Day 1, Day 2 .....of Riana's Operation Up-date

DAY ONE

At last Riana has her 1st stage of spine operation, and the actual operation called anterior release and fusion with instrumentation, its mean some ligaments of her spine was released in order to make her back more flexible for the 2nd operation and on the same operation a metal instrument was inserted in her back....more instruments are going to insert in for the second operation...Wah ! cool man, Riana was so brave to have this big ......operation. Not very sure what will happen when she pass the airport custom, will the machine make a lot of noise when she walk through the machine ??????????????????? for public interest I need to ask the surgeon or later on when Riana fly back to SA after fully recovered from the operation as she needs to go through custom check. For sure she would not be a ballerina, what a shame !!!!!!!!!!

Riana has scoliosis since her childhood, and her doctor said she will grow out of it ??????Are you sure, Doctor ??? (her mum told me). Surprisingly when I worked with Riana for the first 4 years in orthopaedic hospital, I didn't notice she had any scoliosis, may be this was due to good posture she always maintained and the clothing she made to hide her scoliosis. (Scoliosis mean abnormal curve in the spine, will have unequal hips and shoulders line, so if she want to be a model is definitely no no answer, unless go through surgical operation to correct the spine )

The operation took about 3 to 4 hours, and she was transferred to HDU/ITU for immediate post-operative care. Well she was in a good hand of the orthopaedic surgeon ( I will recommand him for others, he is the best in this type of operation. Most of the nurses trust him, not because he is handsome or charming or whatsoever, but he is really good in his job and a very handy man) Besides, Riana had the most experiences nurses to take care of her as well. Hay ! she received the best care, and can said even better than to go for private treatment. Tell you what, money and fame is not everything !! Even though you have money, you wouldn't receive the care what Riana have received, lah la la lah la................

Why Riana needs this operation ? Well, she suffered a great deal of pain in her back for long time. Riana took a lot of pain killer tablets. Epidural was able to release her pain for a while, but after few epidural injections, they appearred not effective anymore !!! So, she took white, blue, green....pain killer tablets again to control her pain and save her poor stomach.

O.k ! Keep the long story very....short, Riana was doing very well in her first operation, a bit of drowsy for the first day, this was due to morphine she received for pain control, otherwise no problem at all. Her mum and dad only stayed with her for a short while in the hospital, they felt more relaxed after knew Riana was fined and in a good hand of nursing and medical staff. So they went back home with me. Magda took care of her for the first three nights, and I was with her mum and dad. So, all the relatives in South Africa can relax and sit back, Riana, her mum and dad were well take care of. Get well pretty soon, Riana!!!!!!

DAY TWO

K.S took care of Riana for the second day. Riana looked really good, she recovered quite quick from her 1st operation. Coffee and water were limited in the evening, because she drank too much, directly dilated her sodium (salt) level in her body. Poor K.S had to keep emptied her urine bag, she produced more than 200mls of urine hourly. Apart from that, she was more awake and her pain was well controlled. Riana was so popular in this hospital, lot of visitors and collaegues came to visit her.

Before we (auntie Maria, uncle William and me) went to visit Riana, we went to Edgware for shopping and ate in Chinese Buffet restaurant. Auntie Maria and uncle William rarely eat oriental food in South Africa, they think chinese food is always served with raw fish. I am quite seriously want to teach them what is real chinese food before they go back to SA. Therefore in order to introduce them the art and taste of chinese food in U.K, I brought them to this restaurant where is located in Edgware as they serve nice food with reasonable price. Wah ! they really liked it, and they even enjoyed to drink jasmine chinese tea. At the end we decided and agreed to sit this place again before they go back to SA.

DAY THREE AND SO ON....

Magda helped her washed her hair and Riana put her make up. What ??? make up, never hear a patient will put a make up when in hospital, only Riana will do it. She looked like in Health spa ratherthan just have a big operation 3 days ago in the hospital. I may be look more pale and sick (no make uplah) than her, it looks like I should lay in the bed rather than Riana. Everyday she practiced deep breathing and coughing exercise, it helped for her early recovery and prepare for second operation.

Good news from the surgeon that Riana was arranged to have her 2rd operation on day 5 rather than day 7.

Riana had her second operation on Sunday instead of next Wednesday. We all very pleased that she was doing very well. This time she sufferred more pain, it was quite a long cut in her back, as you can see the length of metal were inserted in her spine, wah............very long, it from T2 to L3. Can imagine the pain she will feel !!!!!!!!!!!! The second day, she felt more comfortable as her pain was well control, she sat up to 45 degree to eat her lunch. No more I have to say, Riana is going very well................................