Ten years ago on Christmas Eve day, I was discharged from the hospital after having AP staged fusion surgery on my back (L2- S1) I want to bring everyone up to date about how I am and what my life is like now. Had I not had surgery, I know I would be in a wheel chair and who knows what my health would be like. Because I chose to have surgery, I have a pretty full life and fairly good health for someone soon to be 77 years old. I line dance for about an hour and a half once a week. I try to get a walk in a couple of times a week. I am not as active as I would like to be, but arthritic joints slow me down a bit. I belong to a quilting guild so have learned different techniques because the guild hires nationally recognized quilters to come and give classes. I usually spend two - four hours up in my sewing room quilting, and won two blue ribbons and two red ribbons recently in our Bi-annual Quilt Show. I have met many like minded ladies from the guild and we go to retreats to quilt and interact socially. I have been on my church session for the last three years as an Elder. My husband belongs to the US Sail and Power Squadron and a Yacht Club so we have a pretty active social life. Is my life perfect? No, but would I rather live my life in a wheel chair? Absolutely not. I still deal with some pain on a daily basis, but it is not disabling pain for which I am very thankful. I get restless leg syndrome a few nights a month which robs me of sleep. I take Neurontin for nerve pain and Cymbalta for joint and muscular pain so I am reasonably comfortable most of the time. I have no pain in bed so I sleep pretty well except when I get RLS.
I know how hard it is for some of you to make the decision to have surgery, but for me it was a no brainer. By the time I managed to get myself to Dr. Frank Rand in Boston, I was desperate for help since I had tried everything that was available to me including wasting $5,000 on non-surgical decompression with a Chiropractor. My surgery was so complex that the posterior portion of my surgery lasted 12 hours and the anterior portion was more than seven hours. I count myself as one of the fortunate ones to survive and to end up having a full life. BTW, I would still be roller skating if there was a rink nearby that had a session for adults.
Thanks for reading, Sally
I know how hard it is for some of you to make the decision to have surgery, but for me it was a no brainer. By the time I managed to get myself to Dr. Frank Rand in Boston, I was desperate for help since I had tried everything that was available to me including wasting $5,000 on non-surgical decompression with a Chiropractor. My surgery was so complex that the posterior portion of my surgery lasted 12 hours and the anterior portion was more than seven hours. I count myself as one of the fortunate ones to survive and to end up having a full life. BTW, I would still be roller skating if there was a rink nearby that had a session for adults.
Thanks for reading, Sally
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