Susan's surgery at UCSF with Dr. Hu on 19 and 22 March, 2013

[susancook]

Susan,

Here is the folding reacher I bought. It fits in my purse and I like a yellow clasp that keeps it closed. I purchased another folding reacher before and it was a total waste of money, but I recommend this one. When folded, this reacher looks like a gun, so be careful with it in the airports :-)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks! I will order 3 so that I have more available.
Susan

[Irina]

Thanks! I will order 3 so that I have more available.
Susan

Susan,

I only use this folding reacher when I am out and drop something on the floor. It is not as sturdy as regular reachers, but it's very handy because it fits in the purse and will be a big help if you drop something on a floor in a grocery store etc. I have one folding and three regular reachers at home.

[rohrer01]

Susan,

Here is the folding reacher I bought. It fits in my purse and I like a yellow clasp that keeps it closed. I purchased another folding reacher before and it was a total waste of money, but I recommend this one. When folded, this reacher looks like a gun, so be careful with it in the airports :-)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Okay, girls. I'm totally eve's dropping here.
Irina, I had to take a peek at what this reacher looked like. It kinda looks like a gun! LOL... Don't try to get through security with it! =)

[babyboomer16]

I want two or three!!! I think of how great this would be later when I am able to go shopping again. Much later I may add!! I'm always dropping something out of my purse~~~I too am eve's dropping!

[susancook]

Bummer....incisional hernia

I noticed that my belly button was listing toward the R side of my abdomen about 2 weeks ago. I thought that I was imagining things. My lower abdomen has always been a little pouchy, so I just assumed a little bit of weight gain. Then my husband and I were laying in bed and I was lying on my back and someone said something funny and my R side of my abdomen ballooned up when my diaphragm went down to laugh. Sounds like an incisional hernia to me.

I sent a note to Dr. Hu's RN who wrote back that "most heal on their own". Unclear how that happens if the incisional sutures tear open and the opposing sides are not next to each other. I also thought that incisions have to be "fresh" to adhere to one another and reseal on their own with any kid of permanent closure. Then she said that if the hernia was "big"....what's that? baseball, softball, basketball sized? "To see a general surgeon".

Crap...just when I thought that I was getting better.

Anyone else have an incisional hernia?

Susan

[susancook]

Bummer of a day......

Frustrated! Incisional hernia looks like I am having my menopausal baby. Pants do not fit. Looked up hernia and found others with same problem with ALIF. Also a response by me that I old ask for the mesh on closure. Oopppssss.....forget that! I won't do anything about it for a few months. There is a surgeon here who does laparoscopic repairs. Sounds like the way to go.

Headaches awful seemingly due to cervical neck problems. Physical therapy has switched to neck now and will probably have some trigger point injections.

Maybe this is just the 4 month slump.....it is difficult to remember how poorly I felt preop at this time.

Must say that in general, I am pleased with my surgery. Not ready to post that I am happy with surgery yet. Wonder if so much of that is due to my having adult degenerative scoliosis and only having 1.5 years to think about surgery whereas others have 10 plus years that have scoliosis of earlier onset.

So, I will refill my ice bag and go on today. Just bummed..... Susan

[Susie*Bee]

Susan, it's ok to feel disheartened and have a slump. It's two steps forward, one step back a lot of the time-- and sometimes the opposite. The main thing is that "in general" you are going in a forward direction. Sometimes it helps to step aside and look back at how far you've come. I was glad I made a scrapbook. It helped me when I felt down and like I was making no progress at all. There it was for me to see-- undisputed. What a bummer about the incisional hernia. Hopefully it will be taken care of soon.

I get a lot of common migraines-- not classic migraines, and am on a preventative medicine for them and it seems to finally be keeping the #s down somewhat, but not gone altogether. I had been getting 8-9/month and now it's about 2-3. Have you seen a neurologist about them? I don't remember... Sometimes I think they are also from the arthritis in my neck and I can feel the grating and grinding there. But also they have all the symptoms of common migraines. There are triptan medicines that work really well with me once the headache begins, if I take one, but then I found that they can become one of those problems where IF you take them they can cause you to have more headaches. Life is never easy, is it??? So I try not to take them unless we are having something special going on and I would miss out. (sad face).

