Oh my goodness! It's been a full year since my back surgery!
Having that surgery was the best thing I've ever done. Well, ok, the best thing I've ever done is marrying Rob, and having my two girls. But after that.
I can do almost everything I could do before my surgery. I can lift things. I can bend over at the waist and touch the floor with my fingers. Perhaps the only thing that is more difficult now is sitting up in bed to pull up the covers. But that's more because I haven't worked on sit-ups (I got really good at log rolling)!
I wore the back brace for three full months. They were very long months. I hated that brace with a passion by the time I was done wearing it. I'm really glad that I did it though. I healed quickly and thoroughly. Right after the surgery I couldn't imagine ever leaning to the side without pain again, but I can do it easily now. For the first 3 or 4 months, it hurt to sit in a chair for more than 15 minutes. But I began to be able to sit longer and longer. I began to be able to pick up things that fell on the floor. I began to be able to bend over. All of the healing was gradual but consistent.
There is an occasional feeling of numbness that goes down my right leg, when I am laying in bed, but I just shift position and it goes away. The great thing about bed, though: I can lie in bed! I can sleep on my back and it doesn't hurt. (Although if you ask Rob that is bad news because I snore when I sleep on my back!) And what about pain? It's gone. Totally, completely, gone.
September 2, 2014
September 18, 2013
Back Surgery, Part III
What was the name of my surgery? A decompression and fusion of L5-S1 with pedicle screws.
What did I do today? Well, I woke up around 8:30. I had a very hard time falling asleep the night before, it was probably 1 am before I slept. Showering and dressing takes me at least half an hour. I'm not allowed to bend or twist or reach or lift. I wear a brace anytime I'm not reclining in bed, unless I'm showering. So showering is a respite from the brace (but also a little scary). When is the last time you put on underwear without bending? Yah, it's tricky. So I get dressed, and put the brace back on. Then I sit on a stool to comb my hair, take my drugs. I choose a pair of socks and find a chair to sit on to try to get them on. I usually give up and have someone else do it, but today I did it all by myself! Yay! Then, I texted Rob to say I was coming downstairs. (He was on the phone, working.) Breakfast was simply cereal. Then I spent a few minutes working on a puzzle. Then Rob was ready to get some fabric out so I can make a sort of body pillow to sleep with, so I went upstairs. I didn't quite have the pattern worked out yet in my head, so I headed back downstairs, worked on the puzzle some more, and texted with a friend. But texting on the cell phone is hard, so I headed upstairs to use the laptop. I tuck my phone into the front of my brace so I don't have to carry it. Going up and down stairs requires a cane in one hand, the rail in the other. By then Rob was at work (at his real office) and it's good to have the phone in case I fall or have trouble. Did some Skyping. Did a little work on church stuff. Walked to the mailbox and got the mail. It was a little heavy, there were about 3 magazines and a package. Asked Rob to pick up some tacos for me on his way home. Took a rest on the bed. Worked on the puzzle again. Went upstairs again and did some more computer work. Went down again and asked neighbor M to go for a walk with me. Walked all the way to the park and home again. Went upstairs again. Went back down for dinner. Worked on the puzzle again. Finished it! Tried typing this blog on the sofa. Didn't last too long. Moved to bed. Now, it's about time to go back upstairs, go to bed for real. No naps today. But I'm doing well. It only hurts a little bit to roll out of bed now, and to push up into a sitting position. I'm getting really good at getting my brace on and tightened properly. I can occasionally do a few stairs without the cane, but I still feel more secure having it there and relying on it partially.
Oh, and what about the original pain? It was immediately gone. I felt a twinge of it tonight while sitting on the sofa, and that's ok. The surgeon said it might return for a few weeks while I begin to heal. I hope it won't get too bad. I've been icing my back and taking my ibuprofen. All the bandages are off my back and the sutures are beginning to dissolve. I will return to normal, step by step.
