Surgery with Dr. Lenke

[Marina63]

Sleep

Doreen, you are doing so well!!! I had that 50 lb backpack feeling for weeks after surgery! It has been slowly getting better since I started PT.

My sleep problems started about two months post surgery. I wake up four times a night every night. My dr said it was normal post surgery and to try to get 15-20 minutes of sunlight every day. Without sunglasses. With my job and schedule I can't do that every day but when I can, I notice I don't get up as often during the night. Just a thought.

Ed is right about sleeping like a cat. Get sleep when you can ^.^

[Doreen1]

It's been a while since I've posted, been sleeping a couple little naps during the day and completely struggling with sleeplessness at night. The oxy drugs are messing with my dreams. I've been waking up 4+ times per night and it's exhausting. I'm done with the the oxycotin, went to sleep about 9:30p, woke up at 4a, then back to sleep about til 7a. I felt so good that I finally had the strenghth to take a shower by myself. Jeremy and I went out to breakfast and everything was fine until a piece of egg went down the wrong way and I couldn't breathe and had a coughing fit. Talk about pain. Jeremy was in position for the Heimlich but didn't want to do anything to hurt my back. Thank God that little piece of egg came up. Not exactly the way I thought our breakfast date would start out.

My mom suddenly has a back issue that started her third day here and is so bad they need to leave early to go back home in FL. She went to a doc here in ATL who said she has a compressed disk and needs therapy and took xrays. Mom doesn't want to do anything until she sees her family doc. I feel so bad that she is in so much pain. Jeremy, my dad and Lizzie are all trying to help us. Today was my first day out of the house and not to see any doctor. It felt good.

I'm settled in for a nap. My brother and sis-in-law are coming tomorrow for a visit. She is a nurse and I asked her if she will remove the remaining steri strips. Doc said any reamining at this point can be removed. I'm really bummed about my mom being in pain.

Warmly,
Doreen

[nanlo]

Hi Doreen,
So sorry to hear about your mom's back. She must be especially frustrated because I'm sure she wants to HELP you out! I hope your sleep situation gets better. In the next couple of weeks, maybe you'll be able to ween off the drugs to a degree that you'll be able to sleep.
It's a process........
And what a tale about choking at the restaurant! Oh my gosh, and Jeremy not being able to slap you on the back or squeeze you to keep you from choking! Holy cow!
Hang in there, okay? We are pulling for you.
Hugs,
Nancy

[golfnut]

Hi, Doreen,
I'm sorry to hear about your mom's back pain. What an ordeal you had at your first outing! Who would think about choking on eggs? Poor Jeremy. I had many sleepless nights until I got off of the pain meds. It almost made me dread going to bed, because I was so frustrated with not being able to sleep. Soon, it will just be a bad memory. Don't give up on going out to eat. The positive comments that I got (and I'm still getting) from people that I see when I'm out and about really make me proud that I had the nerve to have this surgery. You are doing so well!. Remember, this is the toughest part of the recovery (other than the pre-op stressful time).

[Doreen1]

Making Slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Progress

Since I'm off Oxycodone, I'm able to sleep the past few days only waking up once in the middle of the night. It's so relieving to have some solid sleep. My bowel movements are improving from having HORRIBLE gas pain to minimal pain. I'm getting regular, going almost every day, but I have some days where I have to go but simply cannot push it out. Sorry to be so graphic, but I'm just being honest.

We had a lovely pre-Christmas lunch yesterday. My brother and his wife joined us. My sis-in-law is a nurse and she removed the remaining steri strips. She said she had never seen such a clean incision with tiny scabs and minimal bruising. My back is so numb I coudldn't even feel the wet, warm rag on my back as she carefully removed the strips. SO RELIEVED they are gone.

I wasn't able to finished holiday shopping this year; shall I say, barely started it.

I had a bit of a mini emotional meltdown the other day when I suddenly became overwhelmed of everything that has transpired over the past few weeks. Because my surgery date was moved up so fast, I didn't have time to think about anything other then coordinating my family and the logistics of getting to St. Louis within 6 days. Jeremy walked into the room where I was to find me crying and was scared I was in pain. I told him everything was fine, that everything suddently just hit me that one day. Ma & Pa walked in and I was crying again which made them cry so we were all just having a pity party. The good thing is, it is out of my system and I feel better.

I'm eating a little bit more every day, but nothing compared to what I normally ate. The 10 pounds I gained pre-op because of Dr. Lenke's directions and with a little help from Forteo, I've lost 5 pounds of that.

Not sure if I mentioned it, but when I came home, my daughter and folks surprised me by having decorated the house with the Christmas tree. It was a beautiful home coming.

Jeremy comes home from Chicago tomorrow and then Ma and Pa leave Wed for home. I need to reach out to my church family and schedule meals to be delivered. Cleaning lady comes tomorrow - YEAH!

Warmly,
Doreen

[djkinkead]

Hey Doreen,

Glad to hear you are off the Oxycodone. That stuff has so many nasty side-effects....I was much more happy using the Vicodin.

