Surgery Next Week!

[leahdragonfly]

Hi twisted (no more),

I am so happy to hear of your progress and that you're going home! Like the others, keep up with those meds because the car ride will not be too comfortable.

I had an allergic reaction to some adhesive that they put under the steri-strips or the steri-strips themselves, and it was torture...cherry red and very itchy. I found relief with Benadryl spray on the worst itchy areas, and a couple of really hot showers per day took a lot of the itch away for a few hours. It took about 10 days - 2 weeks to go away.

Good luck,

[twistedRN]

home again!

Hi Everyone!
We arrived home last night - and it is sooo great to be back in "normal" surroundings. Of course there is so much to do and only Kevin to do it, so I feel badly about sitting around watching him run around getting stuff done. The car ride home was pretty uneventful except for the change in time from central to eastern time zones. Somehow we forgot about that and got the med schedule off a bit, so there was one time that was quite uncomfortable. One thing I found VERY effective (for those of you about to undergo surgery) : We went out to Kohls and bought a memory foam mattress pad (2") which we also took up to the hotel. We also bought a memory foam pillow that is contoured (it has a valley in the middle running lenghthwise along the pillow) - that fit my back perfectly during the car ride and made it so much more comfie. I also had a neck pillow which really helped. Kevin strapped me in with pillows on each side (and the memory foam one on my back), so I pretty much couldn't move if I wanted to! As far as getting in and out of the car, PT told me to put a garbage bag down on the seat, back up to the seat, sit down and have your driver lift your legs and you turn your torso at the same time. The garbage bag really helps slide you into place. The rash is still there, probably slightly better, am taking benadryl every 4 hrs. I figure it is something I will have to live with for the next few weeks anyway. It is no longer itchy, thank goodness. Thanks for all your support out there - again, I will try to post before/after pics shortly!
Suzanne

[djkinkead]

Glad to hear you made it home safely and without any incidents, Suzanne.

I know it is bothersome to see the beloved spousal unit run around and do a bunch of stuff for you, but please keep in mind this is your time to heal. Try to squash any feelings of guilt for at least a month...and just rest, heal and getting up and moving around to start that part of your life again.

At seven months post surgery, it has seemed amazing how much more limber I have become in the past three months. It also reminds me how UN-limber or agile I was the first three to four months. I didn't think I would ever be able to empty the lower dishwasher rack...but it will come. Your body will tell you when it's time. Just don't push too much. Remember, you spine has to fuse!

I still use my shower chair--partially because we have a very small shower area which makes any kind of body contortions impossible and it allows me to use the long bath brush I have so I can actually reach my feet and give them a decent cleaning. It is silly to think you can barely reach your feet unless you are sitting or putting your feet up on a chair or something (Which will take a few months of healing, I might add/suggest).

Best wishes--am saying prayers for you and your family.

Dollie

[BetsyK]

Glad you made it!

Hi !
I'm glad you arrived home safely- I was beginning to worry! You must be doing well if the doc let you leave, I thought you were planning to stay a week after your discharge from the hospital. And I thought the ride in the car would be much more difficult. You've got some beautiful weather this week.

[jrnyc]

hi Suzanne
congratulatins on getting home...
hope your recovery is uneventful...the rash sounds like all the excitement anyone
could handle!

how is your sweet dog? i remember you mentioning problems before you left...

hope you feel a little better every day...

jess...& Sparky

[mabeckoff]

So glad to hear that you are doing ok and that you made it home safely

[rockycarm]

Hi Everyone!
We arrived home last night - and it is sooo great to be back in "normal" surroundings. Of course there is so much to do and only Kevin to do it, so I feel badly about sitting around watching him run around getting stuff done. The car ride home was pretty uneventful except for the change in time from central to eastern time zones. Somehow we forgot about that and got the med schedule off a bit, so there was one time that was quite uncomfortable. One thing I found VERY effective (for those of you about to undergo surgery) : We went out to Kohls and bought a memory foam mattress pad (2") which we also took up to the hotel. We also bought a memory foam pillow that is contoured (it has a valley in the middle running lenghthwise along the pillow) - that fit my back perfectly during the car ride and made it so much more comfie. I also had a neck pillow which really helped. Kevin strapped me in with pillows on each side (and the memory foam one on my back), so I pretty much couldn't move if I wanted to! As far as getting in and out of the car, PT told me to put a garbage bag down on the seat, back up to the seat, sit down and have your driver lift your legs and you turn your torso at the same time. The garbage bag really helps slide you into place. The rash is still there, probably slightly better, am taking benadryl every 4 hrs. I figure it is something I will have to live with for the next few weeks anyway. It is no longer itchy, thank goodness. Thanks for all your support out there - again, I will try to post before/after pics shortly!
Suzanne

Hi Suzanne, so nice to hear that you have arrived at home. Let the healing begin! I hope you continue to post on your progress as your tips are helpful to me in knowing what I can expect for my upcoming surgery and recovery (May 16th). I liked your suggestion for the memory foam mattress cover and garbage bag for the car. Boy, such little things it seems that will really be a big deal once this is over. God Bless You and Your husband he was terrific in keeping us all posted. Keep the comments coming and hope that your itching is soon to be a thing of the past!

