It's been almost one month since my surgery. I can't believe time has passed so quickly. My apologies for not writing about it earlier, but truthfully, I needed to forget the surgery before I could write about it. It hurt. Big time. But now that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I propose to safely write of this experience!
A few days before the surgery, I went to Columbus for pre-op appointments including a MRI and CT scan. I pray I never have to have another MRI for as long as I live. I say I'm claustrophobic but honestly thought I was just being dramatic. Nope. I'm certifiably claustrophobic. I was in the machine for just over an hour and was stressed to the max... It felt like after you have a car wreck and all of your muscles are tense and unrelenting... That's exactly what it felt like. Dad was able to pull up a few of the CT scans at home that night. It's still wild to look at these images.
Thankfully, I slept well the night before surgery and was very calm the day of. The nurses, P.A.'s, and doctors couldn't have been nicer or more reassuring that I was in great hands. The surgery took 5 1/2 hours. They fused 8 vertebrae and then lined my spine with 16 screws and rods. After I came to, Mom showed me a close up X-ray of my new straight back, and being high as a kite at the time, I fist bumped the surgeon and told him he was THE MAN!
These feelings would become less enthusiastic as the anesthesia wore off and started throwing up, and throwing up, and throwing up. I've always gotten sick from anesthesia but my blood pressure got really low as well so for two whole days, every time I sat up, I threw up. It was rough. (Understatement) My anesthesia was gone so you can imagine what it felt like to get sick with a split back. Uhh..... Still makes me shudder. I would occassionally temporarily loose my vision or hearing during all of this also. Not. Fun.
Another problem was nerve pain in my thigh. I believe the nerve issue was caused by the surgeons having to manipulate my hips a great deal, but I was having pain that would shoot down my thigh when I stood or walked. I've never had REAL nerve pain before. Whoa. It felt like someone was shooting a flame thrower down my leg. It would fire and I'd lose that leg and buckle. I walked with a walker in the hospital so I could stay upright. I would have to mentally pump myself up to stand up because I knew that nerve was waiting on me! I was a pretty sad sight. I'd look at mom every morning and say 'no visitors today' and she'd kindly slip the sign on the door.
Let's pause and honor my outrageously amazing momma who slept on a love seat and only left my side to go home and tend to her furry, canine children. She held back my hair, caught my falls, and pulled and pushed my body into comfortable positions. She massaged my back, helped hoist me to standing, and held my hand when it was overwhelming and I needed to cry. She fought for more time in the hospital, texted with my friends, and took a million calls of precious friends checking on us. She visited with me until the meds would kindly knock me out again. She was a cheerleader for the good things and was right by my side during the bad. I'm walking away from this surgery with a respect for my momma that is deeper than any feeling I've yet known. Momma's are made of steel and tenderness...a combo only an all-knowing Father could know we'd all need.
I'm also immensely grateful for my doctor dad. His bank of knowledge has been vital during this post op time. I've had some side effects and he has had the answers to safely handle these issues. He has been a constant voice telling me to rest and take it easy, which I've needed because I feel great now and it's hard to not accidentally over do it. He's helped us know how to ween off the medicine safely. He calls every day to check on me. I can't tell you how comforting it is to be on the phone with a surgeon every single day. It's the best bed side manner you could hope for!
Im losing track of time, but I believe I left the hospital after 4 days, then spent one day at my folks house, then loaded up to come back to Birmingham. I have a picture of the actual surgery, back opened and rods in place. It's a cool but intense picture that takes a tough stomach to view, so I'll not include that here! The hospital stay wasn't all bad. Praise the lord that my incision is still almost totally numb. It doesn't hurt to lay on my back at all. Isn't that incredible?!
And my finger pulse reader would glow red at night like ET!
The sun set right outside of my window everyday... you know I'm a sucker for a sunset! I thanked God each day for coming by to remind me that He's not going anywhere.
Plus, the results of the surgery are astounding! Dr. Edwards was able to take my 58 degree curve (left) and straighten it to a 5 degree curve (right)! Holy moly!! I have to include how weird it was to walk after the surgery. I've walked with a little limp for so long that having both legs the same length felt awkward. It felt like one leg was much longer than the other and I walked on one tip toe for a week! I eventually learned how to walk flat footed but it still feels like I'm doing it wrong!
I have a really ugly, massive scar on my back that I'm proud as hell of! I'm a tough chick sometimes and now I have the scar to prove it! ;) It has healed a lot and isn't nearly this alarming now. But it's still huge!
Plus I grew almost TWO INCHES!!! They took the soft part of my tummy and stretched it out 1 3/4 inches. You'll never hear me complain about that! Also, my posture is LEGIT!
We got so many flowers! A sweet family even sent London her own bouquet and she was so proud of her very own flowers! "London, Thank you for being such a good helper and taking care of your mommy!"
Dr. Edwards encouraged me to be strong during the hard days and promised that by day 4, I'd start to feel better. It was like he wrote my future with those words. Sure enough, on day 4 I woke up and thought, 'we might be able to do this thing'. Then almost every day since I've had exponential progress. Recovery has really been fun! London asked Charley and me to have a play dough contest and Charley won with this ganky unicorn! ;)
So unfair!! My love breathing dragon is practically a museum piece!
This sweet face was pretty good for the soul too...
My therapy is to walk as much as I can. This'll do just fine. :)
It snowed for a split second one day so we 'played in the snow'.
Magnifying glass to see the individuality of her flakes..
And dancing. There must be twirling in the snow with the Boopster!
Catching flakes in a cold wind rush
Mom moved in with us for three weeks. The walk to/from school gained an extra set of precious hands and my heart burst wide open over it! I was so very sad to see her go last week. There's nothing like having mom close. She did EVERYTHING at my house. She didn't complain about having to sit around and do nothing all day for weeks. We cried over movies and belly laughed over silly stuff. We watched movie after movie and decided it's incredibly bizarre that there seem to only be about 8 major actors in Hollywood. It was freaky how often these 8 actors would show up in all these movies! I'm so thankful she was here. We had the best time together! Plus, this would have been impossible without her.
However, Mom did not gain anyone's affection when she finally got permission to take down our Christmas tree! We did listen to Christmas music while she did it to off-set the hurt she inflicted!
London has been great through this whole process. She's never cried or been sad. She's gentle with me and super helpful. Plus she's awesome at picking out outfits so I don't have to worry about that...
And our slower mornings give me time to stop and see how beautiful she is with the rising sun shining on her sweet, sleepy face.
Recovery has had its great days and days that hurt and require rest. My body is demanding an exuberant amount of rest and I'm trying to heed this request. I'm astounded with how quickly the body can bounce back after such a major ordeal. The surgery really was much bigger than I expected it to be. But now I feel great! My back is pain FREE! No pain at all! Hallelujah Praise the Lord!
We can't thank you enough for your prayers. I've known all along that God was on this path before us. I've felt protected and calm and I know that is due to the many prayers you've prayed over us. If I've ever said thank you, I mean it most today. I'm humbled and grateful for you walking this journey with me.
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