Orlena's Progress: 30 July 2013

Our dear little Orlena has been going through a difficult time lately. We had left Perth thinking her skull replacement operation had gone well, only to find a few weeks later that a cyst had developed on her brain, as a complication. Back into Princess Margaret Hospital for a cyst draining to be done, only to find she had a respiratory infection, so an isolation room was organised for a few days till she was well enough for surgery.

Then one night just after her Mum had left the room, Orlena apparently shuffled herself down to the end of her bed with railings, and then tumbled out of bed onto the floor through a gap at the end! Oh heck! Her cyst partly burst and there was blood on the floor.

A big incident report was done by PMH after this, and we were told that if Orlena hadn't had a shunt in her brain, the burst cyst would have been lethal. Fortunately little Ollie didn't break any bones or do any more harm to herself, apart from being very upset. As were her distraught parents. I felt like crying myself every time I thought of her falling to the floor too!

The good thing is that yesterday Orlena went back into surgery to have the cyst (Almost as big as a tennis ball) properly dealt with, and her skull re-stitched. This went well, I've been told. This was a big nerve-wracking operation, and was only done after neurosurgeons had organised an MRI, to give a proper "map" of how to do the op.

Orlena has had a big year, since August last year when she had her terrible head injury fall, she has now had 5 operations to deal with this. (Includes 2 shunt operations to drain fluid on the brain.) She has a very calm and stoic personality and this is helping her deal with it. It is very hard for all her family to see her having to cope though, and we are so grateful to all the staff at PMH who are doing their best to help her get better.

Friday 2 August 2013

Orlena has still got problems, with swelling around the head where stiches are, and she has been very lethargic and sleepy, making us all worry if there has been further brain damage. But we were reassured the drowsiness is a result of all the drugs the little love has had lately. She has been in a lot of pain.

So today a needle aspiration was done on some swelling and removed 150mL of fluid. The shunt will drain away the rest, and Orlena is now wearing a compression bandage to help reduce the swelling.

Steph, Ollie's Mum was on a Telethon fundraiser radio show 92.9FM today, talking about Orlena at PMH. They put a lovely photo of our little brave darling on their website Facebook. She looks like she is in pain with a sad little face. I am in Broome at the moment, and my invisible string from my heart to hers is quivering.

P.S: The photo shows Orlena in her little wheelchair, that her Mum has blinged up with lots of pretty little pink sequins. She looks like a sad little angel.

Anxious Nanna