Back Surgery and Recovery
Goodness, it's been awhile since I last updated this thing! So much has been happening that I haven't had the energy to write any of it down until now.
On the 27th of August I had back surgery. After dealing with intense, crippling pain for ten months I finally was sent to a neurosurgeon to see if surgery would help me. When I met with him, he told me that looking at my MRI put him in pain, and why didn't they send me to him sooner? He could not understand what my other doctors were thinking, and was absolutely furious with them for making me wait this long for relief. "Didn't anyone tell you that this is a completely temporary and fixable problem??" he asked me, and I was like, no, I was given the impression that I might be like this for the rest of my life! So, after ten months of waiting and waiting and begging for relief, this guy gets me into surgery in less than a week. I met him for the first time on a Tuesday, he had his nurse get me an appointment for an updated MRI which was done on Wednesday, he had me back in to see him with the MRI results on Thursday, and the next Monday I was in surgery. He was bumping other people aside so that I could have all this done, not flat out saying it, but implying that it would be completely irresponsible of him to let me go on any longer as I was. "You've suffered long enough," he told me. He actually would have gotten me in for surgery on the 24th, but he just couldn't make the schedule work for that.
So, surgery was okay. I was blissfully unconscious for the entire thing. Once I woke up I started having a small panic attack and, being rather muddled, kept asking for my sister, so it took them awhile to understand that I wanted Krys (she and my dad had come with me and were in the waiting area place). Once they brought her up I started to calm down and felt better. Then I got to see daddy, too, and they both stayed with me for awhile. It was supposed to be an out patient surgery, but there was a slight complication (because there *always* is a complication with me), so they ended up keeping me one night. The surgeon had warned me that it was possible they'd hit the spinal column because of how bad the disk bulge was, and if that happened I would have to spend two days on my back no moving at all. They thought they had nicked mine, so I had to remain flat so none of the spinal fluid would leak out, just for the one night so they could monitor me. Dad stayed for awhile and then left; Krys stayed with me until about 8pm and then went home, though she called me later to check up on me, because I had started to feel really ill shortly before she took off. The night nurse had found that my catheter wasn't draining properly, so there was a ton of urine backing up inside me, and that caused bladder spasms and possibly a small infection. But I was in so much pain from that and I felt so sick and scared, I was sure I was going to die. It took them almost the entire night before they found me any relief. They did x-rays to try and find what was wrong, and CAT scans, and gave me different meds. It was awful. Apparently just basic doses of painkillers and anesthetics don't work on me, because they kept feeding some heavy duty painkiller into my IV and it wasn't knocking me out at all. I had a really good night nurse, though, and once she really understood how scared and ill I was she started bulling other nurses and doctors around so they would fix me. It was not a good time.
But here's the good news: I can walk again. By the time I met the neurosurgeon I could no longer stand up straight and I couldn't even walk the equivalent of a short city block. I was in constant pain beyond what I thought possible. All that is gone now. The only pain I have is from the incision, some minor back pain where they actually cut away the bulging disk that is healing now, and muscle pain in my thighs as they get used to being used again. I can walk around the block now. And through Target. And across Southdale. These are all simple things that I haven't been able to do for months. I'm regaining the strength in my legs so I can walked farther and farther every day. I pray that it continues to get better. I had had to stop singing because of the pain; I couldn't get to church any longer. Hopefully this Sunday I'll be able to return. It'll be my first one back in almost two months.
Because of the surgery I am out of work for four weeks, which has its pros and cons. My coworkers wouldn't believe how quick they got me in for surgery. They're a great group though, and have been really supportive through this entire ten month escapade of pain and suffering. Jenessa and Mandi actually were the ones to take me to have my MRI done, since it was scheduled too quick for my parents to rearrange their schedules. They sent me a lovely flower arrangement with a teddy bear hugging the vase the day after I came home, which was really nice. I love where I work.
Anyway, so now it's just time to rest and take it easy. I'm not allowed to bend or twist or lift anything over ten pounds. But I can tell I'm getting better, and hopefully some day I'll be back to my normal levels of activity.
