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 :-)