Gayle's surgery Monday Oct 11th

[leahdragonfly]

Hi all,

My husband and I head to Portland tomorrow afternoon, and I go into OHSU Monday AM at 5:30 for my surgery: posterior fusion T9 or T10-sacrum with pelvic fixation, with TLIF/foraminotomy at L4 at least. Dr Bob Hart is my surgeon.

I feel ready but I'm still pretty nervous...I alternate between feeling calm and feeling like it really isn't happening. I am ready to get through surgery and on to recovery.

Cara will be posting updates here for me until I can post myself--thanks Cara. Surgery is expected to last 8 hours, so there may not be any news until Monday late afternoon or early in the evening.

Thanks to all who sent me well wishes and prayers.

p.s. thinking of Heidiv on Monday also. Please let us know how you are doing Heidi.

[jrnyc]

hi Gayle
thoughts and prayers go with you on your journey...for an uncomplicated surgical procedure, and a sooth recovery...
will be waiting to hear from you when you are up to posting...

well wishes...
jess

[JenniferG]

Best wishes for the best possible outcome and a smooth recovery, Gayle. We'll be looking out for updates and thinking of you.

[hdugger]

Best wishes, Gayle. We're local, so if you or your husband need anything just send a message.

[Pooka1]

Gayle,

Good luck and speedy recovery. You are ready and can do this.

Best Regards,
Sharon

[mariaf]

Gayle,

I know you'll do great. I've been thinking of you a lot. You will soon be on the 'other side' and hopefully on the road to a smooth and uneventful recovery before you know it.

Big Hugs,

[titaniumed]

Best wishes Gayle. You will do just fine.
Ed

[JenniferG]

Thinking of you Gayle. I hope you've found that feeling of calm to get you through the next 24 hours.

[mgs]

Adding my well wishes and prayers, and looking forward to your post from the other side! :)

[Susie*Bee]

Same here Gayle. Prayers for a successful surgery -- and healing thoughts too --- and may you have a relatively quick recovery. Hugs, Susie

[kennedy]

good luck tommrrow gayle

[jillw]

Good Luck Gayle!!!!!!!!

[mbeckoff]

Hope all is going well today

You are in my prayers

[nate03]

Hi,
I am happy to be able to report that Gayle's surgery went very well yesterday!

Her surgery started at 10:30 AM but they had her asleep by 8:40 AM. They finished up around 6 PM. Gayle did well, all the goals of her surgery were met. She will not need a second surgery luckily as they were able to fuse everything from the posterior yesterday. They were able to get her off the vent before taking her to the ICU. Gayle had hoped they would be able to do that, she really didn't want to wake up on the vent. She was very looped on all the drugs but was able to see her husband last night. She is extremely glad that this is all over and the recovery part has begun.

I will keep you all posted when I hear more.
Hoping she has a smooth day today!!

-Cara

[Pooka1]

That WONDERFUL!

I am so very happy for Gayle and her family.

Thank you for posting, Cara.

[loves to skate]

Gayle,
Glad to hear your surgery went well. Here's to a complete and rapid pain free recovery.
Sally

[twinsmom]

No vent how wonderful! I am amazed at the length. of surgery! Hope all continues to do well! Mary

[jrnyc]

what wonderful news!
may you have a smooth, uneventful recovery!

jess

[debbei]

Great news Gayle!!

[JenniferG]

The news couldn't be better!

Thanks for updating us Cara.

[mariaf]

Great news!!! So glad that a second surgery won't be necessary!!

[Doodles]

Gayle--
Wonderful news! May the healing begin!! Janet

[mbeckoff]

What wonderful news!

Melissa

[golfnut]

Cara,
Thanks for posting. I'm so glad to hear Gayle's surgery went well. I'm hoping she has a smooth recovery.

[Confusedmom]

Gayle,

So glad to hear it! Post when you feel up to it; we'll be thinking of you!

