delivers them to her room.  It's really nice.

Keep the prayers coming our way.  We really want to get Michaela home!

X-RAYS

As you can see from these x-rays, the surgery was a success! 

Night 3-Morning 4

Michaela has had a great day today, and is now managing to get up and walk to the bathroom with no walker! She also took a long stroll today around her whole hospital wing. she impressing many with her determination. 

During the night she had a little nausea and the nurse decided to drop her pain pills, but now this morning she is in a lot of pain. She told the new nurse this and she upped the dose again, so hopefully the meds kick in soon. Today is not her best day, but she is a trooper and wants to progress. I just hope that her exertion isn't making her pain worse!!

Wow!  What a difference a few hours can make!  Michaela is doing so well.  The physical therapist took her for a walk down the hall and back.  She used the walker and she did really well.  They took away her medication pump and are giving her pills now.  That is making a huge difference.  Her pain is now under control and she is asking for food.  THAT is amazing!  Kirk and I were talking about how nice Michaela has been through this whole ordeal.  Every time someone comes in to take her temp, give her medication, check her oxygen, etc., she says THANK YOU!  Even when she was in a lot of pain, she never forgot to say thank you.  It is so sweet!

She received some beautiful flowers from Michael's Law Firm, where Michaela was working, and from Kristin Harris' family.  Thank you!  She LOVED them!

She asked the nurse if she could go up and down stairs today!  They will be in shortly to take her.  I think tomorrow is going to be even better! 

Ronda's cell phone

I am having problems with my cell phone.  I can't receive any text messages, but I can send them.  So if you are texting me, I have not received them.  Sorry!  You can call me at 435 680 1935, or leave me an email.  rmwelker@yahoo.com.

Michaela's back

Night 2, 36-24 hours after surgery

So much for a calm sleeping night!!! About 1:00am the nurse noted that her pulse has been high-high 130's for most of the day, even when sleeping. This she told to the doctor who wanted to play it safe and decided to run a bunch of tests, many of which are the same tests they do on someone who they suspect a heart attack. This Kirk knew, so he was pretty stressed. They performed a EKG and took blood to test red blood cell count.  They then took a chest x-ray and took her pulse standing, sitting, and laying down to check for variations because in a dehydrated patient your heart will race and blood pressure will vary. But all these tests came back normal and they decided that it was just stress from the surgery and pain causing a raised pulse. This was great news as there had been hints Kirk heard that she might need to stay in the cardio unit hooked up to a heart monitor. But all went well, and it turned into an uneventful night once all the fun was over around 2:00.

The doctor came in around 7am and said that Michaela is doing very well.  He thinks she could possibly go home Saturday.  Michaela was very excited with that news! 

Michaela was able to walk to the bathroom today with the help of her walker.  When I stood next to her, she seemed to be 5 7" or so.  She has really grown!! 

The physical therapist is going to come in later and take Michaela for a walk in the hall.  We will keep you posted on her progress.

Thanks again for all your emails, prayers, and good well wishes.  We really appreciate your love and support. 

Day 2, 24-36 hours after surgery

It really is hard watching her be in so much pain.  It really helps you understand the Atonement and understand exactly why Jesus paid for our sins.

Well at about three thirty the PT (physical therapist) came in again and asked if she wanted to stand up and walk a little this time. Michaela was all to eager to get out of the bed. She easily sat herself up (a feat all in itself) then pulled herself onto the walker. She then proceeded to walk to the edge of the room and then walk backwards to her bed. After this she decided that she had done enough and sat down. They then had her sit up for about five minutes to help keep her lungs clear and give her a chance to be in a different position. It was easy to see that she enjoyed the change.


All day she has been throwing up, but this evening she was able to keep some food and liquid down which has stopped the nausea so far! Let's hope that continues becuase Kirk needs some rest!


For the majority of the day Kayla has been complaining of pain and rates it even with all the pain killers at 8-9 and sometimes a 10 out of 10. I feel so bad for her! Hopefully the night and tomorrow are better!!


Thanks again to all the prayers and thoughts that are for her, we can really see your faith in action.

Kayla has been sleeping most of the morning.  When she is awake, she is either vomiting or complaining of the pain in her back.  I feel so sorry for her.  She still isn't eating because she says her throat is too sore, and she doesn't want to throw up again.  She really wants out of the bed.  She is sick of being in the same position.  She asked me what we were going to do the rest of the day.  I said, " well, I think you will be in bed and Kirk, dad and I will be here to help with whatever you need."  She rolled her eyes and you could tell that she really was expecting something different than that!  I don't know exactly what she thought she was going to do today, but I hope she isn't disappointed tomorrow too!!

