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

[Irina]

Susan, you crack me up, as usual!!!

[susancook]

Evelyn, I am amazed on a daily basis! I am amazed that my body actually works! When I look at the scar on my back, I think, Holy Cow, I actually survived the surgery! I knew that I wouldn't die in the surgery....I'm too stubborn to let that happen. I do recall being in the preop area with the female asesthesiologist at 8 AM blowing on a spirometer and the anesthesiologist saying, "your PO2 is only 79 percent....keep blowing". Dr. Hu was standing there impatiently wringing her hands, just wanting to get on with it and start cutting...and I just sat there and kept blowing on the tube and Dr. Hu kept wringing her hands. After a blood test and more bad news that my PO2 was still low, the anesthesiologist decided that she could somehow suction out my lungs and the game was on. I, of course, worried that with my PO2 low that I might exit from the surgery with brain damage, but I didn't get a vote.

My menopausal baby and I are doing well, trying to slim down so that I can get the basketball taken off my lower abdomen. The general surgeon somehow thought that I could take off 30 pounds before November, but I am aiming for the spring for hernia surgery. I will be one year postop at that point. Seems more realistic to heal one part of the body at one time. Maybe I can get a tummy tuck at the same time?

Thanks, everyone for your support. And Gayle, when my children whine, I say to them, "You want red or white?"

Susan....I prefer Pinot Gris....guess that I shouldn't be drinking in my pregnant state, huh????

Afterthought: I re-read the, "I am happy that I had surgery" thread last night and was thinking about making my entry....Of finally committing to falling off the wall on one side or the other. Then, I thought that I might jinx my recovery, so I will wait.....until Spring.

[susancook]

Susan, you crack me up, as usual!!!

Glad that I can be of service, Irina! Someone needs to add some merriment to the forum. If I don't laugh at my expanding lower abdomen, I just might cry!
Susan.....hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahaha.......

[susancook]

Irina, do you know what the person that is ruining our forum with the bogus entires and spam is saying in Russian?
Susan

[Irina]

Irina, do you know what the person that is ruining our forum with the bogus entires and spam is saying in Russian?
Susan

It's a totally random list of instructions for maintenance of different machines (generators, ships, cars etc). Doesn't make any sense - must be some automatic spam. There is a link on top of each entry and I don't want to click it because it might be a virus.

[golfnut]

Susan,

We all love your sense of humor. I just know we would have a good time going out and sharing a bottle of wine or even iced tea.

You will be so amazed when you are a year post-op and realize how far you have come. I had accepted at several different times during the past 2 1/2 years that I had come as far as possible, however, I definitely improved between 6 months and a year, gradually during year 2, and even after my 2 year anniversary. I truly believe that I have less back aches than most 63 year olds. Actually, I feel younger than my years and couldn't be any more pleased with my results and what I am physically able to do without pain.

[susancook]

Hernia bigger, funny feeling pushed forward.....

Glad to be back! Since last posting my incisional hernia has increased in size. Bummer. It aches on a daily basis. I am on the wagon on weight loss and have joined Weight Watchers. I am motivated as I need to lose 30 pounds before surgery. Looks like February for surgery seems possible.

Problem number 2 might be related. For the last week, when I walk, I feel like someone in back of me pushing me forward. Unsure what to do, so I am trying to stand up straight which feels like leaning slightly backwards to be standing up straight. My doctor, Dr. Hu is moving to Stanford and is not yet there, but she has left UCSF. I feel a little bit like an orphan.

Suggestions? And the wiseass that suggests prenatal vitamins (like my daughter did when she last saw me) will receive an excorcism!

Susan......and her not-so-cute-menopause-pregnancy

I just re-entered forum and my thread and this was like a coming home to me tonight! I missed my thread so much. This is my only diary of my struggles and triumphs in my scoliosis surgery. When the forum went down, I was so deflated, I am so very glad, so very happy that the forum is back. My genetic family understands parts of me and then the forum addresses that unique part that only someone who has been there can relate to. Thank you to everyone who has made my journey so meaningful. We are back!

[leahdragonfly]

Hi Susan,

I am glad to see your update, overall you sound like you are doing great! Your sense of humor is intact, obviously. Love that.

Does your hernia reduce when you lay down? The comment about it aching makes me worry a little about it getting incarcerated.

Ok, now can you make a snappy comeback about your menopausal baby who got incarcerated? Hahaha....

Fondly,

[susancook]

Love you, Gayle! The surgeon said that he is not worried about my hernia becoming incarcerated as the opening of the incision is 8 inches. He said that he worries about the little ones of 1 inch or less. I do not think that it reduces when i relax at this point. i can run my fingers along my ALIF incision line (only a medical person would do this) although the suture lines are tender. Talk about getting to know your body!. I asked him the same question about the possibility of incarceration, and when I though about it, of course, it made sense that the larger the incision separation, the less the likelihood of incarceration. So, life is just one day at a time and a low calorie meal at a time. I needed to lose the 30# anyway. It was easier in India when I had diarrhea! (But not much fun)

I still owe you lunch, so let me know when you will be in Portland long enough that we can get together. We have a small duplex near OHSU now, so if you ever need a place to spend the night, let me know.
Susan

[golfnut]

Susan,
You just crack me up. I love your sense of humor. I thought of you and many others when the forum was down. It was such a huge support for me during my recovery. I'm glad it is finally back and we can all keep in touch. Good luck with losing weight. You can do it!

[Marianne]

Hi Susan,

Glad to see the forum up and running again and that you have not lost your sense of humour even with all your problems. Here is hoping you will be losing your extra weight soon so you can get rid of that baby. I am sure it will be hard with Thanksgiving and Xmas coming up. You will have to eat something healthy before going to anyones house for dinner so you are not starving when you get there and eat all the fattening stuff. Easier said then done I know.
Wishing you all the best.