Evelyn

[nate03]

Hi,
I thought I would share an update to let you know that Gayle is coming along overall pretty well in her recovery. She was moved out of ICU and it sounds like her recovery itself is free of any major complications. Unfortunately she has been dealing with a significant amount of pain, and several less than compassionate nurses :mad:

Her hematocrit levels were low today so the doctor ordered two units of blood which hopefully that will help her feel better soon. She did stand up yesterday,and hopefully today she might be able to walk a little.

I know she will greatly appreciate all of the well wishes and thoughts and prayers being sent her way!

-Cara

[JenniferG]

Thanks so much Cara!

The 2 units of blood should pick her up a lot. I also had 2 units on about the second or third day and it worked a treat.

I hope they manage to get the pain under control quickly. It's so miserable until they get the meds worked out. But no major complications is excellent news and what we all want to hear. Tell her it gets better and never let her forget that fact.

Thanks for caring enough to let us know.

[nate03]

That is great advice Jennifer, I will give her that message!
-Cara

[mbeckoff]

Hope she gets the pain under control soon

SHe is in my prayers

Melissa

[jillw]

I'm so glad that's over with...and no second surgery! Yay!

Gayle, hang in there. I hope they are able to quickly find a way to manage your pain and once your recovery is over I hope you are amazed and joyful because you are leading a pain free life.

[SusanS]

Hi Gayle (or Cara),

Hope you are recovering well and feeling much better now. I've been following your posts because I am scheduled to have surgery with Dr. Hart this January-- my curves are 70 and 79 degrees, and I am really hoping I will be able to get away with posterior fusion only-- and be as lucky as you were!

You haven't posted in a few days and I hope all is well. Let us know how you are doing, okay?

Susan

[Back-out]

Gayle,

Many congratulations and all the very best wishes on a smooth recovery WAY over to the other side of that once so distant shore.

I have been marooned on a different shore - that of non-functional computerdom, from whence I'm just beginning to emerge after a kind family friend just reformatted my computer.

Meanwhile I lost track of many such surgical and other milestones. But now that I'm back (more or less), I want to catch up with all the well wishes to which our adventurers are entitled.

Bon voyage Gayle, and RAH RAH YOU! Fare thee well, Scoli sister. :)

[hdugger]

Greeting to Susan from another Oregonian. My 22 year old son is still mulling surgery (his curves are largish but stable and non-painful) and Dr. Hart is our doctor as well.

Best wishes to Gayle!

[nate03]

Hi-
Just to let you know, Gayle is continuing to move forward in her post-op recovery. She has been dealing with lots of nausea & vomiting, which has made pain relief very difficult at times, but I really think she has turned the corner. She is starting to get some strength back, and I would guess she will be posting here herself fairly soon.

-Cara

[Vali]

Sorry i missed you going into surgery, but so very glad to read that your surgery went well. All the very best of a smooth and uncomplicated recovery.
Best wishes.:)

[SusanS]

Cara, thanks for the post. That is good news-- but sorry to hear she is feeling sick, hopefully that will clear up soon.

Greetings to you as well, hdugger!

Susan

[leahdragonfly]

Hi all,

Sorry for such a delay in posting, I am doing well and my days seem to pass without much computer time. Here is the most recent update I posted on my care page two days ago:

Two weeks have passed since surgery, and yesterday Tim and I went to Portland for my first post-op appt. I was worried about being carsick but a little Antivert prevented that, thankfully. I couldn't bear the thought of more throwing up! The car ride was uncomfortable but it was nice to be out of the house and see some new scenery.
My appointment went well. The PA was amazed at how good I looked, her words were "most people look like death at two weeks" after a surgery of this type. She and the surgeon are very pleased with my progress and with my x-rays. The surgeon had told Tim the night after surgery that I had the most flexible spine he had ever seen, and that it was extremely unstable in some areas. All the areas of instability were fixed, the spinal stenosis was decompressed, and as a bonus, they were able to get an amazing correction of the scoliosis curves. He fused T8-sacrum with fixation to the pelvis (large screw from the sacrum into the ilium). The lumbar curve was 47+ pre-op, and now it is 5 degrees (straight!). The thoracic curve (30 degrees pre-op, moderate) was mostly untouched but by straightening and aligning the lower spine, the thoracic straightened out to 11 degrees. It appears very nearly straight visually. Quite a difference from how it looked before surgery. Now my muscles have a lot of adjusting to do to their new position.
All the staples were removed, and I was cleared to return to the pool for water walking to start in 10 days. Until then I can walk as much as I want. I am also able to do a bit of very light housework (never thought I'd be happy about that) as long as I pace myself through the day. Of course no bending, twisting or lifting more than 10 pounds for at least 3 months. I anticipate definitely being ready to return to work around the 12 week mark.
Tim is doing a great job taking care of all of us and keeping us all fed. I am hoping I have enough stamina to go out trick or treating for a little while with the kids this Sunday...not sure yet.