Night 1, 12-24 hours after surgery

Michaela woke up around midnight to be completely coherent. She drilled Kirk who was staying the night with her for a report of all that had happened to her up to that point. She then asked the nurse if she could stand up which she did! Kirk Said that she has grown and he thinks close to 2 inches! The night after was a little rough as the pain medication would wear off as she slept becuase she wasn't hitting her pain button, and peaked about 5:20. They gave her some heavy stuff and she soon slept until 8:40 when the Physical Therapist came in.

He was very impressed that she has stood up and coul pull herself up to sitting postion without aid, and asked if she would like to try again.  So she did, and was able to pull herself up onto her walker with no help from the PT or Kirk! The physical therapist said she is doing tons better than most because within 24 hours she had already stood up twice and could pull herself up into a sitting postion with no help. The PT said most patients don't feel like gettting up until the 2nd or 3rd day! The prayers are working!  Michaela is determined to get better quick.

It's about 10:00pm and Michaela is still very nauseated.  She is more awake now but still in pain.  The nurse was going to have her get up and walk tonight, but I don't think that will happen.  Kirk isn't going to be sleeping much tonight:( 

Hopefully, tomorrow is a better day:)

Recovery Room

Michaela has her own room now, room 6308.   She is in a lot of pain.  They gave her a button to push for pain medication (allegedly) and she just constantly holds down the button, complaining that it is not working.  Her face is quite swollen due to fluids and lying face down for 6 hours.  She would say hi if she weren't in outer space, on planet Beelzebub.  The nurses say she is going to have a very rough night.  Kirk asked me yesterday if he could stay the first night with her.  I think he might have second thoughts!  No way is he going to get out of it!  Poor Michaela.  It is really hard listening to her complain and cry because she is in so much pain.  Wish I could do something for her but I can't. 

The anesthesiologist just met with us to talk about her meds and pain.  Nothing abnormal; she just wanted to explain the pain meds Kayla is on and use of a pump.  She told us that the incision is about 12 inches long.  We will call it our 50,000 dollar footlong.

The surgeon just met with us.  Kayla is doing well.  No complications.  They elected to only fuse down to L2 instead of L3, which is great news, since she will have more mobility in her low back.  We learned that she has a natural abnormality at L5-S1 where an extra large transverse process is partially fused to her sacrum.  So she naturally lacks 100% range of motion at the bottom of her lumbar spine.  That is a big reason why they stopped at L2.

She will be in recovery for the next hour.  We will see her after that.

Scoliosis

For those of you who may not know about Michaela's back history, here is a little information.  Michaela was diagnosed with scoliosis when she was 12 years old.  It was found during a routine scoliosis check at the school.  We took her to Schriners Hospital where she was treated for the next 6 years.  She wore a back brace both day and night hoping to stop the curve from getting worse.  The braces kept the curve under control so the Doctors did not recommend surgery while she was a teenager.  Doctors wanted to give her as much of a normal life as possible before having to fuse her spine.  Last year, Michaela went to see a doctor about her back because of growing pain.  Her doctor took x-rays and found her curve to be 60 degrees.  Her spinal curve had become significantly worse in just 2 years.  The doctor told her that she really needed to have the surgery now.
 

1:00pm

Doctor's assistant just called to tell us that they are finishing up the surgery.  The doctor will be here in 15 min. to talk to us.  We will be able to go to the recovery room shortly and see Michaela. 

11:00am
Assistant just called to tell us the surgery is still going well.  They said the surgery would be at least 2 more hours. 

It is snowing right now!!!!  Is it really MAY?

Kayla goes in for surgery

This morning we arrived at the hospital at 6:00am for Michaela's surgery.  Dr. Daubs and medical team talked to us about the surgery.  Kirk, Michaela's husband, and I, really like Dr. Daubs.  He has a way of making you feel that everything is going to be just fine.  We really needed that reassurance this morning as we were all a little on edge. 

Michael is on his way to the hospital.  He left St. George early this morning.

9:00am
One of the assistants in the operating room called us just a few minutes ago to tell us that the surgery is going smoothly and Michaela is doing well.  The surgery will last 5-6 hours. 

They are going to screw rods into her spine from T4 to L3. or 11 vertabrae. They will be screwing the rod into each vertabrae and then will be packing in donor bone so that the spine will heal straight and strong.  Sounds awful if you ask me!

We will keep you posted!