[mdtaffet]

I'd love to hear from anyone/everyone with any advice on how to control these nerves - and what on earth did you do the day and night before surgery to keep from totally freaking out??

I am a mailing list volunteer for a number of mailing lists hosted by Rootsweb (a free genealogy site). Between my job keeping me extremely busy until January 20th (surgery was the following Monday January 23rd), and working like crazy to find volunteers to babysit the lists that I usually manage in my absence, I barely had enough time to finish all the pre-surgery tasks on my list of things to do. I was busy most of the day before surgery trying to take care of the technical details of turning over list management responsibilities and informing my subscribers of the temporary change in management. I had NO TIME to be nervous at all -- I was too busy to even think about the surgery itself until that morning.

-- Mary

[mdtaffet]

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.

Your plaque idea has possibilities....I've been trying to think of an appropriate way to thank and reward my husband for all that he has done for me so far and will continue to do for the time being. Thanks for the idea...

[mdtaffet]

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!

They never showed me that either, but what I did was have my back to the seat, then put my left hand on the flat panel on the side of the dashboard, and my right hand on the edge of the seat, then I lowered myself down slowly to where my butt was on the seat. Then I reached in above me, grabbed the handlebar at the top of the inside of car just above the door (if your car doesn't have a handlebar, the roof of the car door might work as well), then lift first one leg and then the other into the car as I slowly turned to the front of the car with my back still straight. At first I was unable to lift my right leg into the car by myself, so my husband had to lift that one up for me, but now I am able to lift it up by myself.

If you have a choice of cars, opt for the one with the highest seats that are still low enough to get into easily. It was much harder for me to get into the Subaru Legacy (my car) than it was (and still is) for me to get into either the Subaru Forester or the Subaru Outback, which both have higher seats than the Legacy does.

But it does get easier over time.

-- Mary

[mdtaffet]

beloved spousal unit

Dollie,

That one is priceless! I LOVE IT!

[twistedRN]

Hi Everyone,
Just thought I'd give you an update : things are going well, although am starting to realize that weaning on meds and increasing activity is not necessarily a comfortable thing. It does seem like my doc relies on minimal pain meds (recommending 1 tab of 5/325 Norco q. 4 hrs as needed along with prn baclofen for muscle spasms and gabapentin for nerve pain). I am definitely a hurting unit and can feel my anxiety creeping up by hour 4 when pain meds are due. I have not even tried to increase the time yet.
And thank you for all your concerns about my sweet dog, Moxie. I guess we never let the forum know, but the day before my surgery (as I was having my central line put in), we found out that she had a kidney tumor that had burst and she was bleeding internally. I was pretty much a total mess between my anxiety over her and the surgery combined. Anyway.....Kevin told me he would take it all on and I trusted him to make any decisions he had to. Long story short, she was put down that Monday night. So she was gone before I even went into surgery. I didn't know about it,and Kevin had asked people not to ask me, until about 4 days postop when I was lucid enough to ask him about her. Of course we are devastated and heartbroken and coming home without her here was extremely difficult. Thank you all for your concern and for asking....

[Doodles]

I so sorry about your little dog. How very sad. It sounds like your husband managed a very difficult situation very well, however.
Also, you seem to be progressing like you are supposed to. I remember those anxious moments waiting for the "pill" time. Hang in there! Janet

[mdtaffet]

Just thought I'd give you an update : things are going well, although am starting to realize that weaning on meds and increasing activity is not necessarily a comfortable thing. It does seem like my doc relies on minimal pain meds (recommending 1 tab of 5/325 Norco q. 4 hrs as needed along with prn baclofen for muscle spasms and gabapentin for nerve pain). I am definitely a hurting unit and can feel my anxiety creeping up by hour 4 when pain meds are due. I have not even tried to increase the time yet.

My experience may perhaps be unique, but I thought I should let you know that most of the pain I experienced post-op once I got home just about completely disappeared after the dressing was removed. It turns out that the plastic cover over the dressing was pulling my skin really tight. Once the dressing was removed, I had no problem at all backing way off of the pain meds, and at that point only used them at night just before I went to sleep, and then ONLY to help me get to sleep and hopefully stay asleep at least a little while.

My surgery was 1/23 and the dressing was removed 2/09, so about 2 1/2 weeks later.

Sorry to hear about your dog; I know that must have been doubly hard for your husband.

[mabeckoff]

I am so sorry about your dog. I have 2 cats so I know how you felt about your dog