End of Week 4

This past week has been pretty good.  But I have horrible cabin fever.  I want to wear jeans and go without my back brace and go out to eat with my friends.  I want to walk around Galena and make poor shopping choices.

The good news is that I can walk about a mile and a half in an hour.  You can do the math on how slow that is, but I am proud of that progress.

At 4 weeks post-op my hot flashes are slowing down, my legs have small but semi-mighty muscle cramps, and a strange tightness and then shakiness to them.  I haven't asked Dr. Google about it yet but I'm sure it has something to do with the healing nerves.  Nerves Be Crazy.  That's the title of my next album.

My incision infection seems to be healed and Stitches version 2.0 will come out on July 3rd.

I'm trying to find the confidence to drive.  The recovery schedule says I can 4 weeks post op and I am off of the heaviest of pain meds.  It's the twisting involved when you drive that has me worried.  But I really want to go buy some tank-tops so I can wear my brace under my t-shirts (not sure if I mentioned that my surgeon gave me the blessing to take off the hard back of the brace so I have moved from being a turtle to simply being the heavy-weight champion of the world).  Anyway I thought wearing the brace under a t-shirt and on top of a tank-top might be a nice change of pace.

I know I am doing great but this recovery process is longer than I originally imagined.   I thought perhaps by today I would be able to drive to Des Moines to participate in a two-day meeting regarding some efforts in our state for Early Childhood.  Boy, was I kidding myself.  I can comfortably sit for about 20 minutes.  I can walk way longer than I can sit.  Which is why I spend the majority of my day horizontal.  Watching Netflix.

Speaking of Netflix, I watched all 6 seasons of Private Practice in 4 weeks.  That's a lot of screen time my friends.  And almost every episode makes me cry so you can imagine how fun it was for Michael to come check on me in the past 4 weeks.  Pure joy.  He didn't regret "for better or worse" even once, I am sure.

Well, that's really all that's going on now.

End of Week 3: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

This past week of recovery has been marked with ups and downs (as, I guess, most weeks are :-).  There is a huge difference in my mobility from last Monday to today.  Huge.  A week ago I was still bound to my walker.  Today I am walker-free and cane-free 100% of the day.  My left leg just started working for me overnight in the middle of last week and now has an almost-normal stride.  My walking "gate" has gone from a shuffle, to a waddle, to now a nearly even stride.  I'm still slow as molasses, but I'm okay with that because the difference in my mobility in just one week is between night and day and I'm very thankful for that. 

The issues have been with itching, hot-flashes, and then my incision had problems as the cherry on top.  After I got my staples out my incision went crazy with itching.  I couldn't put anything on top of it because I had steri strips on top  but I did find out that taking orignal formula Benedryl addressed the itching well.  The Benedryl on top of my pain meds really zombied me out, but at least I wasn't going crazy with itching.  Another issue I didn't expect was hot-flashes.  I don't think I've written about this yet, but I had been having surges of hot-flashes that covered me in sweat followed by chills.  I searched health boards and found it to be not uncommon for women to experience this after a major surgery.  My surgeon confirmed today that the hotflashes are a normal recovery effect. 

The most stressful has been my incision.  On Friday night, in the middle of the night, I noticed that my incision started to drain.  We are thankful for our awesome neighbors who took the kids for us for the morning and Michael took me into acute care.  We found that it was draining and that the incision had opened up a bit.  They gauzed me up and gave me a prescription for antibiotics for a possible infection.  I returned to my surgeon today and he had to inject some numbing stuff into the incision and then stitch me up again.  He had to cut away some of the scar tissue as well so tonight I'm left feeling sore.  Thankfully the rest of the incision is healing well. 

I've been in a bad mood all day so I'm thankful my mom is here to help me out with the kids and friends have been dropping food off at the house.  I'm thankful for that....even when we have people staying with us it's hard to keep up with the kids, my needs for recovery, the house....it's all a bit overwhelming right now. 

But the best news is that I'm walking so, so much better that I know I need to hold on to that awesome victory. 

End of Week 2 Update

I am at the end of Week 2.  In the blogs and health boards I read prior to my surgery the theme seemed to be that the first two weeks were horrible and then it gets better, so I write this post optimistic for the coming weeks.

At the start of week 2 I am still walker-bound, though I can abandon the walker and walk freely or with a cane if my distance is only a few steps.  Unfortunately using my walker is the only way to get my left leg to extend.  While this worries me, my surgeon did not seemed worried.  He didn't seem like he expected that either.  Surgeons may be the #1 difficult persons to read.  He said being only two weeks post op a major surgery makes for a lot of weakness and inflammation on the spinal cord.  

I got my staples and sutures out today.  The nurse said about 40 staples.  I won't act like it was okay because it was horrible.  It was one of those moments where I wished I was 12 and my mom was there to hold my hand.  Michael was at work so I laid alone clutching the paper bed covering, staring at posters of spines that I was trying to momentarily forget, and thinking of how a Dairy Queen Blizzard was the one thing that could make this day get better again.  Which my driver and friend was able to make a reality for me after the appointment.  An oreo cheese quake blizzard can't replace Michael or my Mom, but it does have amazing healing effects (who says I am not for alternative medicine?)

The surgeon lifted the restriction that I can't sit for longer than 20 minutes, now I can sit (with my brace on) for as long as I am comfortable.  This is good news because now I can spend more time with my family and less time alone in bed watching Netflix.  I am now in Season 3of Private Practice for those interested in my T.V. addiction.  

My hope for myself is that I by my next weekly update that I will be able to independently go up and down the steps outside of my house (they are large, uneven, and without a rail). That is the only thing keeping me from going on walks outside by myself.   