What did I do today? Well, I woke up around 8:30. I had a very hard time falling asleep the night before, it was probably 1 am before I slept. Showering and dressing takes me at least half an hour. I'm not allowed to bend or twist or reach or lift. I wear a brace anytime I'm not reclining in bed, unless I'm showering. So showering is a respite from the brace (but also a little scary). When is the last time you put on underwear without bending? Yah, it's tricky. So I get dressed, and put the brace back on. Then I sit on a stool to comb my hair, take my drugs. I choose a pair of socks and find a chair to sit on to try to get them on. I usually give up and have someone else do it, but today I did it all by myself! Yay! Then, I texted Rob to say I was coming downstairs. (He was on the phone, working.) Breakfast was simply cereal. Then I spent a few minutes working on a puzzle. Then Rob was ready to get some fabric out so I can make a sort of body pillow to sleep with, so I went upstairs. I didn't quite have the pattern worked out yet in my head, so I headed back downstairs, worked on the puzzle some more, and texted with a friend. But texting on the cell phone is hard, so I headed upstairs to use the laptop. I tuck my phone into the front of my brace so I don't have to carry it. Going up and down stairs requires a cane in one hand, the rail in the other. By then Rob was at work (at his real office) and it's good to have the phone in case I fall or have trouble. Did some Skyping. Did a little work on church stuff. Walked to the mailbox and got the mail. It was a little heavy, there were about 3 magazines and a package. Asked Rob to pick up some tacos for me on his way home. Took a rest on the bed. Worked on the puzzle again. Went upstairs again and did some more computer work. Went down again and asked neighbor M to go for a walk with me. Walked all the way to the park and home again. Went upstairs again. Went back down for dinner. Worked on the puzzle again. Finished it! Tried typing this blog on the sofa. Didn't last too long. Moved to bed. Now, it's about time to go back upstairs, go to bed for real. No naps today. But I'm doing well. It only hurts a little bit to roll out of bed now, and to push up into a sitting position. I'm getting really good at getting my brace on and tightened properly. I can occasionally do a few stairs without the cane, but I still feel more secure having it there and relying on it partially.
Oh, and what about the original pain? It was immediately gone. I felt a twinge of it tonight while sitting on the sofa, and that's ok. The surgeon said it might return for a few weeks while I begin to heal. I hope it won't get too bad. I've been icing my back and taking my ibuprofen. All the bandages are off my back and the sutures are beginning to dissolve. I will return to normal, step by step.
Back Surgery, Part II
Surgery was scheduled for 7:30 am. We had to be at the hospital at 5:30 am. No food after midnight, little to no water to drink. I had to shower with special soap twice; once the night before, and once the morning of surgery. Boy, I felt squeaky clean and, well, really scared. The weeks before surgery I kept second guessing myself, wondering if I'd made the right decision. I kept going. They had me change into a paper gown lined with icky feeling plastic-y stuff. Bleh. The anesthesiologist came in and talked to me, the surgeon came in and talked to me. A nurse came in and inserted my IV line. Another nurse came in and gave me valium. Everything became surreal and easy. Five hours later I woke up in recovery. It was difficult to wake up because my blood pressure was dangerously low. They pumped me up with as much saline as they could. They gave me ice chips when I asked. That first hour of waking up passed in about 3 hiccups. (Yes, I did have the hiccups.) The second hour in recovery I became more aware. I didn't really care what was going on. I did hurt, some, so they gave me more pain meds. Finally they wheeled me to my room. I heard Rob's voice, and I felt so reassured. Then they moved me from the gurney to my bed. Can we say ouch?