As far as not getting to think about your scoliosis for very long, I've told my story before but you haven't heard it (probably) so I'll tell it once more. I slipped through the cracks somehow... I've had scoliosis at least since my teen years because I remember in high school some friends mentioning how "cool" my spine looked in my 2 piece swimsuit-- the way it snaked around... And my doctor mentioned it when I was pregnant at age 27-- "BTW, do you know you have scoliosis?" But I didn't know I needed to do anything about it or that it should be monitored or anything like that-- so nothing was done until my mid 50s when my "arthritis" (what I thought) in my back was killing me and I asked my (by then) different doctor about it and he was surprised he hadn't realized... So my scoli journey started at that point and my surgery was approximately 1.5 years later. My first x-ray just about scared the pants off me. I had had sore back problems and aches a lot during my life, but toughed it out, thinking that just happens and I'm a tough cookie. So you are not the only one who didn't have long to think about it. I didn't want to wait "too long"... so got it over with at 56. I'm glad.

You'll find that you'll make progress for awhile, then nothing will happen and you will get dispirited. It happens to all of us. (I think!) You just hit a plateau for a little bit--and no wonder with that hernia! You're doing great. It just takes time (and we don't like that, do we???) to heal and recover and be up and about our business. You'll get there! Praying for you and that hernia!

[Irina]

Sorry to hear about your hernia, Susan. What do you think might have caused it? I hope this issue be resolved quickly.

[titaniumed]

Susan

I’m also sorry to hear about this....I thought I had an incisional hernia but after CT scans, it turned out to be huge gall stones and I lost my gall bladder.at 15 months...Which really was an easy thing, not at that time, but it was.

I had a very lumpy belly, and was very funky in the first few months while it was healing. I have an area where some nerves were affected and have a hard spot on my front left about the size of a deck of cards. Movement of the abdominal muscles was “different” and it was only after I forged through with my full recovery that they did balance out......Now everything is strong. I have a vertical scar from my xiphoid process all the way down the front dead center.

My scoliosis surgeon referred me to my vascular surgeon on this......Funny how he mentioned that there was NO way he was going back in so soon. He shook his head. He mentioned that to me at 2 months post and I had to wait. Funny also since I had another scoli surgeon think it was indeed an incisional hernia. Diagnostics answer many questions.....

I just wanted you to know how I dealt with some of my post op issues.....

Cheer up, you will get through all of this.

Ed

[susancook]

Sorry to hear about your hernia, Susan. What do you think might have caused it? I hope this issue be resolved quickly.

Unfortunately, incisional hernia can happen postop w/ abdomenal incisions. Common causes are heavy lifting, obesity, previous abdomenal surgery.....I am a little bit overweight, but have not lifted much since surgery. In early June, I started to get sensations like electric shock in my lower abdomen. They were quite unpleasant. They have gone away, and now I suspect that they were the sensation of the muscle opening.

Since it does not seem to be acute, I think that I will wait until November to have it repaired.
Susan

[susancook]

Susan

I’m also sorry to hear about this....I thought I had an incisional hernia but after CT scans, it turned out to be huge gall stones and I lost my gall bladder.at 15 months...Which really was an easy thing, not at that time, but it was.

I had a very lumpy belly, and was very funky in the first few months while it was healing. I have an area where some nerves were affected and have a hard spot on my front left about the size of a deck of cards. Movement of the abdominal muscles was “different” and it was only after I forged through with my full recovery that they did balance out......Now everything is strong. I have a vertical scar from my xiphoid process all the way down the front dead center.

My scoliosis surgeon referred me to my vascular surgeon on this......Funny how he mentioned that there was NO way he was going back in so soon. He shook his head. He mentioned that to me at 2 months post and I had to wait. Funny also since I had another scoli surgeon think it was indeed an incisional hernia. Diagnostics answer many questions.....

I just wanted you to know how I dealt with some of my post op issues.....

Cheer up, you will get through all of this.

Ed

Thanks, Ed. No gallbladder here, so that cannot be the problem. I hate looking poochie. I will get through this. I am impatient and feel that I have aged 5 years since surgery. I was in the supermarket pushing a cart and I noticed that I was shuffling my feet and walking like an old lady. Not ready for that!
S.

