Surgery Next Week!

[Doreen1]

Yes, Kevin, you are accumulating lots of "brownie points" as Jennifer said. My husband was the self proclaimed "Husband of the Year", so when I was six months post-op we had a party and I presented him with a plaque.

I love that idea!

[Confusedmom]

Suzanne is exactly 2 weeks behind me in St Louis, though I think she had Bridwell(?) and I had Lenke. Please tell her sitting is the bane of my existence, as well! Kelly told me she wants me to sit up an hour at a time. I'm having trouble with 10 min!

Also, OT never showed me how to get in and out of the car. Any tips there? I have just been trying to sit sideways, then sort of swing my legs and shoulders in at the same time. I fear I am twisting unintentionally all the time (especially in my sleep), but what can you do? I'm trying to stay straight! Anyway, tell her to post when she can. I would love to share experiences.

Thanks,
Evelyn

[golfnut]

Evelyn,
I got a "Fusion Booklet" from Dr. Lenke's office that had directions and pictures on how to get in and out of the car. I'll send you an email.

Doreen,
John was totally surprised and had tears. I also gave him a chef's apron (since he grills almost every night) with his name, "Husband of the Year" and 2011. I warned him (joking) that since there were six months left in the year that the awards could be taken away at any time.

Suzanne,
I had trouble sitting for very long periods at first. The good news about it was that I was ready to take lots of walks instead. Even at a year, I had a tender tailbone after sitting for 30 minutes or more on our couch. I thought it would be forever, but it doesn't bother me at all any more. Standing for long periods of time was an issue before surgery and I think I could stand for as long as I would need to now.

[TwinmomTN]

All this talk about difficulty with sitting for long periods, even at a year, makes me wonder how those cope
with returning to all day desk jobs even at 6-9 months??? And I will be one of them. Yikes!

[golfnut]

I need to clarify that I wasn't having any trouble sitting at a year, but that my tailbone was just slightly tender. It was not any type of pain that would have kept me from sitting if I had a desk job.

[JenniferG]

Yes, Kevin, you are accumulating lots of "brownie points" as Jennifer said. My husband was the self proclaimed "Husband of the Year", so when I was six months post-op we had a party and I presented him with a plaque.

Love that idea! Wish I'd thought to do it.

[Doreen1]

Monday's Update

Hi Again Folks,

Just a quick evening update to say that Suzanne was discharged from the hospital earlier today.

Once at the hotel, we moved in and promptly went for a short walk. Suzanne is determined to put some serious miles on her new walker. I'm not too proud to say that I then washed Suzanne's hair (first real hair wash in a week) and I'm not sure I've ever provided her with as much joy. After a soup and salad dinner brought in from Panera bread, we are now watching Kentucky roll in the Nat'l Champ hoops game.

We have the pill schedule down but are working through best seating arrangements in the room. Suzanne is already missing the adjustable bed but we'll figure things out.

As I can hardly keep my eyes open after the week that was, I'll sign off now. This will probably be my lasy entry and I expect Suzanne will take over for her own update starting tomorrow. Without formal physical therapy and vital signs being taken every hour, she'll need something to do. Again, Suzanne and I appreciate all of your positive feedback and words of support. We will continue to work together to make her stronger and healthier than she was before this long week began and are confident that she's well on her way.

[mabeckoff]

I don't know how long you are going to be in the hotel room but you can get a hospital bed delivered from a medical supply store.

Glad that you are feeling so good

[JenniferG]

Great news, including the pleasure you gave Suzanne with her hair-wash! You've come a long way in that week. I've enjoyed your commentary and wish you both well in the coming weeks at home.

[BetsyK]

Congratulations!

Sounds like you made it over the first big hurdle with flying colors! (Both of you!) Keep up the good work, and keep us posted. I'm 2 weeks away......

[twistedRN]

Rash

Hi everyone! Sorry, a bit loopy currently but am now concerned about a red spotty rash all over my back! Looks like chicken pox, is very itchy. Am very concerned about hardware or bmp allergy! They wante to take Benadryl twice and then come in tomorrow @ 730. Anybody have anything similar??

[Confusedmom]

Is it ONLY on your back? Some of the meds can cause all over itchiness. Also, I am allergic to steri strips, and they cause small red itchy bumps for me. (I guess it's the adhesive in the strips.) I really hope it's nothing serious. I will pray for you!

Best,
Evelyn

[Marina63]

Rash

They thought my rash might be shingles at first which scared me to death. But it ended being some inexplicable rash. Took a long time to go away. Fortunately, it never itched or burned.

[twistedRN]

Hi Everyone!
OK...so the rash: It really looks like I have chicken pox all over my back. Anyway, I emailed the nurse a pic of it (don't you just love technology) and she wanted me to come in this morning and have Dr B take a look at it. So we made some med adjustments - hard to travel when you are at a "trough" on the med regimen- and we were at his office at 7:30 this morning. He wanted x-rays and the whole kit and caboodle.

Anyway, long story short, he feels this is a contact dermatitis of some type, and likely one from hotel sheets. I didn't get the rash until the day we got to the hotel, although it was a bit itchy and uncomfortable back there prior to that.....so anyway, we are adding Benadryl to the pill cocktail I am taking and hopefully it will resolve He says that these things take time to resolve and it may fluctuate better/worse before it completely goes away. He did not seem at all concerned about a hardware or BMP allergy at all, which was a relief. He feels the best thing for me now is to get home to familiar detergents, soaps etc, soo.....he cut me loose! He canceled the Monday appt we have an we are about to hit the road home. I came back to the hotel and took a long nap after breakfast and Kevin spent a couple of hours packing up around me. He is currently packing the car. We will try to drive as far as Nashville today and stay at the same hotel we did on our way up here. It is about a 4.5 hr drive, so hopefully all will go as planned and we will be there late afternoon.

OH! BTW, my height measured 5'9.5" today - a full inch taller than last week! My x-rays look very bizarre, kind of hard to believe that is me. I will try to post them (before/after) sometime in the future, but the pics are on Kevin's phone and I need to get them to my computer first. I definitely look straighter, although not completely straight, which is what he had predicted.

Better run and supervise the pack-up! A beautiful blue clear sunny day here in SL, but anxious to be home!

[Doodles]

Twisted--
You must be so excited to go home. Keep the meds close and be sure to stop every hour or so and walk around. Hope the trip goes OK and your rash is resolved soon. You'll be ready for a very long nap when you get home. Janet