Much better today, as the drips and tubes have come off now and Kate can move freely. It feels much more comfortable. She has perked up visibly and by the end of today showed much more energy to phone and see friends and family. Perhaps tomorrow we will take the boys up to see her.
Pain management has moved from local anaesthetic to normal pain killers (well maybe not normal - industrial strength probably a better description; however, administered by swallowing rather than drip, far preferable). Nice to remain in a zonked state for a little while still.
The trip to the Independent Living Centre planned for today has been postponed to Wednesday - too much action today, with numerous doctors / physios / OTs in attendance this morning and the afternoon spent resting.
The phantom limb sensation remains; according to the pain management experts, the progress of it seems normal, with the pain 'moving' closer to the shoulder over time. The hand feels like it is curled up and cramped and when Kate tries to extend it in her mind, she has a 'needles and pins' sensation.
The OT had an interesting suggestion involving a mirror box, by which the brain is tricked into believing the missing hand can extended by an optical illusion mirroring the right hand to the left side; Kate would put the right hand into a curled up position and then slowly extend it, while the mirror box would reflect the image of this to the left side and the brain would see the left hand being extended. We wait and see - perhaps we will try this next week if the phantom limb sensation persists.
The surgeon remains very pleased with progress. Possible release date is still the latter half of the week.
Kate continues to show huge courage and this gives us confidence she will resume a full life sooner rather than later. She is starting to anticipate the next stage - chemo - with some apprehension - thankfully still some weeks to go until we start chemo.
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