Day 34: NIGHTMARE!!!

 Tuesday April 10th: The respite care provider called to me- First words out of my mouth "Is Wynter okay"......pause...."NO" she responds....it would be 30 minutes before I realized the FULL extent of the horrific trauma that had taken place. I'll never know why, but Wynter was on a swing in our backyard...the swing broke- Wynter- in her halo and body cast- fell to the ground. Wynter never cries....she has broken a bone and gone through surgeries, and she NEVER cries for pain! But now, I could hear her screaming in the back round... By the time I saw her I saw it.... all of the screws that were in her skull holding her halo and body cast in place, had all been pulled from there placement, mangled and moved elsewhere on her head. Her neck, that was fused from her skull down to her C2 just 34 days ago- had been twisted and contorted in a very unnatural way and she was stuck there. She was still screaming- I grabbed the emergency key to pull the halo vest off- by the time I had it unscrewed- everything came off. I grabbed a cervical collar and put it on immediately.....There was blood and injuries all over her head. She lost bladder control- we were both soaked. The ambulance let me hold her in place on my lap to keep her immobilized, as they put me on the gurney and we raced down the highway. They couldn't get her sedate fast enough, she was still screaming...The hospitals here are not familiar with C0-C2 fusion.....they were at a loss and they had no X-rays to compare to despite me having the Neurosurgeon in Philly on the phone with me! At least she had pain meds now, so they left her in the cervical collar and sent her home after a lazy attempt at cleaning all her wounds. We were told to watch for neuralgic damage, that she had many probable fractures in her skull due to the screws all being violently ripped out of her head...and lots of medications......To wrap it up, THANK YOU for all the prayers. Right now we are keeping Wynter on heavy pain meds and valium....but she is still hurting badly. Wound care, has been impossible for us- too many areas to clean and pack and she fights back so hard and pulls out the areas we did as we try to work our way around her head to all of the holes- we need to try to get wound care coming out to the house to help, guess I ll be on the phone tomorrow. I cleaned and wrapped it for now. The fractures (from screws being ripped out violently) will heal on their own (just painful). Cervical collar helps keep her stable- although she has too much movement for being only 34 days post op! We still have a few small neuralgic concerns (like she couldn't walk when we got home- hospital dint even check), I am hopping and assuming it is just her equilibrium that is off as she seems to be improving.... and then there is the concern for infections. PRAISE God for his protection, as we know how much worse this could have ended up. S0....We fly back to Philadelphia this weekend and hope to have more answers on Monday. Thanks for your continue prayer.