Time passed, nurses came in and out, I got all the pain drugs I needed. The nurses were all very nice. I think my favorite one was the one I had the first night. I guess on the neuro floor, they have only 4 patients per nurse, so it was easy to get help whenever needed. In fact, I don't think I even pushed the nurse call button that first afternoon and night. The pastor from my church dropped by for a visit about the same time that dinner arrived. Oh yah, they told me I was on a general diet, I could have whatever I wanted. So I ordered teriyaki chicken with rice and vegetables. My mouth was still very dry, but I bravely took a bite of chicken. And tried to chew it. And tried. And drank a sip of water. And chewed, and drank, and chewed, and drank. Wow, it's really hard to chew anything when your mouth is parched. And then there's swallowing. I guess after you've been intubated, your throat can be a little swollen. And the huge canker sores that just popped up and became huge while in surgery. One big one on my inner lip, and one on my tongue made chewing even more difficult (but at least they didn't hurt, all those good drugs took care of that). (What are those tubes made of? Am I allergic to it?) Bravely, I decided to try a bite of rice. Silly me! If you can't chew chicken, you also can't make a bunch of grains of rice go down your throat. On to the broccoli. The stem was okay, but all those little florets? ppphhbt. Rob and I enjoyed talking to Pastor J, and then they both left so I could sleep. But first, I asked for more food. This time, I was smart. I ordered homemade chicken soup and a milkshake. Well, I was almost smart. The chicken soup was horribly salty, but I ate it all anyhow. I figured the salt would make me drink more, which would help me hydrate. And the milkshake? Heavenly. I didn't really sleep that night, I was mostly just in a haze. The nurses kept checking on me, taking my blood pressure (around 95/60) and heart rate (generally in the mid 50's). I was only breathing about 8 times a minute, but it was okay. I think for breakfast the next morning I tried some scrambled eggs (ate about 3 bites), canadian bacon (had 1 bite) and applesauce (ate all of it). For lunch I had low-sodium vegetable soup. Bleck. Tasted like something from a can, with NO sodium. I should have combined the two soups! And another milkshake. Yum. Sometime that day S came to visit. That was fun. My friend N called the next night, before she came to see me, and offered to bring me something. I said I didn't think I was allowed to eat "outside" food but the nurse said sure I could. So she brought me a subway sandwich and it was glorious! Right after she left, M came again, with her boyfriend, and also S again. And all this time, I wasn't hurting too much.
The second morning there (Sept 4) the occupational therapist came to see me. She showed me how to put on socks. She made me try it. I could do it, but they were huge, loose socks, so pretty easy to get on. Then the physical therapist stopped by. He made me sit up (log roll style) and then stand up. He gave me the choice of walking to the door or not, and I chose to try it. Success. Then back to bed. Then my surgeon's PA came to visit. She said it was time to take out the catheter. I balked. I asked for breakfast first. I wanted time for breakfast to, errrr...flow out first. So, not too much later, they took it out. It didn't hurt at all, just felt a little odd. What a relief!
When I couldn't avoid it, I asked for help to get to the bathroom. Afterwards, I went for a walk, all the way out of my room and down the hall 20 or 30 feet. It felt like such an accomplishment! And later that day I took another walk, going even further. Eating was getting easier, friends were dropping in, and each time I log-rolled up, it hurt a little less. The next morning: more occupational therapy. This time it was showering. I took the fastest shower on earth. It was odd to be naked in front of two total strangers, but I didn't really care. I washed my hair, sort of, and my face, and said I was done. Got help drying off and got to put on my own pajamas. So much better than the plastic/paper gown! I even got to brush my teeth. Then another physical therapist visited. It was time to try a step. Okay, so I followed her around the hall, the step wasn't where it was supposed to be, so I walked a little farther with her and we found it. I tried the step (did I mention I was using a walker?) and I did a great job. Whew. Up. Down. Up. Down. Done. Bed. I don't remember if it was later the same day or if it was the next, but I had another PT session. This time it was...3 steps! I learned how to turn the walker sideways for stability and go both up and down that way.
During all this time, Rob took some time at home to prepare some meals, and he also went to our church to borrow a walker. What a blessing to have that walker. But he mostly was at the hospital with me. A lot of the time he was on his computer, telecommuting for work, but still, he was there. He's a wonderful guy. (He's even better than a walker!)
It was early on Wednesday that they took the catheter out, and later on Wednesday that they took the drain tube out of me. Yah, that was weird. Then, finally, on Thursday they took the IV needle out! Yahoo! I hated having that thing in me. Lots of visitors that day. Lots of sleep. More milkshakes. They told me I would get to go home on Friday, a whole day sooner than expected. Wow!
The trip out of the hospital in a wheel chair left me feeling woozy, like the world was spinning, but it was such a relief to be going home. Getting into the car hurt, but I did it. And then I went to bed. The first few days and nights were really tough. We sort of compared my needs with those of a baby: I had to be fed, woken every 4 hours for drugs and water, and helped to the bathroom. Rob must have been exhausted. Every evening friends came and visited, and when Rob had to go on an unavoidable business trip, friends came in 3 hour shifts and helped me out. They brought me lunch and dinner, and did kind things like washing the dishes and sweeping up crumbs. The best part was getting to visit. I hope I didn't nod off too much. (Sorry, D.) My daughter M stayed with me two nights, and L came down from WA to stay with me the last night. Then Rob was home again.