On the 27th of August I had back surgery. After dealing with intense, crippling pain for ten months I finally was sent to a neurosurgeon to see if surgery would help me. When I met with him, he told me that looking at my MRI put him in pain, and why didn't they send me to him sooner? He could not understand what my other doctors were thinking, and was absolutely furious with them for making me wait this long for relief. "Didn't anyone tell you that this is a completely temporary and fixable problem??" he asked me, and I was like, no, I was given the impression that I might be like this for the rest of my life! So, after ten months of waiting and waiting and begging for relief, this guy gets me into surgery in less than a week. I met him for the first time on a Tuesday, he had his nurse get me an appointment for an updated MRI which was done on Wednesday, he had me back in to see him with the MRI results on Thursday, and the next Monday I was in surgery. He was bumping other people aside so that I could have all this done, not flat out saying it, but implying that it would be completely irresponsible of him to let me go on any longer as I was. "You've suffered long enough," he told me. He actually would have gotten me in for surgery on the 24th, but he just couldn't make the schedule work for that.
So, surgery was okay. I was blissfully unconscious for the entire thing. Once I woke up I started having a small panic attack and, being rather muddled, kept asking for my sister, so it took them awhile to understand that I wanted Krys (she and my dad had come with me and were in the waiting area place). Once they brought her up I started to calm down and felt better. Then I got to see daddy, too, and they both stayed with me for awhile. It was supposed to be an out patient surgery, but there was a slight complication (because there *always* is a complication with me), so they ended up keeping me one night. The surgeon had warned me that it was possible they'd hit the spinal column because of how bad the disk bulge was, and if that happened I would have to spend two days on my back no moving at all. They thought they had nicked mine, so I had to remain flat so none of the spinal fluid would leak out, just for the one night so they could monitor me. Dad stayed for awhile and then left; Krys stayed with me until about 8pm and then went home, though she called me later to check up on me, because I had started to feel really ill shortly before she took off. The night nurse had found that my catheter wasn't draining properly, so there was a ton of urine backing up inside me, and that caused bladder spasms and possibly a small infection. But I was in so much pain from that and I felt so sick and scared, I was sure I was going to die. It took them almost the entire night before they found me any relief. They did x-rays to try and find what was wrong, and CAT scans, and gave me different meds. It was awful. Apparently just basic doses of painkillers and anesthetics don't work on me, because they kept feeding some heavy duty painkiller into my IV and it wasn't knocking me out at all. I had a really good night nurse, though, and once she really understood how scared and ill I was she started bulling other nurses and doctors around so they would fix me. It was not a good time.
But here's the good news: I can walk again. By the time I met the neurosurgeon I could no longer stand up straight and I couldn't even walk the equivalent of a short city block. I was in constant pain beyond what I thought possible. All that is gone now. The only pain I have is from the incision, some minor back pain where they actually cut away the bulging disk that is healing now, and muscle pain in my thighs as they get used to being used again. I can walk around the block now. And through Target. And across Southdale. These are all simple things that I haven't been able to do for months. I'm regaining the strength in my legs so I can walked farther and farther every day. I pray that it continues to get better. I had had to stop singing because of the pain; I couldn't get to church any longer. Hopefully this Sunday I'll be able to return. It'll be my first one back in almost two months.
Because of the surgery I am out of work for four weeks, which has its pros and cons. My coworkers wouldn't believe how quick they got me in for surgery. They're a great group though, and have been really supportive through this entire ten month escapade of pain and suffering. Jenessa and Mandi actually were the ones to take me to have my MRI done, since it was scheduled too quick for my parents to rearrange their schedules. They sent me a lovely flower arrangement with a teddy bear hugging the vase the day after I came home, which was really nice. I love where I work.
Anyway, so now it's just time to rest and take it easy. I'm not allowed to bend or twist or lift anything over ten pounds. But I can tell I'm getting better, and hopefully some day I'll be back to my normal levels of activity.