Must Haves For Post Op

[KathyInIowa]

OMG! That literally made me laugh out loud!

Kathy

[titaniumed]

Kathy, I was choking when I wrote that one. LOL

Laughter therapy works.....

Ed

[Pooka1]

Linda, Title says it all. I will need all distractions possible I fear... No, seriously I did not know that. I simply assumed it involved changing diapers, i.e. "wet" work. Of course that term is also slang for killing people in certain circles. I stand humiliated and corrected. Chet

Chet I am sorry you feel humiliated. Exactly nobody here was trying to do that to you.

This thread has been amusing and we like amusing around here. So I thank you for being here. :-)

[Irina]

LOL!!! I learned yet another English phrase from the forum. I remember a "fusion to scrotum" discussion a few years ago :-)

[titaniumed]

Irina

I believe “fusion to the scrotum” made post of the year! One for the ladies, of course!

With all we have to go through, there is no humiliation in any way, or at least for the elders that get used to it that can handle anything. I use self depreciating humor as a form of comedy when I can, and its worth it because we need all the laughter we can get dealing with scoliosis.

With terms and definitions, English offers a supply that doesn’t seem to end and its impossible to know the whole language.

Ed

[rjmacready]

English, Prolia and height

Yes, English ( reminds me of underinformed people who say things like "why don't you talk American?" 😆 can be challenging. So many words have different connotations, I have 6 years of Latin on board and that helps immensely in deciphering words I am not familiar with; so many of our words are derived from Latin.

I saw my rheumatologist yesterday. In May of 2016, roughly 70% through my 2 years of Forteo, I had an almost 3% increase in BMD. I will be done with Forteo in 2 weeks, and have already been approved for the transition to Prolia. I will consult with Lenke to see if he wants me to wait a bit after Forteo cessation.

During my OV intake my height was measured as 5'5". In 1997, I was 6'2". With a full head of still blonde hair and blue eyes, maybe I'll join "OurTime" after my surgery. Best to wait until I'm totally fused though, don't you think? 😉 Chet

[titaniumed]

With a full head of still blonde hair and blue eyes, maybe I'll join "OurTime" after my surgery. Best to wait until I'm totally fused though, don't you think? 😉 Chet

Ok, were on a roll....gotta come up with some new material.....going for post of the year.

Chet, we are all nimrods, but don’t get too gung ho too soon, the mating call being an exact science, happens when it happens. Here is some instructional video from a pro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uED55XuT1kw

Wasn’t that entertaining and educational! (smiley face) Don’t worry, I will have you laughing in rehab. It clears the lungs. If you turkey cut in ICU, they will give you stronger meds. Ha ha

It takes a long time to heal. Remember that it takes patience, and time. Realistic expectations are important things to keep in mind. You have osteoporotic bone, you will have to be taking things real easy while you heal. In other words, no forces, and for many months.....I took things real easy myself since I didn’t want to disturb or agitate my construct. No bending, no lifting, no twisting. Its our creed.

After you heal, you could advertise, “Tall, dark, and fused” You will have the tall and fused part covered, all you would have to do is color your hair. (smiley face)

When do you see Dr Lenke again?

Ed

[rjmacready]

Prolia and Lenke

The goal closest to my heart is to be able to clear out of this 100+ year old, 6 bedroom Victorian home in PA into a new, small single level unit somewhere in SW AZ by July 10, 2019. That would be 2 years post op. Unrealistic expectation? Flat horizons and pitch black skies with "good seeing" to indulge my hobby of astronomy. A yellow lab and intermittent/full time cohabitation are goal numbers 2 and 3. I don't think that is too much to ask. The only person I had an instant rapport with @ Hopkins was the nurse manager who was going to be the head of my post op pain management team. She ran down the procedure, and said my opiate intake was actually below average for advanced cases, and it would be no problem to keep me "comfortable". She said they can determine how much pain people have post op by counting respirations. The faster people are breathing, the more pain they are in. Who the Hell knows how they stumbled upon it, but the new post op PM craze is high does of methadone & acetaminophen. They coat your insides with a paste of this combo and infuse you with it. Apparently this combo doesn't cause the opiate blocking action the oral methadone does over a certain dose, (60 mg?) so they can add morphine, dilaudid etc... as nec. After 2-3 days you are totally awake and on fentanyl with a PCA pump loaded with dilaudid/morphine. I have yet to talk to Lenke's PM team, but I'm sure they do something similar. I've really tried to cover all the bases, something I did not do before my first back surgery.

