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Hi all….first, my apologies for not being as on top of updating you all on my surgeries as others have been, but it’s not been for lack of respect for all the love and information I’ve had from you all. Mostly, it’s been just plain exhaustion on my part, plus my attention span has dwindled to that of a three year old.
In a nutshell, here’s how the surgeries went: The first surgery was on the 16th and they went through my left side to access and remove 4 bad discs in the lumbar area. After they removed them, they were replaced with cage-like thingies (PEEK implants) that were filled with bone and other material that will promote bone growth. What they did there opened up my spine to normal heights, and relieved all the nerves that were being compressed. They sewed me up and I have about a 6" set of stitches that will dissolve on their own. This approach is known as an XLIF and while there are some spine specialists that do it, my doctor is truly one of the best and most experienced at it.
That following Friday they attempted the second surgery, however, something happened that caused my heart rate to to increase......like, off-the-charts-increase. They quickly stopped the procedure and woke me up which is a story in and of itself that I’ll tell you later.
Because of the complication, I had to go to the ICU and stay there for several days. I found the nurses are nicer in the ICU - one of them made these cute little cut-outs for my back brace. They were cut outs of hands (she traced her own hands onto orange paper) and we placed them over my boobs and lower lumbar area, so whenever I had to get up and walk around the unit it made for quite the show. Things get pretty serious in the ICU so I was the comic relief. Plus they had me on a very strong morphine drip and I found out I can and will say anything under the influence of morphine.
The following Monday (the 23rd) they re-attempted the the posterior surgery. It went fine and they were able to put all the screws and rods in that straightened out my back (T10 thru L5). I don't have numbers confirmed yet but I'm pretty sure I'm 2 inches taller!
I went home on July 1st. Most of the hospital stay was a bit of a blur (thanks to Mr. Morphine). I can't do anything other than sleep alot, or watch TV and I have no attention span at all. In fact, it's taken me about an hour to write this and I need to quit and go lay down.
As the day wears on, I’ll fill in more details, but for now I just wanted to let you all know I was okay, even after a 16 day hospital stay.
Many of my earlier fears about surgery ended up being totally silly, others were right on (like the NURSES, haha). Like I said, more later. I need to go lay down for awhile.
Thanks to you all for the prayers and good vibes, they were all answered!
In a nutshell, here’s how the surgeries went: The first surgery was on the 16th and they went through my left side to access and remove 4 bad discs in the lumbar area. After they removed them, they were replaced with cage-like thingies (PEEK implants) that were filled with bone and other material that will promote bone growth. What they did there opened up my spine to normal heights, and relieved all the nerves that were being compressed. They sewed me up and I have about a 6" set of stitches that will dissolve on their own. This approach is known as an XLIF and while there are some spine specialists that do it, my doctor is truly one of the best and most experienced at it.
That following Friday they attempted the second surgery, however, something happened that caused my heart rate to to increase......like, off-the-charts-increase. They quickly stopped the procedure and woke me up which is a story in and of itself that I’ll tell you later.
Because of the complication, I had to go to the ICU and stay there for several days. I found the nurses are nicer in the ICU - one of them made these cute little cut-outs for my back brace. They were cut outs of hands (she traced her own hands onto orange paper) and we placed them over my boobs and lower lumbar area, so whenever I had to get up and walk around the unit it made for quite the show. Things get pretty serious in the ICU so I was the comic relief. Plus they had me on a very strong morphine drip and I found out I can and will say anything under the influence of morphine.
The following Monday (the 23rd) they re-attempted the the posterior surgery. It went fine and they were able to put all the screws and rods in that straightened out my back (T10 thru L5). I don't have numbers confirmed yet but I'm pretty sure I'm 2 inches taller!
I went home on July 1st. Most of the hospital stay was a bit of a blur (thanks to Mr. Morphine). I can't do anything other than sleep alot, or watch TV and I have no attention span at all. In fact, it's taken me about an hour to write this and I need to quit and go lay down.
As the day wears on, I’ll fill in more details, but for now I just wanted to let you all know I was okay, even after a 16 day hospital stay.
Many of my earlier fears about surgery ended up being totally silly, others were right on (like the NURSES, haha). Like I said, more later. I need to go lay down for awhile.
Thanks to you all for the prayers and good vibes, they were all answered!
I am SOOO happy to see you post your self! Great job Susan. It is quite funny in hind site at all the things we worried ourselves to death about and then it turns out to have been such a non-issue. Now you too can help ease the worries of the newbies and set their minds at ease. Welcome back, you have been missed. Give a big thanks to Matt for keeping us up to date. Talk to you soon. Best wishes.
Believe me, you will perk up soon enough. Right now your body is screaming for sleep (the natural healer) -- not to mention the fact that the pain meds are wreaking havoc on your mental capabilities as well. So those of us who've been through it understand completely that you need your rest-- and that you're not working at the top level of your thinking processes. We will wait as long as necessary for the next installment of your surgery sojourn...
Susie
Looking forward to the next installment of your story.... (((hugs))) JoAnn
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