Scar so far...

My scar so far

2 weeks 5 days and counting...

It has been 2 weeks since I have been home from the hospital. It feels like longer. All the days seem to blend in...

My biggest challenge is to get comfortable. Sitting, laying, and standing...nothing seems to feel "right". Sleeping is the worst. I can't sleep on my back. It feels like I'm lying on a bunch of cords. The only side I can sleep on is my right side, where my curve use to be. Sleeping on my left feels weird and hurts after a few minutes. We rented a recliner from rent a center, which I highly recommend if you don't have one. It at least allows me a place to sit to watch tv, even if I can only sit in it for a hour or so before I have to get up to walk around.

My other challenge is staying positive. It's so hard not to do the things I did before. My fiance has to help me with most everything. Getting dress, showering, you name it. Not saying I'm unable to do these things by myself completely, its mainly when I'm in pain/stiff I have to ask him for help. I am trying my best to believe that I will get better, but its still so hard. I so badly want freedom again and just to feel normal. I'm tired of always feeling sore and being in pain. It can get very frustrating for me. My fiance is doing an amazing job with keeping me going, as well as, it really helps when I have my friends visit me. My best advice is have one friend visit you a day or schedule an outing or something to do. Even if it is a walk around the neighborhood. It helps me to get my mind of my situation and pass the time.

Talking about outings: I have been able to go out to eat 3 times since coming home! :) I have to bring a ton of pillows with me, but I have been able to sit in a car for short distances. I even was able to eat valentines day dinner at my favorite sushi restaurant. So I guess going threw this  hasn't been all bad. :)

Tomorrow I have my second Physical Therapy appointment. I started on Monday and I am scheduled to go 3 times per week. Aqua therapy is so far my favorite. It feels good up have some pressure off my back!

On the "Other side"

Well I am on the "other side", sorry for the delay in posting. So much has happened but I will do my best to detail what went down with my surgery..

My fiance and I arrived at Hershey Medical Center on Thursday,Feb 2nd at 6:15 am to check in for my surgery. I remember very little once I was wheeled away back to OR. One second I was talking to the Anesthesiologist, the next second I was waking up in ICU with a tube down my throat.

Apparently, I had a lot of swelling due to the fluids and being on my face for almost 8 hours. Because of that, the doctors could not take the breathing tube out from my throat. I began to have trouble breathing, so they had to put me on a machine to assist me with breathing. I spent the entire night in ICU that night, sadly, my fiance was not allowed to stay the night there.

I spent most of Friday in ICU until I was finally able to get in my own private room. Thankfully, my fiance was able to stay with me from that point on. I spent a total of 6 days in the hospital. A lot of it was a blur so I thought it would be easier just to highlight certain points:

• Catheter
• I had a catheter until about 3 days post op. It didnt hurt and actually was quite convienient. They make you drink a LOT of fluids while you are there so I couldnt imagine how uncomfortable it would be to get up every time I had to go. Actually, I CAN imagine, because when they took it out Sunday morning it sucked getting up every hour to go. And warning, your bladder is extremely week after they take the catherter out...so when you have to go..do NOT wait, you will NOT be able to hold it like you use to. It took about 4-5 days for me to get my bladder strength back.
• PCA pump
• I was given morphine through a pumping device for my first 3 days. All I had to do was press a button every 6 min to get a dose of pain meds. 
The idea of this is great however the sooner you switch to oral meds the sooner you are able to go home. Personal care I can't stress enough for you to bring your own shower wipes with you to the hospital. The nurses can be unreliable when it comes to sponge baths, so make sure you bring your own so you can stay fresh. Thankfully I did remember to pack some and trust me, feeling clean and fresh is important to feeling good.

Surgery Tomorrow

Well, tomorrow is the day. I am to report to the hospital tomorrow morning at 6:15 am; with surgery beginning at 8:30 am. I am still listening to my meditation cd, however, I am having trouble staying asleep. I just want to get it over with at this point. The "good news" if you have ever had any surgery before, is that once you fall asleep from the anesthesia, the next thing you will remember is waking up. It is like a blink of an eye.

My surgeon said he will be fusing T3-L2, but that could change depending on what happens during the surgery. He expects that he will have 50-60% correction of my 60 degree curve. I am hoping he is able to get more than that, but ill be happy with that.

Side note, I have been showering with  a generic Hibiclens which kills and continues to kill bacteria off of my skin for several hours.  I want to reduce the chances of getting an infection or  MRSA, so I read this is the soap to use. The more you use it, the better it works because it binds to your skin and builds up over time. I recommend using this 4-5 days before surgery (with your doctors approval). My doctor did not give this to me, however, when I asked about it I was told that "it couldn't hurt". My thought, do whatever you can to prevent anything going wrong.


Tonight for dinner I am having soup. Some people say to eat a really good meal before surgery. I have actually read blogs from other people saying to order a steak and eat well. However, that is not a good idea. If you are having this surgery, eat light 1-2 days before and stay away from high fiber foods. Your digestive system will be asleep, so fiber and heavy foods will move a LOT slower which will cause a LOT of discomfort after surgery (which I heard can be just as bad than the back pain)  Once I am home after surgery, ill eat my steak to celebrate. (or better yet, sushi, lots of sushi!) :)