Update on our Paddy

Well hello there from a cold, wet and very wintry Auckland day. It has been awhile since I last wrote so I thought it was about time that I updated the news on Paddy.

The 28th of May was surgery day, and I can tell you John and I didn't get much sleep the night before, Paddy was actually quite excited, she treated the whole lead up like one big adventure, this made me more nervous as I don't think she fully comprehended actually what was going to happen.

We were at the hospital by 7.30am, and we arrived to chaos, there was no beds on the ward where we were supposed to stay, so we got sent down to a day stay unit which actually was very nice, much calmer than the ward, and much better on John and my nerves. They gave Paddy some pre op medicine which made her very giggly, she couldn't stop laughing at a poster of a big fat hippo!

Just before she went through to be operated on were the worst moments of John and my life, it was hideous. We felt fine about the decision as we knew it was the right thing to do, but the thought of our Paddy going in for any surgery, well it was just awful.

We had a couple of tense hours waiting for the call to say she was out of surgery, and it was off to see our girl. Paddy was very distressed coming out the anaesthetic, I was expecting this as she had surgery when she was six months old, and it was the same back then. She fell asleep in John's lap, then we were taken back up to the ward, by this time there was a bed for us, yay! Also luckily for us we had a room to our selves as there is mainly only four bedroom rooms, with the parents sleeping on a mattress on the floor, we had a spare bed which was just great.

Our surgeon said the surgery went really, really well, he was very pleased and the operation only took an hour, it is amazing to think that her little foot took six to eight weeks to develop, even though it wasn't perfect and it only took an hour to take off, it is mind boggling really.

Post op Paddy wasn't too bad, she slept lots, she was on a morphine drip, and didn't seem to be in too much pain, John and I were just relieved that the surgery was over and done with. We had two days in hospital, then we were sent home. All the staff at The Starship Hospital (Ward 24A) were absolutely marvelous and a special thanks to Sara and Meg who made our stay so much better than it might otherwise have been. We were a bit worried about being discharged so soon as Paddy still seemed to be in pain, but we thought it would be a lot better once we were back in the comfort of our own home.

For the next five days, to say things were hard, well I hadn't been that sleep deprived since the twins were born, every 15 mins Paddy was waking crying in pain, and no matter what medication we gave her it just didn't seem to work. Finally on the Wednesday a week after the surgery and me having a mini nervous break down at our poor G.P we went back to the hospital to try to sort things out. Apparently some people when the are in casts have dreadful muscle spasms and this is what Paddy was having, hmmmmm nice one, it's a shame that they only took a week to sort this out, anyway we have now got Paddy on diazepam at night to stop the spasms, and the difference is amazing, we have had two nights where she has slept through, and we have dropped almost all of the other pain relief which she was on, brilliant!

We got Paddy sorted, and poor old Georgie has come down with tonsillitis, and 40c temps, so we have been up the last two nights with her. When it rains it pours!

Today we went out to choose some fabric for Paddy's 'magic leg', one of the technicians from the limb centre on her day off, met us there and showed us what we could use, it was all very exciting, and Paddy was thrilled to bits.

So basically Paddy's cast comes off on Tuesday after having been on for two weeks, then we have the stitches out, then we are off to the limb centre to get a cast of her leg and then they start making her artificial one, hopefully from there it will be only a couple of weeks and Paddy will have her new leg, fantastic.

There we go, it is now 11 days since surgery and I am pleased to say Paddy is in good form, she is climbing on and off the couch, in and out of her wheel chair and scooting around the floor, she is paying with her sisters, and her Mum and Dad are very relieved the operation part is all over, we can now look forward to her walking with her prosthetic on.

I have to say a big thanks to Nicola for organising all the dinners for me (we have had meals cooked for us, for two weeks, how will I ever cook again I just don't know!), Mum said this is what it must be like to be a movie star and not cooking, it has been fabulous, and I haven't eaten such variety, well since my Mum cooked my dinners, a big thank you to Helen, Tracey, Sarah, Jackie, Jane and Dee for cooking the wonderful meals! Also everybody has been so generous with gifts, it has been over whelming, I shed a tear when a beautiful basket turned up from kindy. My Mum has been great as well, staying with us for 10 days, and helping out loads, and the relatives in the UK have given us a lot of support as well.

Paddy the day before surgery, you can see where they marked her leg to make sure they got the right one! The day after surgery, the cast is right to the top of her thigh and you can also see where the foot should be.

11 days after surgery and looking much better!



With her twin Georgie, and with a rather fetching crown made by her friend Heidi!