That's all for now.  It's not as positive as I would like, but I guess I don't always feel positive.  I did not fall asleep even once during this post so I've got that going for me too :-)

See you next week :-)

Contagious Encouragement

I've been trying to go on daily walks up and down my street in my walker.  I know it's good for me and necessary for healing, but I feel self-conscious out there....with my walker, brace, old t-shirts, sweatpants, and slip-on Dr. Scholl slippers.  One day there were just too many people out and about in the neighborhood that I turned around and went back in.

Yesterday I was out walking with Michael and a car drove by us, stopped, and then backed up.  The driver, an older-than-me lady, exclaimed out her window "You are doing really great!!" I tried to mask my confusion because I didn't want to seem rude so I responded back with a "Thanks!"  She then explained that she saw me out walking earlier in the week and she could tell I was getting better.  I was able to get another "thanks" in before she drove off.

At first Michael and I laughed at the strange-to-us exchange. We do see Dubuque as a friendlier town  than some places we've lived and we joked about this new example.

But I think this exchange is more valuable than a chuckle.  I've been down on my progress and self-conscious when venturing outside but her words have stuck with me and have encouraged me.  They've also taught me that when people drive by or peer out there window at me that they aren't thinking about how weird I am, they are probably thinking a). nothing about me, I can't be so selfish to think that I interrupt the thoughts of all people or b) there's a girl out walking and getting better for whatever reason.

Even more important to me than that micro-lesson is this idea that as members of a community we should find ways to be encouraging, even if for just a minute with a few small words...who knows how that may stick with someone when they need it.  And we shouldn't only encourage those we love,  but those we don't know as well.  Communities change, they knit together when our arms and encouraging words extend beyond our property lines.

I'm grateful to that lady for that reminder.

End of Week One

Tomorrow marks the beginning of week 2 and a shift in this blog.  Instead of writing daily, I  am going to write weekly.  This will help me maintain my loyal readers (you two know who you are ;-) and I think in cases of surgeries this involved, progress is seen greater week by week rather than day by day.  I may have a couple of topical posts in between, for example, my mom has requested that I write about the differences between a discectomy and a fusion as that typically either a choice or, as in my case, an inevitable  progression, for many who suffer from degenerative disc disease.

So, a week ago I was tethered to a hospital bed with a morphine IV pain pump, catheter, and wound drain.  I couldn't even move freely on my own, the nurses had to "log roll" me periodically throughout the night.

This is in contrast to today, where I am able to get myself out of bed with only moderate pain, move around my house with a walker,  and go on a friend-assisted walk today outdoors.  (Which is actually a "shuffle".  People should not underestimate the hotness of my shuffle.  Particularly when paired with my maximum comfy grey pj pants and Dr. Scholl slippers.)

Wow. I think that was the longest nap I have taken while writing a post. 39 minutes.  Readers, how long are your naps during my posts??

Well, there went another 7 minutes.

My only real concern as I sign off tonight is that I walked better when I was in the hospital.  My rationale is that I was on more pain meds there and that freed  my stride up a little whereas now I am in more pain and my stride is protecting itself more.  Who knows, I am not a Doctor.  Well, technically I am.  But a Doctor of Philosophy does jack for me in times like these.

Alright, I am signing off.

Yesterday--Day 6ish

Yesterday I found myself a little frustrated and grumpy most of the day.  My mom left and went back home and my mother-in-law came.  My kids are very excited to spend a couple of days with Amy (my MIL) here as it's been awhile since they've spend some quality time together.  I think my frustration is coming from the use of my walker---it feels like it'll be a while before I won't need to use it.  On a good note, I did get to shower (with Michael's assistance).  It's a little strange to feel so vulnerable and to have Michael do so much of my own personal care (I will leave details out).  On the other hand his grace, love, patience, and care is more evident in the last couple of days than any amount of flowers, fun dates, or gifts that have accumulated in our last 10 years.

Michael is gone for a couple of days to Tulsa for work and my MIL is here in his absence.  I'm thankful for a supportive family network that is so helpful during these crazy times.

Day 5

Many of my thoughts in my earlier post are still true this evening.  I'm discouraged because I was walking better yesterday than I was today.  We don't have a handrail on the stairs going into our house so I've been avoiding going outside.  Perhaps I can get Michael to pretend he's a handrail :-) and get me down the stairs for a small walk.  I did spend some time out on our deck this afternoon with Michael while my mom took the kids to the Mississippi River Museum. It was a beautiful afternoon and a beautiful breeze.

A run down of my agenda includes: napping, walking around my house in circles, hanging out in my living room chair, and going to the bathroom.  Seems to be the same schedule I had when I was 18 months old...

Hopefully tomorrow is shower day--woo hoo!  As long as my wound is not leaking anything gross than I can take a shower.  I'm sure that will make me feel like a real person.

Well, I've taken 2 naps in the construction of this blog so I guess I'll sign off.

I'll leave you with a little bit of back humor, dedicated to my mom and Michael who have been putting up with my grossness and grumpiness since Tuesday:

Some thoughts about progress...

Last night did not go well.   Maneuvering our bed is tough.  There are many Internet boards out there where people chime into what is the best sleeping position.  The moral of that story is that it depends on the individual.  I try to sleep on my side as long as my hips can take it, then I move to my back.  Moving to my back sucks. Especially because I don't want to wake anyone up to help position my pillows.

This morning I woke up with a bad pain on the right side of my butt and my leg.  This is making it difficult to get around in my walker this a.m.

Between that and constipation I feel like I took two steps forward and one step back. Remember,  I  am writing this in hopes that it would help someone else who is facing a fusion, so some topics may include gross things such as constipation.     :-)

Well, I am too tired to write more..

This is Franken-Mom signing off.