Each day I've tried to walk a little farther. I seem to have one good day, and then one hard day. But the hard days are getting a little less hard. My friends and neighbors and family have been wonderful. I couldn't be doing this without them.
Time passed, nurses came in and out, I got all the pain drugs I needed. The nurses were all very nice. I think my favorite one was the one I had the first night. I guess on the neuro floor, they have only 4 patients per nurse, so it was easy to get help whenever needed. In fact, I don't think I even pushed the nurse call button that first afternoon and night. The pastor from my church dropped by for a visit about the same time that dinner arrived. Oh yah, they told me I was on a general diet, I could have whatever I wanted. So I ordered teriyaki chicken with rice and vegetables. My mouth was still very dry, but I bravely took a bite of chicken. And tried to chew it. And tried. And drank a sip of water. And chewed, and drank, and chewed, and drank. Wow, it's really hard to chew anything when your mouth is parched. And then there's swallowing. I guess after you've been intubated, your throat can be a little swollen. And the huge canker sores that just popped up and became huge while in surgery. One big one on my inner lip, and one on my tongue made chewing even more difficult (but at least they didn't hurt, all those good drugs took care of that). (What are those tubes made of? Am I allergic to it?) Bravely, I decided to try a bite of rice. Silly me! If you can't chew chicken, you also can't make a bunch of grains of rice go down your throat. On to the broccoli. The stem was okay, but all those little florets? ppphhbt. Rob and I enjoyed talking to Pastor J, and then they both left so I could sleep. But first, I asked for more food. This time, I was smart. I ordered homemade chicken soup and a milkshake. Well, I was almost smart. The chicken soup was horribly salty, but I ate it all anyhow. I figured the salt would make me drink more, which would help me hydrate. And the milkshake? Heavenly. I didn't really sleep that night, I was mostly just in a haze. The nurses kept checking on me, taking my blood pressure (around 95/60) and heart rate (generally in the mid 50's). I was only breathing about 8 times a minute, but it was okay. I think for breakfast the next morning I tried some scrambled eggs (ate about 3 bites), canadian bacon (had 1 bite) and applesauce (ate all of it). For lunch I had low-sodium vegetable soup. Bleck. Tasted like something from a can, with NO sodium. I should have combined the two soups! And another milkshake. Yum. Sometime that day S came to visit. That was fun. My friend N called the next night, before she came to see me, and offered to bring me something. I said I didn't think I was allowed to eat "outside" food but the nurse said sure I could. So she brought me a subway sandwich and it was glorious! Right after she left, M came again, with her boyfriend, and also S again. And all this time, I wasn't hurting too much.
The second morning there (Sept 4) the occupational therapist came to see me. She showed me how to put on socks. She made me try it. I could do it, but they were huge, loose socks, so pretty easy to get on. Then the physical therapist stopped by. He made me sit up (log roll style) and then stand up. He gave me the choice of walking to the door or not, and I chose to try it. Success. Then back to bed. Then my surgeon's PA came to visit. She said it was time to take out the catheter. I balked. I asked for breakfast first. I wanted time for breakfast to, errrr...flow out first. So, not too much later, they took it out. It didn't hurt at all, just felt a little odd. What a relief!
When I couldn't avoid it, I asked for help to get to the bathroom. Afterwards, I went for a walk, all the way out of my room and down the hall 20 or 30 feet. It felt like such an accomplishment! And later that day I took another walk, going even further. Eating was getting easier, friends were dropping in, and each time I log-rolled up, it hurt a little less. The next morning: more occupational therapy. This time it was showering. I took the fastest shower on earth. It was odd to be naked in front of two total strangers, but I didn't really care. I washed my hair, sort of, and my face, and said I was done. Got help drying off and got to put on my own pajamas. So much better than the plastic/paper gown! I even got to brush my teeth. Then another physical therapist visited. It was time to try a step. Okay, so I followed her around the hall, the step wasn't where it was supposed to be, so I walked a little farther with her and we found it. I tried the step (did I mention I was using a walker?) and I did a great job. Whew. Up. Down. Up. Down. Done. Bed. I don't remember if it was later the same day or if it was the next, but I had another PT session. This time it was...3 steps! I learned how to turn the walker sideways for stability and go both up and down that way.