Welcome to the mood-swing club. I can remember a few tearful moments--it just overwhelms you what you go through. It does get better.

Glad you are home safe and sound and surrounded by friends and family at Christmas. Glad to see you are lining up people to help so you can get rest. Rest=healing.

I am almost at four months post surgery and am rarely using any pain medicine now. Maybe now I can have my occasional glass of wine. :-)
Best wishes!

Dollie

[Doreen1]

One Day at a Time

I'm just beyond the 3 week mark being post-op. I've had some crappy days, some so-so days and 2 fairly good days. I've got a pretty good schedule for maximizing evening sleep while only waking up a couple of times during the night, mainly to go to the bathroom and sometimes from pain. I've noticed since weaned off the one oxy med, every afternoon I have a bit more pain. Since post-op the front of both sides of my ribs feel as if I've been beaten with a baseball bat.

Something I noticed last week is that I no longer have the stabbing pain at the lower right rib area. It is completely gone and it started several months ago. What's nice now, is that I can hug my big pillow and lay on my side when sleeping. The nurses kept asking me in the hospital if I wanted a pillow to hug while on my side. It's funny how many more pillows are in my bed now, barely enough room for Jeremy! :-)

I'm usually in bed by 7:30p for the night, watch a bit of tv, then asleep by about 9p. Seem to wake up about 3a doze off till about 5a and then up around 7:30a. I usually take a 1.5 - 2 hour nap during the day. I'm looking forward to the day that I feel normal.

Off to nap.

Warmly,
Doreen

[JenniferG]

I've just realised you're not even a month out yet! Reading your posts, you sound about 2 months out. You're doing so well! It's still very early days and progress isn't always obvious. But to me, you sound like you've come a long way.

In my post op period, I had the bed to myself and I didn't worry about taking up more than my share with pillows and waking my partner. I slept like a log. So did he, at the other end of the house. Wish I slept that well now!

Now you're off the Oxy, some of the pain that was being hidden will come to the fore again, but only for a short time, but there are plenty of benefits from being off it as well. I believe it's a huge step towards "feeling normal."

[mabeckoff]

Glad to hear that you are doing so well

[Kayde]

You are really doing well. The rib pain like u got run over by a locomotive was the worst for me. There are patches including some very light pain patches with no appetite or bowel function issues- including no horrible dreams or hallucinations that really help you get past that. The rib pain caused me to lose some traction with my activities. Didn't know ribs and stomach area could hurt so bad. For me that lasted about three weeks. The past 4 days I have begun to feel "more normal" again like I was actually mentally alert and can move more normal and no naps during the day. I'm so happy for you and that your recovery is moving along as such a wonderful pace. The places that used to hurt that do t hurt anymore is a fantastic feeling. .

[Doreen1]

I talked with Lenke's nurse, Kelly, yesterday about weaning off the meds. While I hate being on narcotics, I hate pain even more. She said to go back up to x2 oxycotin per day which will run out on Monday. Take one Ambien at bedtime to help with sleep and to amp up the hydocodone/vicodin to up to x2 every 4 hours if needed for break through pain. I was only taking x1 hydrocodone per 6 hours. I started her suggestions and slept like a rock and only woke up at 5a because hubby's alarm went off. I have some other pain med, Florecet ?, for pain spasms, but since I forgot I had them, never took one, I don't want to start yet another med. Kelly told me that I would be shocked to know how many bones Dr. Lenke had to break in my spine which is causing this pain. I didn't ask for details. Jeremy told me he counted 34 or 36 screws from my last x-ray. That puts me at about 50 screws total including the 16 in my face. It will be interesting going through security when we fly for post-op visit in Feb.

I took a major nap yesterday after following my new med regimen and slept over 3 hours. I found a somewhat comfy position lying on my side on the couch after dinner so we watched Christmas Vacation; a silly tradition we have this time of year.

Ma & Pa arrived home safely last night and I eager to hear what Ma's doc has to say about her back.

Warmly,
Doreen

[Doreen1]

Preliminary Surgery Costs

Drum roll........ over $410k !!! WOWZA! That doesn't even include the $60k for the BMP.

[djkinkead]

Doreen,

When I saw how straight Dr. Lenke had gotten your spine, I was starting to wonder if I was an anomolie (sp?) because about four of my vertebrae were fused and my surgeon decided not to break them as there would be a risk involved and he believed in "doing no harm". So, it sounds like fused vertebrae might be common and it's up to the surgeon if they decide to break them apart.

I am sure there are varying levels of fused bones, too.

Anyway, you answered one of the questions I had. It's probably just as well they weren't broken--I am such a wuss when it comes to pain.

In the meantime, glad to hear you are doing better. I did okay using only the vicodin throughout the day and the valium for night (along with the vicodin). Later started lowering vicodin supplemented by tylenol.

[Doreen1]

Jeans?

When can I expect to wear jeans again?

Warmly
Doreen

[Doreen1]

Walker?

How many of you were given a walker postop and how long did you use it for?

Warmly
Doreen