Good luck, Gardenia on your upcoming surgery on Nov. 27th!!!!

[loves to skate]

Gardenia,
Thinking of you and praying for a great outcome. God bless you. Sally

[Irina]

Good luck, Gardenia.

[djkinkead]

Saying prayers for you, Gardenia, perhaps as you are going through the surgery. God does look after us!

[JenniferG]

Following your blog which your daughter is updating. So far so good.

[HannahCP]

Gardenia recovery

Hi all,

If you haven't been following Gardenia's caringbridge site about her surgery, she was released a little short of two weeks. She experienced a dural tear in surgery and was confined to bedrest for 72 hrs.

Here's a link: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/gardeniA

Her pain has been bad, worse than before surgery. Though I'm not sure how much pain meds she is on.

Im sure she could use some words of encouragement from post-op patients that had bad pain after surgery.

[Doodles]

Gardenia--
Glad you came through OK. I'm sure it doesn't feel that way right now. I certainly had pain before--then I found out about real pain after surgery. I know what you are saying. It sometimes takes a while to find what works the best. For me it was morphine that finally eased things in those first few days. Don't cut back to early. Stay on what you need because you need to stay ahead of the pain those first few weeks or it's just too hard to heal. You have lots of healing to do! It will get better! Best of luck to you. Janet

[susancook]

Gardenia, loved to read the blog that you and your daughter wrote. I have a severe spinal stenosis at L4, so reading your daughter's description of the why of the dural tear made sense, and now isn't so scary for me. Hope that you are doing well now and on the mend. You need some sunny Baja weather to really make you feel well.
Hugs,
Susan

[gardenia]

Susan,
It is the purpose of this blog and of caringbridge.... if we the patients do not recount out personal experiences, that leaves the doctors giving you a bunch of 'might', 'will', etc that are not acceptable.

2 weeks +3 days = still on a regular Norcoe routine. I tried to cut down up and down but I will keep this untile my pain level is OK

I know and have read in this blog that many patients have been rapidly cut off of the codeine. Dr B's nurse and my niece who is a head pharmacist for 35 years at Lucille Packard's Hospital both assured me that one cannot get addicted if one has pain. It is only those cases that people seek codeine for pleasure.

I've been on Vicoden for years - 5mg of codeine and 500 mg of Tylenol. Norcoe is the same 5 / 375mg Tylenol.

Also, Ambien has to be taken. When I could not sleep and stayed away until 4 4:30am it was a bummer. The next day I was tired, depressed, no energy. One night of ambien and my head totally cleared, next day I was functioning as a real person.

I had to fight Dr B for letting me do this and I won. I've been on Ambien 8-10 years. I know sometimes I get up do things that I can't remember. Mostly safe stuff like painting a cabinet with acrylic paint or getting on the computer to write emails. Last night my husband was so tired he gave me a whole 10mg. a Mistake!!!!

My GP agreed that giving me a 10mg was cheaper to break 1/2. Depending on my day which I know well, I have been taking 1/2 to 1/3. He was very good at trusting me to manage my drugs.

I am sitting straight. Walking is not too far. But it will all come back one day. 3 days ago, I questionned why, today I don't.

I am seeing Dr B on Jan 14th and hopefully he will allow me to go home, visit in many months ahead and take my cat home.

I am here for anyone who need me, on this blog if appropriate and benefit all, or personally. I am answering my phone depending if it is behind me or somewhere in the bed. No shower yet but OK as of yesterday.

Thanks all. gak8888@gmail.com 650 862-6708

[tae_tap]

Gardenia,
I am praying that things get easier. Rest and take things slowly. I had a totally different experience with Ambien, in fact it caused me to be really sick the last two weeks that I have been on it. The doctor thought it was my gallbladder, but once he stopped the sleep aide I have slowly gotten better and the test showed all was good. I have just topped it off that I am not supposed to sleep much. :-)
Tamena

[mabeckoff]

I am glad that you are getting on so well. Hope it continues

Merry Christmas to a straighter person

[golfnut]

Gardenia,
I'm sorry you had so much pain, but think you will soon be feeling better. The first few weeks are definitely the hardest. I wouldn't even think about cutting back on pain meds so soon. Dr. Lenke wanted me to stay on them as long as necessary so that I would not have too much pain to walk. I also had a rough time sleeping. It all gets better! Keep your good attitude and remember that it gets better!

[gardenia]

Mechanically OK, physically Better, Mood alwas Good - Thanks my friends

It is all uphill now. Feel like a human been. Getting in and out of bed and to the bathroom (toilet and brushing teeth) is all down path. Thanks for the advice of not cutting back.

After my visit with Bernie, I went back round the clock on Norcoe (codeine and 375 Tylenol) later afternoon got a second med approved for muscle relaxant. With those two and my normal arsenal (stool softener and 7.5 mg of Ambien) I am in doing normal. I can't say 0 pain, some discomfort but it is all back to tolerable - NO REGRETS. I will post xrays photos on the caringbridge site.

2 weeks +2 days

I think someone had a surgery with Dr Bridwell last Tuesday (woman) anyone know how she is doing? some photo here:


after.jpgbefore.jpg

[titaniumed]

Gardinia

Congratulations!

Are you off injectables and IV meds, on oral meds only?

Hang in there, every day does get better....

Ed

[gardenia]

All GREAT!!!!

Out of the hospital last Sunday after almost 2 weeks. The dural tear added to the stay (72 hours for bed rest) and it contributed blocked gas and collapsed non functioning intestine. Most painful thing than anything: GAS Pains worst than labor.

Since back at the apt, I only take Vicoden and muscle relaxant. Today Friday, I took my first laxative because stool softener is not doing anything. Eating like a pig so looking slim and trim is not gonna be.

No PAIN but sleeping in chunks. Seems like there are a double bumper along the sides of the rods that keeps my back from laying flat.

Can't find anything to do for long that will hold my attention.

Thanks ED.....

[JuliaAnn]

Gardenia, you sound like you're doing great. Stay on the pain meds so the pain doesn't get out of hand. I had to stop my major pain meds around week 7 because of severe adverse affects. Take full advantage of using pain medication for three months. It will help you greatly.

I spent most of the first four weeks laying on my back on a layer of feather pillows because my mattress was too hard. My back was never comfortable during that time and it felt like I was literally lying on railroad tracks but the discomfort lessens as time passes. Pain medication helped a lot.

One of my sons built a custom wood ramp over which we layered a lot of padding and feather pillows. I seemed to breathe better when I was elevated like that, with a big pillow under my knees for comfort. After about three weeks, we lowered the ramp a bit. If I could do it over, I would have insisted on renting a hospital bed, even if it took up the entire living room.