April Otwell
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Baclofen Pump Surgery

1/23/2017

1 Comment

 
So January 6th I went to Baton Rouge to have the baclofen pump surgery, all this is to implant the baclofen pump in my stomach and a catheter fetid to my spine that delivers liquid baclofen straight into my spinal cord. We had to leave at 2:00 AM that morning to be there by 5:00 AM so that they could prep me for surgery by 7:00 AM. I actually did get some sleep that night but made sure that I would be up in time!
​I was very nervous because of course anytime I get put under I have a chance that I will never wake up again. Everything went fine and a surgery only lasted about an hour! The day before I ended up cutting about 5 inches off of my hair! This was the first time I've Cut a significant amount of hair off of my length. I actually really love the length of my hair now and I'm probably never going to let it get much longer than it is.
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The first few days that I was in the hospital I was fighting a fever over 102° because of a bladder infection that was so bad that they were pulling blood clots out of my bladder. We finally put me on anabiotic's that cleared everything up and I have an appointment with a urologist in February. I have decided to go with the stoma procedure and the procedure where they can clip my colon and put a port on the outside of my skin for my bowel program to be emptied all at one time.
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while I was there at the neuromedical Center I participated in three hours of physical therapy a day! I was completely exhausted most of the time because I was not used to doing this much physical therapy every single day. I had an hour and a half of physical therapy and an hour and a half of occupational therapy. I have learned a lot of things about my body and the muscles that I have used of without spasticity and I have learned a lot to be able to build up the muscles that I need in order to reach the goals I have set this year.
The baclofen pump has been one of the greatest decisions I've made in a really long time! I recommend anyone getting it that is having trouble with their spasticity being out of control or just the specificity getting in the way of gaining independence. I do not have more independence right now but as long as I continue to gain strength I will be able to gain more independence slowly. I am very excited for my future! This is something that I have not said in a very long time. We have also found out that Jessica is pregnant once again and we will be welcoming a new baby into the house in September or October!
1 Comment
Roselea
1/23/2017 02:52:05 am

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    Paralyzed from the neck down after an ATV rollover at 14, April Otwell is beating the odds the doctors gave her. She's a blogger, fantasy writer, college student, sugar glider guardian and spinal cord injury survivor.  She's even writing her first fiction novel!

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