I see Lenke again on May 15. That will be a 12 hour day in NYC- 6AM to 6PM: 3 CTs, 3 MRIs, plain films, PM consult, Lenke consult, ... Lenke insists the imaging be done @ The Spine Hospital. Even though that will be a 16+ hour day total and lay me up for a while, I'm not about to cause any waves. I'm giving him exactly what he wants. I actually feel very fortunate I found him before using Kebaish, and that he was not hesitant in the least to take my case. I think my luck started to change the day I found out Lenke had moved to NYC. I would never have wasted 6 months schlepping down and back from Hopkins, which is actually a longer trip as the crow flies. It takes the same or slightly more time to get to Lenke's just because of that stinking NYC traffic. (An example of my luck changing is how seamlessly the Prolia switch was done. It took 24 hours, I fought for months to finally get the Forteo.) Chet

[titaniumed]

Chet, we have goals and expectations. Our realistic goals and expectations on serious spine surgery should be “set as we go”......I want to say, yes, Arizona can happen in 2 years, but better to decide “after” you do your recovery.

I never intended on going skiing again after my surgeries. I was ok with that. It wasn’t expected, it was a bonus.....there is a difference in this. You don’t want to conquer the world if you don’t know. (I hope that didn’t sound too Trumpy)

The ultimate goal of surgery itself is complete pain relief....If this goal is met, you wont need to take meds. It’s the max goal set. It’s the best it gets. Not all of us get there, but we try really hard. All of the posties that are med free will testify that it wasn’t easy, and nothing good ever comes without effort. Reduction of meds will involve pain. Its part of the process.

If you end up having lingering pain, set your med goals through Dr Lenke, “after you recover”. Dr Lenke will pick a medication doctor for you.

Please realize that I am med free. Its what I choose regardless of any pains and bear traps and scar tissue gripping. Upon reading about a cancer patient that had back pain that was self diagnosed as a pull or sprain, she found out that she has this serious cancer spine problem. It makes for good reasoning since it would be harder to feel this sort of thing happening while on heavy medications. It affects judgment in pain which is needed as we age. (smug face)

Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii has an observatory and is good because there is little light pollution. I never went up there, (wanted to) because technically I would lose 3 dive days. Divers have a no fly rule we follow due to nitrogen expansion from the gain in altitude. I can imagine the Arizona desert being a great place for star gazing along with my home state of Nevada.

Nobody liked the turkey call vid? I thought it was hilarious.

Ed

[KathyInIowa]

[QUOTE=rjmacready;168724]The goal closest to my heart is to be able to clear out of this 100+ year old, 6 bedroom Victorian home in PA into a new, small single level unit somewhere in SW AZ by July 10, 2019. That would be 2 years post op. Unrealistic expectation? /QUOTE

Hi, Chet. I know where you are coming from. We lived in a 100+ year old beautiful Georgian Colonial home, 5,000+ square feet. When our youngest got out of college we sold it. 6 months later I had my decompression surgery, and 2 weddings later I had my fusion surgery. It was the best thing we ever did was get out of that big house. I loved raising our 4 kids there, but I have not missed cleaning & maintaining that big house. I have thanked God every day for making the timing just right for me, with my pain level as high as it was, I was getting to the point where it was killing me to keep up that house. Now, we live in a small 2 bedroom/1 bathroom house. It was much easier for me in my recovery being in this smaller home with no stairs. Sometimes I miss having more space, but we really have all we need. I suspect that you will love being in a smaller home.

Ed - we also sold our business in the midst of all this. Fortunately, the big decisions were made well into my recovery - unlike you who made big decisions on narcotics.

We have really simplified our lives in the last 2 years. It has made things much easier for me (us) - less things to physically take care of and less mental stress. I have been able to focus on my body and recovery and not worry about a whole host of other things. It's been really nice.

Kathy

[titaniumed]

[QUOTE=KathyInIowa;168729]

We have really simplified our lives in the last 2 years. It has made things much easier for me (us) - less things to physically take care of and less mental stress. I have been able to focus on my body and recovery and not worry about a whole host of other things. It's been really nice.

Kathy

Kathy, this is key, you have done things right. Reducing mental stress is so important since we go through so much of this as adult scolis.