[susancook]

Susan, it's ok to feel disheartened and have a slump. It's two steps forward, one step back a lot of the time-- and sometimes the opposite. The main thing is that "in general" you are going in a forward direction. Sometimes it helps to step aside and look back at how far you've come. I was glad I made a scrapbook. It helped me when I felt down and like I was making no progress at all. There it was for me to see-- undisputed. What a bummer about the incisional hernia. Hopefully it will be taken care of soon.

I get a lot of common migraines-- not classic migraines, and am on a preventative medicine for them and it seems to finally be keeping the #s down somewhat, but not gone altogether. I had been getting 8-9/month and now it's about 2-3. Have you seen a neurologist about them? I don't remember... Sometimes I think they are also from the arthritis in my neck and I can feel the grating and grinding there. But also they have all the symptoms of common migraines. There are triptan medicines that work really well with me once the headache begins, if I take one, but then I found that they can become one of those problems where IF you take them they can cause you to have more headaches. Life is never easy, is it??? So I try not to take them unless we are having something special going on and I would miss out. (sad face).

As far as not getting to think about your scoliosis for very long, I've told my story before but you haven't heard it (probably) so I'll tell it once more. I slipped through the cracks somehow... I've had scoliosis at least since my teen years because I remember in high school some friends mentioning how "cool" my spine looked in my 2 piece swimsuit-- the way it snaked around... And my doctor mentioned it when I was pregnant at age 27-- "BTW, do you know you have scoliosis?" But I didn't know I needed to do anything about it or that it should be monitored or anything like that-- so nothing was done until my mid 50s when my "arthritis" (what I thought) in my back was killing me and I asked my (by then) different doctor about it and he was surprised he hadn't realized... So my scoli journey started at that point and my surgery was approximately 1.5 years later. My first x-ray just about scared the pants off me. I had had sore back problems and aches a lot during my life, but toughed it out, thinking that just happens and I'm a tough cookie. So you are not the only one who didn't have long to think about it. I didn't want to wait "too long"... so got it over with at 56. I'm glad.

You'll find that you'll make progress for awhile, then nothing will happen and you will get dispirited. It happens to all of us. (I think!) You just hit a plateau for a little bit--and no wonder with that hernia! You're doing great. It just takes time (and we don't like that, do we???) to heal and recover and be up and about our business. You'll get there! Praying for you and that hernia!

What a lovely note, Susie! You made my day! My course with discovery of the extent of my problem with scoliosis was much like yours. I was certain that they had mixed up the patients! The radiologist said, "oh, you didn't know?"

Keep praying for the hernia, I appreciate it. You are so sweet!
Hugs, Susan

[titaniumed]

I am impatient and feel that I have aged 5 years since surgery.

In my signature a few years back I had age 49, the new 34. Of course this cannot remain the same but you get the idea.

Think younger and act younger.....regardless of how your body is reacting. I think that this is key and I try to do this as much as possible......Your recovery is just a little pitstop in life. Your posts in a few years will reflect this, count on it.

Do you have any advice on Malaria? I’m going into some heavy duty areas of Colombia and Panama in 2 weeks. I hope I don’t die down there. (smiley face)

I’ve gotten shots for everything else....

Ed

[susancook]

I just reread the "I am happy about having surgery" thread. It was reassuring that many people waited 1 to 2 sometimes 3 years to respond and post that they are happy. I WAS happy at 2 to 3 months and now at 4 months, I am down in the dumps. I have daily headaches, an incisional hernia and look like I am having my menopausal baby, and I have limited mobility as my knee and leg hurt. The disadvantage of having a surgeon 12 hours away is that I would like to have an assessment of what is going wrong. I am disappointed and down in the dumps. I know that this process is a back and forth, but I am WAY back.
Susan, bummed.....

[Irina]

I just reread the "I am happy about having surgery" thread. It was reassuring that many people waited 1 to 2 sometimes 3 years to respond and post that they are happy. I WAS happy at 2 to 3 months and now at 4 months, I am down in the dumps. I have daily headaches, an incisional hernia and look like I am having my menopausal baby, and I have limited mobility as my knee and leg hurt. The disadvantage of having a surgeon 12 hours away is that I would like to have an assessment of what is going wrong. I am disappointed and down in the dumps. I know that this process is a back and forth, but I am WAY back.
Susan, bummed.....

Susan, I just want to give you a hug. Can you talk about your issues to someone locally? When did your knee pain started - before or after the surgery? I know that joint pain can be related to some medication. Is that just one knee that hurts or both? Hang in here, it will get better!