Surgery with Dr. Lenke

[golfnut]

Doreen,
I think you are doing really well. I'll see Dr. Lenke bright and early in the a.m. and tell him I read a good report from you on the forum. I'm getting up at 4:30 a.m., so off to bed soon.

[Doreen1]

8 weeks Post Op

Yesterday marked 8 weeks post op. I've been getting out of the house more which is so refreshing! After speaking with Dr. Lenke's office yesterday about driving and hydrocodone, Kelly said that while hydro is still a narcotic, if it isn't making me loopy, it's up to me on when to drive. The only time hydro made me loopy was last summer when my primary doc prescribed the highest dose for pain. Since I'm on the lowest dose, it no longer makes me loopy. Long story short, I drove yesterday! Hubby was with me and I just drove to the store near our home. It felt weird driving since I haven't driven a car since Nov 2011. I'm currently taking 5 hydro within 24 hour period and I'm trying to get by without the afternoon dose so that I can wean down to 4 pills within 24 hour period.

We received some disheartening news about my mom recently. She and Dad came here to help me post op; however, soon after I came home from St. Louis, Mom started having severe back pain. They cut their time here short and returned to Florida. Her pain has increased significantly and preliminary test results indicate she has cancer in one of her lungs, one kidney, her stomach and back. She was admitted into the hospital last week and is having a battery of tests done today. I feel helpless that I am unable to be with them.

Warmly,
Doreen

[LindaRacine]

Hi Doreen...

I'm so sorry about your mom. I hope that, whatever it is, is treatable.

Being able to get out, especially on your own is a wonderful miler marker. Embrace your freedom!

Regards,
Linda

[rohrer01]

Doreen,
I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. It's never easy to hear that your parent is sick. I lost my dad last March to some "unknown" dystrophy that the doctors refused to diagnose because of his age. They said he was having mini-strokes, but he had the symptoms of dystrophy and only lasted eight years from time of onset. I don't know what the outcome with your mother will be. I hope they can do something to help her. I feel so bad. I'm glad you are doing better, but I hope this news isn't a setback to your recovery.

I had a doctor tell me that I was safer driving on the narcotics than not. The reason for this is that I was accustomed to them and the severe pain that I have limits my mobility and I would be restricted by pain from acting fast if I needed to. Not everyone will agree with this and most will always advise you NOT to drive on narcotics so that they aren't accountable if you get into an accident because you will automatically get an OWI. So keep that in mind and be very careful. With that said there are many, many drivers on the road that are on chronic pain management that include some very strong things such as oxycontin and fentanyl patches. Without them, those people wouldn't be able to function and it is because of them that they can lead a normal life. But you may still take some heat from some of the forum members for driving.

Wishing you the best for everything.
Rohrer01

[golfnut]

Doreen,
I am so sorry to hear of your mother's health problems. I hope she can get treatment that will help. I feel for you.

Isn't it great to drive again? I started feeling like a normal person when I started driving.

[TwinmomTN]

Doreen,

I am very sorry to hear this news about your Mom. I will
keep you and your family in prayers. Wish her the best with
treatment.

Pam

[mabeckoff]

Doreen,

All I can say is that I am so sorry to hear about your mother.

I have lost both my parents

[Doodles]

Doreen--
I'm so sorry to hear about your mother. I'm sure you do feel rather helpless but it is still so important for you to heal. Hopefully, the doctors can find some treatment for her that is successful. Thinking of you. Janet

[Doreen1]

9 Weeks Post Op

It is truly amazing how much progress I've made over the past few weeks. I was finally able to go to church for the first time since last year. Pre op pain was so intense that just riding in the car and sitting through the service was so painful that we stopped going to church months ago. I discovered a great way to wean down my intake of hydrocodone which was at 5 pills within a 24 hour period last time I updated here.

It all started with:
1. The leak. After doing some walking downstairs, something told me to go look for a leak. Sure enough, I walked into one section of the basement and found not one but two leaks. The plumber was able to fix the problem early the next morning.

2. The store. The same afternoon of discovering the leaks, I drove my daughter and I to the grocery store and loaded up with food. My daughter placed everything into the cart so I didn't strain myself bending/lifting items. I made a little boo-boo when I got out of the car, instead of exiting the way I'm supposed to post-op, I swung my one leg out and started to twist my torso like I used to do pre-op. Well, a quick shock of pain promptly reminded me what I was doing wrong.