During all this time, Rob took some time at home to prepare some meals, and he also went to our church to borrow a walker. What a blessing to have that walker. But he mostly was at the hospital with me. A lot of the time he was on his computer, telecommuting for work, but still, he was there. He's a wonderful guy. (He's even better than a walker!)
It was early on Wednesday that they took the catheter out, and later on Wednesday that they took the drain tube out of me. Yah, that was weird. Then, finally, on Thursday they took the IV needle out! Yahoo! I hated having that thing in me. Lots of visitors that day. Lots of sleep. More milkshakes. They told me I would get to go home on Friday, a whole day sooner than expected. Wow!
The trip out of the hospital in a wheel chair left me feeling woozy, like the world was spinning, but it was such a relief to be going home. Getting into the car hurt, but I did it. And then I went to bed. The first few days and nights were really tough. We sort of compared my needs with those of a baby: I had to be fed, woken every 4 hours for drugs and water, and helped to the bathroom. Rob must have been exhausted. Every evening friends came and visited, and when Rob had to go on an unavoidable business trip, friends came in 3 hour shifts and helped me out. They brought me lunch and dinner, and did kind things like washing the dishes and sweeping up crumbs. The best part was getting to visit. I hope I didn't nod off too much. (Sorry, D.) My daughter M stayed with me two nights, and L came down from WA to stay with me the last night. Then Rob was home again.
Each day I've tried to walk a little farther. I seem to have one good day, and then one hard day. But the hard days are getting a little less hard. My friends and neighbors and family have been wonderful. I couldn't be doing this without them.
What's it like to have back surgery?
First, a little history. As a child, I stood with a swayed back. As I got older, my parents would make me stand against the pantry door and make me push the small of my back against the pantry, to show me how I should be standing. It was humiliating, but for what it's worth, they didn't know that my spinal cord wasn't built quite right. About 14 years ago, when I had a sudden onset of pain in my hip, I had some physical therapy. It didn't help. Then I had an x-ray and I was told I had level 1 spondylolisthesis. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spondylolisthesis. )That means that my L5-S1 joint is malformed, genetically. The union of the two vertebra were squeezing my sciatic nerve. I went to a couple sessions at a chiropractor's, but I didn't feel comfortable with him cracking my back, and it didn't help with the pain. Around the same time I went on a gluten-free diet, and because of the lack of gluten-free foods at the time, I lost 25 pounds. And the pain in my hip disappeared. But I felt like the shape of my back had changed during that next year, so I had another x-ray. The doctor referred me to a neurosurgeon, who informed me that I was now a grade 2/3 (out of 4) spondy. It worried me that my L5 vertebra had slipped farther forward on my S1, but since I didn't have pain symptoms, the surgeon told me that I didn't need surgery. He did say that it would be best to keep an eye on it, and I would likely need surgery at some point, as I got older
Fast forward 10 years. I was back to my original weight (chocolate, after all, has a lot of gluten-free options), and the pain returned. I had been lifting 30 pound landscaping bricks to build a wall in my backyard. So I went back to my doctor; he ordered another X-ray. The X-ray technician reviewed the X-ray, and even though they aren't supposed to comment, he said, "uh, ma'am, you should make an appt with your doctor right away." I told him that I knew I had spondylolisthesis. Turns out, the spondy hadn't progressed. It was still at a 50% slippage.
So the doctor sent me to physical therapy. I probably went 10 times, and it didn't help at all. I finally had an MRI done, which basically re-confirmed the spondy. Then I saw the surgeon again. He told me that I had a few options. Maybe losing some weight again would help. I could have a steroid injection into the joint to reduce the inflamation in the sciatic nerve. Or I could have surgery. He also said, that as I lacked the bony connection, physical therapy would not be able to fix me. I cancelled my PT appointments, and scheduled my first steroid injection. I was going to do everything I could to avoid surgery.
I received my injection in August 2012, shortly before a trip to Nova Scotia. I was able to walk around almost pain free for about 6 weeks, and then slowly the pain returned. Darn. So I doubly resolved to lose weight. But the more I moved, the more I hurt, so exercise was harder to do. Sitting down on the floor or a chair helped to alleviate the pain, so I spent a lot of time sitting. I still did what I could in the garden, but I definitely wasn't up to my usual weeding/trimming/caretaking.