I’m now posting turkey call videos because of stress, pretty soon I will be gobbling. LOL I think its pre retirement stress. I have given notice that I intend to fully retire this year.

I want to snowbird in my RV. Arizona sounds great, I will have to meet up with Chet someday down there.

I hope your recovery is coming along....is everything ok?

Ed

[KathyInIowa]

My Recovery

Ed - my recovery is going great! I've had my moments but all in all it's going well.

Just this past Thursday, I was in Minneapolis for my 8-month post op check up. Dr. Perra said my x-rays look great, I look great, and that I'm moving well. He said my fusion looks like it is "there" and my hardware shows no movement. My pain level is very low unless I over do things, then it might jump to a 2 or 3. I am still following the no bending, no twisting and I have been very cautious with my lifting, still nothing over 10#. He said it's OK to lift more than 10#, that I don't have to be that cautious any more. Not to go crazy or anything, but if I needed to lift something that is 20 or 25# that is OK.

I have travelled to Colorado Springs (5-months post op and went by myself) and I went to Dallas, TX. I'm going to Spokane, WA to visit my daughter at the end of April. I have tolerated the trips well, although I do get tired. I don't always sleep well - not related to my back, more related to my age, I think.

I spent 3 years in so much pain that it was hard for me to travel and really attend anything and have any fun. I limited myself to my own kids' college events or their special occasions. We don't live near any of our large family, so we have to travel to everything. I decided now that I'm feeling better and healthy, I'm going for it!

I've attached some pictures. Garden of the Gods (Rock #1 and #2) is 5-months post op, Stone Park is 6-months post op and Samuelson is 8-months post op. I showed these to Dr Perra and he said I should share them so people can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Kathy

[titaniumed]

Kathy

Nice photos....

I have an old thread of me hiking in the Redwoods back in Nov 2008 when I was 10 months. I don’t know if the photos still work, probably not, but you can see that I was in pain because I was just starting to push after my shoulder rebuild surgery. I would walk with ski poles slowly for a bit and have to lay down for 2 hours from exhaustion, then repeat. I was having gall issues also so not everything was perfect, but I was improving. It was a slow process....I was 16 months before the gall was pulled so that’s why I stated earlier in this thread to set expectations and goals “as we go”. Sometimes there are surgical complications that are not necessarily tied to the spine, so you don’t know. Gall bladder issues are a rare scoliosis surgical complication stated in the Moe handbook.

Twin Cities is where SRS was founded. In our community, that’s holy ground.....a very special place. My surgeon trained there, along with many scoliosis surgeons. (The South African connection)

A little history..... When I was a kid, I remember the first heart transplant done in South Africa. It was something I remembered and wondered about, South Africa of all places doing leading pioneering operations. When I met my surgeon, I asked about his accent, its not every day you hear a South African accent. I ended up choosing him due to his genius, and training, and its interesting how my memories of this 1st heart transplant had an effect on my decision. There are a few South African surgeons at TCSC. Dr Lonstein and Dr Transfeldt. Dr Barnard also studied in Minneapolis back in the 50’s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiaan_Barnard

I knew you were going to be fine....

Dr Lenke is also a very special surgeon....

Ed

[rjmacready]

No worries

[QUOTE=Pooka1;168701]Chet I am sorry you feel humiliated. Exactly nobody here was trying to do that to you.
P1, The "stand humiliated" is snarky. My ego is large enough that I don't appreciate being proven inaccurate, but then who does? I didn't give it a second thought. Anyone who goes onto a public forum these days has to be ready for the cyber equivalent of a night out with sailors after being at sea for 6 months. You develop a tough exterior or leave. This forum, more accurately a certain group of people, have been an invaluable resource for me. You folks have answered questions people like Dr. Lenke or his staff simply can't be bothered with. I will be as prepared as humanly possible for the post op period. That would not be the case without folks I've gotten to know on this forum. Chet

[rjmacready]

I suspect that you will love being in a smaller home.

Hi Kathy, Yes, it is not exactly quantum physics to realize having a home this big for one and sometimes two people is a waste. I had considered selling first, but I am so compromised physically doing things like packing my very expensive electronic gear would be impossible. I would not trust a moving company to do it. True, this home is about the worst place you could do a complete spinal fusion rehab in. If it weren't for steps and windows (#22) I would not have a home. With the surgery scheduled for July 10, I'd say my option to move first has expired. Chet