[SusanS]

I am SO happy for you! It sounds like you are doing so well, it is inspiring for those of us who haven't yet taken the plunge. I too will be having surgery with Dr. Hart and am so excited at the prospect of not having to do anterior fusion and being able to return to normal functions as soon as possible. I wish you a speedy recovery with much more comfort each day. I talked to a friend whose friend just had this surgery and she said it's like she has a new back. I hope you feel the same. Thanks for posting, and know that lots of good thoughts are with you!

[hdugger]

Wow, that's an amazing correction!

I'm so glad to hear that all went well, and best wishes on your continued recovery.

[Pooka1]

Gayle that is such great news! Fabulous correction!

Onward and upward. :)

[leahdragonfly]

SusanS,

I know you will be in very good hands with Dr Hart. I really, really like him, and he is a very kind surgeon. He was very good to me in the hospital, and he definitely did a great job on my back. His PA, Kara, handles most of the post-op care and calls, and she is a jewel. I had to call a number of times with all my throwing-up problems (plus thrush since the nurses never helped me do any oral care despite a lot of vomiting). Kara was always kind and patient. You will like her I'm sure.

Good luck as you progress towards your date. The months and weeks before are extremely nerve-wracking. If I may suggest anything, I would suggest having a family member or friend with you at the hospital as much as possible. I did find the nursing care at OHSU to be quite disappointing. A few nurses and CNA's were great, some were not, and a couple were downright awful. Having someone there with you will help quite a bit.

[jrnyc]

super...wishing her the most uneventful and smooth recovery ever!

jess

[JenniferG]

Lovely to read your update and know you're doing so well, Gayle. Keep up the good work.

Jen

[SusanS]

Gayle,

I wrote an earlier reply but everything disappeared when I hit submit, so l'll try again! Anyway, if another surfaces that sounds vaguely similar, you'll know what happened.

Thanks so much for such an encouraging and thoughtful reply. I am so glad that you are doing well enough to do all the things you are already doing, and I hope you get to go out with the kids on Halloween. I can't really imagine what it must have been like to go through all this but your thoughts seem pretty lucid and coming from a serene place, so that's good!

I also really liked Dr. Hart, and his scheduler is great too. I'm very reassured by that. I'm still terribly nervous, as you mentioned, and I've been feeling nauseous for a while now over it. I hope you're not feeling sick anymore. I guess the "good" thing for me if you want to call it that is my pain levels are up so that is keeping me pretty motivated. I had to laugh to myself as I was commenting on your lucid serenity, because right now I'm sort of in a fog most of the time and I cry so easily!

I don't live in Portland but I will have family there with me some but probably not all the time, so I'll have to take my chances on the nurses. Maybe I'll bring one of those little air horns with me, or a little starter's pistol, some little thing to call attention in case the buzzer doesn't seem to be working. :D I'm guessing drawing in a lungful of air to yell will be something I'll have to build up to.

Speaking of that, how IS breathing? Is it harder to draw in a big lungful of air? So many changes that must happen-- do you feel much different? i am looking forward to being straighter and taller. Do you love your new posture yet?

Heal fast and well, Gayle, you're in my thoughts. Thanks for letting us know how it's going!

Susan