Hello again everyone - - it's me (Michele/jerseyot)....i'm sorry for having not posted in a while - the last time i posted was 1/29 and that was before what i'm now referring to as "THE BIG ONE" - that 2nd surgery (9-1/2 hours) on 1/31 just about turned me inside out and upside down. I had a lot of trouble with that one - i had a hard time coming out of anesthesia and spent several nights in the critical care ICU for respiratory and blood blood pressure issues (i lost a little more than 1/2 my blood volume) and I was spiking crazy high fevers on and off - then spent 2 days in ICU before finally going to a regular room. I had several blood transfusions and spent 2-3 days hallucinating on the morphine that was wrapped around the base of my spine - they were some of the scariest most horrible hallucinations (although i have nothing to care it too) you can imagine and i was a bit traumatized by all of that once i finally came out of them. And at that point, it was 3-4 days after that second surgery...it seemed like time stood still while in the hospital.
My blood pressure due to the severe anemia from the significant amount of blood that i lost was the biggest problem...it influenced everything - at it's lowest i was barely conscious (75/45) and was feeling so lightheaded just laying in bed that it was almost difficult to describe (almost like i was floating??). I was (and still am) very pale and always cold. I have significant right-sided weakness and numbness from my knee to buttock, which i didn't have prior to surgery. On an extremely unfortunate note (for ME), i was never able to go to an acute rehab hospital for the intense rehab i needed because the therapists took my morhpine-enduced "high" as my current functional state instead of what it really was - which was all the pain masked by such a high dose of morphine that i felt i could paint the house and move furniture! Once i came crashing down off the high the next day, it was clear to EVERYONE that i was in no way shape or form doing "fabulous" or "amazing" as the PT and OT had told the case manager - and since their documentation of our session the day before was already submitted to insurance, they denied my dr's request to send me to an acute rehab setting the next day due to what the therapists had already submitted...and yes, my surgeon even disputed the denial calling the medical director of my insurance and of the rehab hospital, and both said "Sorry, your therapists already said such-n-such...she's not eligibile now." - - SO, with that, my choices were subacute or go home to my 2 and 4 yr old - - which was not possible since i couldn't even walk 5-10' without help a walker and a rest! So i went to subacute for a week, hated it, got 3 hours of therapy TOTAL after spending 8 days there and then said i'm going home.
Since being home, i'm doing much better...i'm walking around more, my spirits are up because i'm not sitting in a nursing home where NO ONE there even thought i should be and where i'm with my family. I have a first-floor set up with hospital bed and it's working out very well - with the right sided weakness, doing stairs is difficult (not impossible, but hard and very slow) - but i'm getting stronger every day. I have PT come to the house several times a week and visiting nurse comes to monitor my BP and constipation, which has been awful from the pain meds, iron and overall decreased activity level. I'm still really pale and have very little stamina - showering takes a lot out of me - and when i went to see the surgeon for my first post-op visit this morning, he said i'm right where i should be...hmmm...i disagree - but maybe that's just me being impatient...i believe if i had gone to the acute rehab like we (the surgeon and I) had planned, i'd be alot further along at this point - and he and i both know that. BUT, we can't change the past nor can i spend my time dwelling on it. I'm home, i'm improving (albeit slowly) and i'm doing a little more each day. I'm taking less and less pain meds and overall my pain is not nearly as bad as when i went to the rehab place on 2/6. So progress....definitely progress....
I go back to the surgeon on 3/19 and will have scoliosis series xrays prior to that so once i have those done i'll post before & after pictures. I'm dying to see my own xrays! I'm grateful to my surgeon for his skillful hands and i can now stand up straight and tall - no more "shopping cart syndrome" - if i can figure out how to post the pics i'll show you - my back and flank are still really bruised and very very sore but the dr said that will fade with time. So if anyone asks "Would you do it again to fix flatback and all your pain?" - i would say without reservation or hesitation "YES" - and i would HIGHLY RECOMMEND - DR. DAVID CLEMENTS! He is, to me, a miracle worker - with miracle working hands. Thank you God, thank you Dr. Clements and thank you ALL OF YOU for your unending support and encouragment throughout this. I'm not jumping back into things as quickly as i'd like but i'll get there - one foot in front of the other - one day at a time. Thank you GOD for carrying me when i couldn't walk, and for continuing to walk by me as I endure this journey so that i can live a happier, healthier more active life for myself and for my two precious little ones. Thank you.