In January of this year, I saw the neurosurgeon again, and this time asked him for more exact information about the surgery. Cut me open, from the back side only, remove my pancaked disk, remove the floating bone fragment, put in some screws and rods to hold the L5 and S1 vertebra in place, and inject bone marrow and some new fangled stuff into the space to generate new bone growth. I told him, I'm going to have another steroid injection.
I knew that if the first steroid injection didn't work well, that a second one was less likely to work. And they'll only give you 3 total. Well, my first injection worked for 6 weeks, so there was some success there. So I had injection #2. From the start, I hurt a lot. Even after the two day "waiting period" for the swelling in the nerve to decrease, I still hurt. A lot. I was so bummed. After about 6 weeks, I noticed that I was having less pain though. (Less pain, not no pain.) Grrr. So, have surgery before the family reunion in early August, or try to get through it and have surgery in September? Well, with a trip planned to Alaska in early June, there really wasn't time before the reunion.
The end of August rolled around and I began thinking. I hurt. This sucks. It's not going to get better. It can get worse. I'm only getting older. Time to schedule surgery.
Called the neurosurgeon. Said I'm ready. After some scheduling snags, the date was set: Sept 3.
Fast forward 10 years. I was back to my original weight (chocolate, after all, has a lot of gluten-free options), and the pain returned. I had been lifting 30 pound landscaping bricks to build a wall in my backyard. So I went back to my doctor; he ordered another X-ray. The X-ray technician reviewed the X-ray, and even though they aren't supposed to comment, he said, "uh, ma'am, you should make an appt with your doctor right away." I told him that I knew I had spondylolisthesis. Turns out, the spondy hadn't progressed. It was still at a 50% slippage.
So the doctor sent me to physical therapy. I probably went 10 times, and it didn't help at all. I finally had an MRI done, which basically re-confirmed the spondy. Then I saw the surgeon again. He told me that I had a few options. Maybe losing some weight again would help. I could have a steroid injection into the joint to reduce the inflamation in the sciatic nerve. Or I could have surgery. He also said, that as I lacked the bony connection, physical therapy would not be able to fix me. I cancelled my PT appointments, and scheduled my first steroid injection. I was going to do everything I could to avoid surgery.
I received my injection in August 2012, shortly before a trip to Nova Scotia. I was able to walk around almost pain free for about 6 weeks, and then slowly the pain returned. Darn. So I doubly resolved to lose weight. But the more I moved, the more I hurt, so exercise was harder to do. Sitting down on the floor or a chair helped to alleviate the pain, so I spent a lot of time sitting. I still did what I could in the garden, but I definitely wasn't up to my usual weeding/trimming/caretaking.
In January of this year, I saw the neurosurgeon again, and this time asked him for more exact information about the surgery. Cut me open, from the back side only, remove my pancaked disk, remove the floating bone fragment, put in some screws and rods to hold the L5 and S1 vertebra in place, and inject bone marrow and some new fangled stuff into the space to generate new bone growth. I told him, I'm going to have another steroid injection.
I knew that if the first steroid injection didn't work well, that a second one was less likely to work. And they'll only give you 3 total. Well, my first injection worked for 6 weeks, so there was some success there. So I had injection #2. From the start, I hurt a lot. Even after the two day "waiting period" for the swelling in the nerve to decrease, I still hurt. A lot. I was so bummed. After about 6 weeks, I noticed that I was having less pain though. (Less pain, not no pain.) Grrr. So, have surgery before the family reunion in early August, or try to get through it and have surgery in September? Well, with a trip planned to Alaska in early June, there really wasn't time before the reunion.
The end of August rolled around and I began thinking. I hurt. This sucks. It's not going to get better. It can get worse. I'm only getting older. Time to schedule surgery.
Called the neurosurgeon. Said I'm ready. After some scheduling snags, the date was set: Sept 3.
January 18, 2012
Silly Signs and other odd sightings
I like to take pictures of signs that don't quite make sense to me, or that are unusual, or just strike me as funny. Here is a link to my album of silly signs. Click here.
May 26, 2011
new to the neighborhood
Oh, they put in a sign that said you can't park there anymore without paying a fee.
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