Then today then brings the second phase, which I'll call the eye of the storm, a less intense week ahead, less pain, more comfortable sitting up (though she still likes the cradle hold, I think she just likes feeling cuddled!), moving around more confidently, no more looong afternoon naps (she had a 3-hour 'nap' last Friday), and a few more clothing choices available to us with slightly smaller bandages.
In hospital waiting room, trying to play iPad BMX, a two-hand game,
and doing a pretty good job!
We went to the hospital today for a check-up and bandage change. They did her foot first. I couldn't believe the amount of padding and gauze that got cut away. As they final few layers came away, it became apparent that the final layer of gauze was still sticking to the wound, a sign it hadn't healed yet, so they sprayed antiseptic all over it, layered on another layer of wet gauze and wrapped it all up again, all the layers of gauze and padding and the half-cast and bandages, phew! It is a little smaller this time though, and not as high up her leg.
Then her hand. This wound was cleaner, as expected, so all the layers came off, and we got to see it for the first time. The skin grafts were purple, and we were told t hat was normal. And she had about 30 black stitches sewing up the sides. There are two main areas. Kanji is a bit more squeamish than me and was reluctant to look, but I was keen, I'm very curious about it, wanting to see if indeed there was now enough skin to let her throw up a 'thumbs up'. And her palm lines, I guess she'll never have a conventional 'life line' and 'head line' etc, but I was intrigued to see that you could see the fine lines from her foot.
The bizareness of all this does not escape me. And we did that to her? I was just talking to Mum about it. I felt so guilty for doing this to her, it seems so extreme, after all, she wasn't having too much trouble with it, and if asked, would probably have chosen not to do this. I've always believed parents should let the child decide things like this, after all, it's their body. BUT on the other hand, she doesn't know what it's like to have a fully functioning hand, so how can she choose? The final straw though, is that scar tissue cannot grow. Imagine a baby's palm on an adult's hand. That's what the future would have held for her without this graft - an increasingly clawed hand.
So they wrapped that up again too, smaller again, but only slightly. She cried for both, but was calm and didn't fight. The doctor even complimented her on her ability to keep still even though she was clearly upset. I think it helped that everyone stated talking about ice cream, and how the Pino 6-set sometimes has a heart-shaped ice-cream chocolate in it alongside the usual round ones. I tried giving her a lolly pop too, but she wouldn't have it.
I'm calling it the eye of the storm because her stitches come out on Tuesday, which they say is going to hurt more, and all the pain relief she'll have is panadol. And then we'll be looking after her new skin, which will be a whole new story.
Madam insisted on spaghetti for lunch and got it, spoiled rotten Queen of Sheba that she is this week! This photo shows her hand bandage really well.
And this is a really good shot of what happens to hair in the humidity. Still no spaghetti.
And this is the concerned face of a man who knocked his wife's camera out of her hand into the meat sauce and is HOPING LIKE HELL it can still take a picture.
And this is just an unjustifiable cuteness overload, plus a yummy Da Qui lunch.
Meanwhile, Amy and Lena came home, partied out, and sunburnt and very tired!
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