My blood pressure due to the severe anemia from the significant amount of blood that i lost was the biggest problem...it influenced everything - at it's lowest i was barely conscious (75/45) and was feeling so lightheaded just laying in bed that it was almost difficult to describe (almost like i was floating??). I was (and still am) very pale and always cold. I have significant right-sided weakness and numbness from my knee to buttock, which i didn't have prior to surgery. On an extremely unfortunate note (for ME), i was never able to go to an acute rehab hospital for the intense rehab i needed because the therapists took my morhpine-enduced "high" as my current functional state instead of what it really was - which was all the pain masked by such a high dose of morphine that i felt i could paint the house and move furniture! Once i came crashing down off the high the next day, it was clear to EVERYONE that i was in no way shape or form doing "fabulous" or "amazing" as the PT and OT had told the case manager - and since their documentation of our session the day before was already submitted to insurance, they denied my dr's request to send me to an acute rehab setting the next day due to what the therapists had already submitted...and yes, my surgeon even disputed the denial calling the medical director of my insurance and of the rehab hospital, and both said "Sorry, your therapists already said such-n-such...she's not eligibile now." - - SO, with that, my choices were subacute or go home to my 2 and 4 yr old - - which was not possible since i couldn't even walk 5-10' without help a walker and a rest! So i went to subacute for a week, hated it, got 3 hours of therapy TOTAL after spending 8 days there and then said i'm going home.
Since being home, i'm doing much better...i'm walking around more, my spirits are up because i'm not sitting in a nursing home where NO ONE there even thought i should be and where i'm with my family. I have a first-floor set up with hospital bed and it's working out very well - with the right sided weakness, doing stairs is difficult (not impossible, but hard and very slow) - but i'm getting stronger every day. I have PT come to the house several times a week and visiting nurse comes to monitor my BP and constipation, which has been awful from the pain meds, iron and overall decreased activity level. I'm still really pale and have very little stamina - showering takes a lot out of me - and when i went to see the surgeon for my first post-op visit this morning, he said i'm right where i should be...hmmm...i disagree - but maybe that's just me being impatient...i believe if i had gone to the acute rehab like we (the surgeon and I) had planned, i'd be alot further along at this point - and he and i both know that. BUT, we can't change the past nor can i spend my time dwelling on it. I'm home, i'm improving (albeit slowly) and i'm doing a little more each day. I'm taking less and less pain meds and overall my pain is not nearly as bad as when i went to the rehab place on 2/6. So progress....definitely progress....
I go back to the surgeon on 3/19 and will have scoliosis series xrays prior to that so once i have those done i'll post before & after pictures. I'm dying to see my own xrays! I'm grateful to my surgeon for his skillful hands and i can now stand up straight and tall - no more "shopping cart syndrome" - if i can figure out how to post the pics i'll show you - my back and flank are still really bruised and very very sore but the dr said that will fade with time. So if anyone asks "Would you do it again to fix flatback and all your pain?" - i would say without reservation or hesitation "YES" - and i would HIGHLY RECOMMEND - DR. DAVID CLEMENTS! He is, to me, a miracle worker - with miracle working hands. Thank you God, thank you Dr. Clements and thank you ALL OF YOU for your unending support and encouragment throughout this. I'm not jumping back into things as quickly as i'd like but i'll get there - one foot in front of the other - one day at a time. Thank you GOD for carrying me when i couldn't walk, and for continuing to walk by me as I endure this journey so that i can live a happier, healthier more active life for myself and for my two precious little ones. Thank you.
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