Day 2 - Still in ICU

The surgical Resident came in this morning to examine Jessica.  He was hopeful that she would be moved to the ward today.  He explained that Jessica had lost a lot of blood during the surgery due to the specialized procedure of Spinal Osteotomy.  Jessica will be moved once her blood pressure returns to normal as it is still low at 74/48.

Spinal Osteotomy(Smith-Peterson Osteotomy):  An osteotomy refers the fracture in the bone intentionally caused by a surgeon in order to facilitate correction of spinal alignment. In cases of severe kyphosis, or spinal imbalance it may be necessary to break one of the bones in the spine thru an osteotomy to mobilize the spine and reestablish spinal balance.

Dr. Ouellet broke Jessica's spine between T11 / T12 and again between T12 / L1.  The "T" stands for Thoracic and the "L" stands for Lumbar.  See below...



The Thoracic consists of 12 vertebrae(T1-T12)  and the Lumbar consists of 5-6 vertebrae(L1-L5).

We'll keep you updated!