3. The fridge. The morning after the plumber fixed the pipes, I walked toward the fridge to make breakfast, but noticed water on the floor in front of the frig. The fridge broke at some point after I went grocery shopping the previous day and needless to say, everything went into the trash. Nothing like throwing a couple hundred dollars out the window.

4. The search. So now after the discovery that our food has defrosted/spoiled, I desperately searched for a new frig that is in stock in my area that can be delivered fast. Hubby had a busy day of back-to-back conference calls on Friday, but broke free in the afternoon and we hurried to the store. "Hey honey... didja measure the space in our kitchen for a new frig like I asked ya?" Hubby did great with guestimating the dimensions and our new fridge which was delivered today fit perfectly into the space. I highly recommend a french door frig because there is absolutely no need to bend down to low shelves. The bottom freezer drawer is at a great height so that I can easily squat to reach to the top sliding baskets.

So, as you can see, I had some pressing events that distracted me from my pain pills. I'm down to 3 pills within a 24 hour period.

I truly appreciate everyone's well wishes for my mom. The cancer specialist will give her all the results tomorrow.

Warmly,
Doreen

[jrnyc]

hi Doreen
you have all my sympathy...
lost my mom to brain tumor...
and my friend in CA is going thru similar to you with her father right now....
he has cancer in 3 major organs...
my thoughts and prayers are with you....
there is little one can do...i know you will spend time with your mother
when you can...if you can be with her on the phone, or even get a "skype"
thing for the phone...? or computer video chat....?
just a thought...

i saw a thing in Arthritis Magazine...how's that for depressing...i read that
instead of fashion magazine...haha....
there is a swivel thing you can put on your car seat...so you will swivel around
without straining your back...maybe look it up on arthritis websites....?

jess

[golfnut]

Congratulations on your 9 week anniversary. It sounds like you are doing really well. Dr. Lenke will be pleased when he sees you on the 15th.

[Confusedmom]

Hi Doreen,

I'm impressed to hear that you can even think about dealing with stuff like leaks and broken refrigerators just a little over two months post-op! Glad to hear that when life calls, you can answer! Thinking good thoughts for you and your mom...

Evelyn

[rohrer01]

Doreen,
It's great to hear that you are doing so well. It's horrible that your refridgerator went kaput and you lost all that food! The same thing happened to us with a HUGE deep freezer that was FULL. We caught it before things were defrosted and were able to at least give the food away, since we had nowhere to keep it. We replace it with a much smaller deep freezer, just in case that ever happens again. Meat is expensive!

Well, nothing like distractions to make you forget to take your pain meds! A word of caution from a non-surgery pain sufferer. Sometimes when I "wean" down like that. I mean by major distractions or pressing things to do, I sometimes pay for it later. So don't be surprised if you need to bump it up a little bit for awhile. But let's hope not. If you are feeling okay at this dose, then that's great news! I hope you continue to have a smooth recovery and keep feeling better and better every day!

Rohrer01

[KathK]

Doreen,

Sounds like you are doing great for 9 weeks out! The 9 -10 week point was a real turning point for me, I know. Enjoy your new frig and keep up the good work! Let us know how your 3 month check-up goes and how your Mom is doing.

Kathy

[Doreen1]

It has been confirmed my mom has lung cancer which is also in her back. She will have 3 weeks of radiation targeting the tumor in her back and then will have chemotherapy afterwards. She was discharged from the hospital last week and has nurses visiting her x3 times a week. She is in a wheelchair now and has oxygen tanks. Thank you so much for keeping Arlene in your prayers.

I'm down to 2.5 pain pills a day now.

I've noticed the past several days I'm having muscle soreness starting in my left shoulder blade area that moves up into the back left side of my neck. Not sure if this is just part of the healing process, a result of my left hip being out of whack post op or stress from my mom's situation. Perhaps it's a combination of all? The soreness flares up if I've been walking a long time; I'm probably tensing my shoulders up. The soreness also flares up if I've been busy doing a lot of things and it's close to a dose of pain med.

Looking forward to seeing Dr. Lenke soon.

Warmly,
Doreen