Alin's Site

Operating Room Sign & Doorway

I have changed the countdown clock to 9:30 AM tomorrow! As that’s the time I am scheduled to be wheeled into the O.R, I will be arriving at the hospital to go to POCU (Pre-Operative care unit) The operation is going to be a serious operation, much more involved than my G-Tube insertion. Please note that I am unlikely to be online tomorrow. Please send E-Mails / Prayers as we need it. Updates will be given by my mother in the event I land in PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit)

Clock removed from blog post’s due to inaccuracy for some reason. The clock on the front page is accurate!

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Canceled yet again, this time due to technical problems!

THE PODCAST WILL NOT BE RESCHEDULED TO NEXT WEEK. IT WILL BE RESCHEDULED WHEN I GET OUT OF THE HOSPITAL. NO ONE KNOWS WHEN. THEREFORE NO SCHEDULING WILL TAKE PLACE!

Hosted by: Alin S
Title: EPISODE13 – Disabilities – Sensory Integration Disorder / Surgery Announce
Time: 08/22/2008 09:00 PM EDT
Episode Notes: This is a REALLY special episode, or should I say series! We will be starting a three week series on sensory integration disorder, we will mostly focus on methods of coping with it as it has already been described in Episode 1 however I will reiterate the description in short. The beginning is reserved for announcement of my surgery!

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Sorry I was so tight on announcing the episode.

Hosted by: Alin S
Title: EPISODE13 – Disabilities – Sensory Integration Disorder / Surgery Announce
Time: 08/22/2008 09:00 PM EDT
Episode Notes: This is a REALLY special episode, or should I say series! We will be starting a three week series on sensory integration disorder, we will mostly focus on methods of coping with it as it has already been described in Episode 1 however I will reiterate the description in short. The beginning is reserved for announcement of my surgery!

Website Repairs Image

The Powerchair page has been removed due to the fact that I just can’t figure out what the heck to put there! It will come back when I figure out what the heck to put on that page. Functionality of the rest of the website is not affected by this.

It’s time for another surgery! Including this surgery I will have had two surgeries in this same year. My total days inpatient in the hospital along with doctor visits is already well over 50 days. This surgery is for a Baclofen Pump which is a specialized pump that will be implanted right above my hip bone, this pump will be connected to my spinal cord and deliver muscle relaxant directly to my spinal cord. The Baclofen pump pre-test went great, that is why we are going ahead with the surgery. The surgery is scheduled to start at 7:00 AM on Tuesday August 26’th. A countdown clock is now on the front page and here! Daily / Live updates will begin on Monday night August 25th!

Clock removed from blog post’s due to inaccuracy for some reason. The clock on the front page is accurate!

My van with the converter

You are looking at a picture dad took from the position in which he or my mom boards the van to pilot it. The little box on the side of the seat with an electrical cord coming out of it is a converter, it is hooked directly to the battery of my van which gives 400 watts of usable power. I will use this for charging my laptop on drives, and whatever else I want to plug in. Check out the attached photo gallery.

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I was nervous last night and did not sleep well partially because of that and my discomfort. This morning around 11:00 AM the physical therapist came in and did a spasticity evaluation. After that at 1:30 PM they took me to interventional radiology where they would do the spinal tap and baclofen injection into my intrathecal cavity. I was quite nervous down there but I think my neurosurgeon saw my blog post about my new Neoprene shirt and let me hug him a lot with his heavy warm PVC lead apron on him. After the spinal fluid withdrawl and baclofen I was still a bit nervous and he gave me more hugs and I had totally forgotten that I had just had a spinal tap and injection. Talk about a great neurosurgeon! We are released as of right now and are packing up to head home.

Techno-Aide OrthoGuard PVC Lead Apron, I want one!

Queue for christmas or next year’s birthday… PVC lead apron, or a few of them, hehe.

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Hosted by: Alin S
Title: EPISODE13 – Disabilities – Sensory Integration Disorder
Time: 08/15/2008 09:00 PM EDT
Episode Notes: This is a REALLY special episode, or should I say series! We will be starting a three week series on sensory integration disorder, we will mostly focus on methods of coping with it as it has already been described in Episode 1 however I will reiterate the description in short. Last 5 minutes may be used for news about me.

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I am headed back into the hospital again! Things on the website will be updated daily with status. I am going in for my Baclofen pump pre-test. If this goes well I will get the pump put in me in a few weeks. Mind you all I will think it over very stringently since I know its going to be a hard thing in my hip that could impact seating and positioning. We will see how well the Baclofen works for me intrathecally and see if its worth the pain of getting the pump put in. I will probably be in for 3 days.

Vmax Encore 22 Pulmonary Function Analyzer

Yesterday we went to the hospital for my Pulmonary Function Tests. I completed all of my tests with a woman named Kristine who ran the machine. The machine I was on looked a lot like the machine above, the difference was our’s was more boxier and the arm with the patient circuit was on the left of the machine instead of the right of the machine. we do not have a function percentage however after they gave me bronchodialators through a nebulizer there were significant increases in lung function (over 15%). I can probably say my doctor will put me on a bronchodialator. I will have more news when the results come back.