Re: son w/possibly psycho. issues & post surg pain

[Guest guest]

HI

I have to say, it took me months to recover from my decompression.

And I'm a grown woman. I barely even remember the first four weeks.

It is pretty horrible to go through, so I would think it pretty

understandable for a small child to have problems coping. I had

terrible muscle spasms for months, and I still have them to some

extent (they have to cut through lots of muscles to get in there and

those muscles have to move in lots of different directions). It's

probably pretty normal for him to still be hurting and if tylenol and

pain meds are helping, I wouldn't be too worried. Get him checked by

the NSG, of course, but try to be patient.

I have days as an adult where I can not help but let it get the best

of me. It simply 'isn't fair' and so to a 4 year old, coping and

acceptance have to be really difficult.

I think when dealing with little ones, we as parents, have to really

be aware of our own anxiety and worry...they FEEL this and respond to

it greatly. It scares them. So maybe try to be as calm as you can

yourself. (You can't fake it though....he'll know!)

You might want to try and give him tylenol ahead of his pain on a

regular basis to avoid the 'grouchies' for a while and let him feel

good. In the hospital, we used to give motrin and tylenol alternately

and let them overlap to control pain and fevers. You can give them

each every six hours, but giving one every three hours...make sense??

Tylenol at 8am, motrin at 11am, tylenol at 2pm, motrin at 5pm...and

on from there. Just check with your pediatrician first to make sure

there are no problems I don't know about with your son, but this

should work pretty well for him. They also control pain in different

ways, so it's really a good method.

Big hugs and lots of prayers for you and your little sweetie!!

>

> Noah, 4 y.o., decompressed Aug. 06, duraplasty Jan. 07 @ s Hopkins

>

> We're having a HUGE problem with his moods. Pre-surgery he was always

> a grouchy kid, now we know from pain, it GREATLY improved after 1st

> surgery, only to return which led to the 2nd surgery. Now, mood is

> again even more of an issue. It worsened approximately 7 weeks

> post-duraplasty & it continues to worsen. He REFUSES to tell us if he

> is in pain. If asked, he will either ignore us, change the subject or

> scream " I TOLD YOU MY HEAD IS ALL BETTER!!!!! "

>

> Also, he was always good about visiting the doc, loved the toys in the

> waiting area, but last week he froze at the elevator, began a

> hysterical, hyperventilating screaming & crying & kept saying he

> didn't want to see Dr. Carson, wanted to go to his home etc. It went

> on for 30 or so minutes & left us numb & shocked ( & my husband sobbing

> in the corner of the waiting room).

>

> Obviously, there is some psychological trauma that needs to be dealt

> with, I get that, BUT the grouchies are scaring me. What kind of

> things could be going on? What kind of complications 7 weeks post-op.

> What kind of new problems? Oh, the grouchies subside significantly

> within 20-30 minutes of administering tylenol, indicating pain. I

> don't think this is normal post-op pain, it seems too late & too

> intense (if mood is an indicator).

>

> Thanks,

>