[Confusedmom]

Susan,

Sometimes I get that kind of "pushed forward" feeling, and I think it is a muscle spasm (mildish, cause the bad ones hurt) in the middle of my back. Usually exercise makes it better after a while.

Can you go to Stanford with Dr. Hu? Or do you have to stick with UCSF?

:-),
Evelyn

[babyboomer16]

Question?

Love you, Gayle! The surgeon said that he is not worried about my hernia becoming incarcerated as the opening of the incision is 8 inches. He said that he worries about the little ones of 1 inch or less. I do not think that it reduces when i relax at this point. i can run my fingers along my ALIF incision line (only a medical person would do this) although the suture lines are tender. Talk about getting to know your body!. I asked him the same question about the possibility of incarceration, and when I though about it, of course, it made sense that the larger the incision separation, the less the likelihood of incarceration. So, life is just one day at a time and a low calorie meal at a time. I needed to lose the 30# anyway. It was easier in India when I had diarrhea! (But not much fun)

I still owe you lunch, so let me know when you will be in Portland long enough that we can get together. We have a small duplex near OHSU now, so if you ever need a place to spend the night, let me know.
Susan

First let me say how sorry I am that you are having these problems! I read what you said about "incarceration" but my question is"what does that mean?" It sound bad~~when it involves a hernia.?
Are you still feeling like you're being pushed forward~~I think that's what you said. I don't know what's causing that. But as long as you still feel like you're standing straight up with no problem, that's the main thing. What kind of excessive do you do? My back is terrible tight and I am concerned about the fact there's kind of like bumps in back right below my waist on both sides. The right side is worse. It feels swelled. It almost feels like my hip bones , but they are so high! Oh well, sorry I got off track. This post is to tell you that I'm thinking of you and hope you get this baby out soon! What a nuisance that must be!!! Anything that interferes with the healing process of our backs is a bummer~~ to be sure! Keep us in the loop!
HUGS TO YOU!! Linda

[susancook]

Susan,

Sometimes I get that kind of "pushed forward" feeling, and I think it is a muscle spasm (mildish, cause the bad ones hurt) in the middle of my back. Usually exercise makes it better after a while.

Can you go to Stanford with Dr. Hu? Or do you have to stick with UCSF?

:-),
Evelyn

They gave me the choice of whether I wanted to stay ay UCSF or move W/ Dr. Hu. I traveled all the way down to San Fran to choose Dr. Hu, I am not bailing on her now! In the letter that UCSF gave me at my last visit, they said that she is "moving down the peninsula". They are so creative! They certainly did not want to lose business! Not that my insurance, Medicare and tricare-for-life pay a lot but we are business. I will look her up on the map and find her clinic and fill out all of the papers and start again in a sense, but she of course so intimately knows my back, but as any practitioner knows, you only remember the patients that were problems or the ones that you make a clinical error in treatment or judgement. My son is a Family Nurse Practitioner and I am a Nurse Practitioner and when I asked Dr. Hu a question at the 3 month visit, she paused and thought for a while and was trying to think of the answer. My son and I laughed as we told her that we had talked before the visit that we as practitioners, on so many details, only remember the patients on which there was something that was unusual or there was a problem. She laughed and agreed! Then, she said that she remembered me! I was the patient that she had to wait on for an hour an a half until the anesthesiologist decided that my O2 sat, which was 79percent was sufficient for anesthesia. I then remembered Dr.Hu standing there in the background ringing her hands as if to say, "Can I cut now?". The anesthesiologist finally said that she would suction out my lungs under anesthesia, which sounded like a lot of fun, and that was the last that I remember.

I know that my hardware is there in a daily basis, but I am slowly improving. I have daily small twinges, almost no pain, can pretty much move as I want ( but have not tried to test the limits), still have challenges putting on shoes and socks most days.....why am I whining? How quickly I forget lying on the rug in the airport on Fiji with an ice pack on my back. I do not have any complaints. I am happy! I sometimes pause to consider that I took for granted that the surgery could have gone horribly wrong and that I could be in pain or have a neurological deficit. Just rambling! I feel great!

Thanks Evelyn for your comment and I hope that you are doing well. I saw a woman yesterday that was bent over at a benefit. I looked at her and thought to myself, that could easily be me in 10 years. I am grateful.

Susan.....looking forward to repair of incisional hernia in February 2014 when I am 30 #s lighter

[susancook]

What is an incarcerated hernia?

First let me say how sorry I am that you are having these problems! I read what you said about "incarceration" but my question is"what does that mean?" It sound bad~~when it involves a hernia.?
Are you still feeling like you're being pushed forward~~I think that's what you said. I don't know what's causing that. But as long as you still feel like you're standing straight up with no problem, that's the main thing. What kind of excessive do you do? My back is terrible tight and I am concerned about the fact there's kind of like bumps in back right below my waist on both sides. The right side is worse. It feels swelled. It almost feels like my hip bones , but they are so high! Oh well, sorry I got off track. This post is to tell you that I'm thinking of you and hope you get this baby out soon! What a nuisance that must be!!! Anything that interferes with the healing process of our backs is a bummer~~ to be sure! Keep us in the loop!
HUGS TO YOU!! Linda

Linda, sorry that I did not answer you before now. A hernia is a separation of the muscle and in the case of abdominal incisions, the intestines can slip through he separation of he incision. When the intestines slip through, and then get caught or stuck, then it is incarcerated. That usually gives great pain. If the incarcerated intestines burst open, then intestinal contents...poop....gets into the abdominal cavity and can set up a massive infection and frequently death if you do not seek medical care with antibiotics and a good surgeon.

Hope that you are doing well. I think of you often. Susan....and hugs to you also!