Surgery, Part Deux

[Blenheim]

I posted in the LIW forum at the end of March about needing a microdiskectomy, which is a procedure in which the surgeon trims off the protruding part of a herniated disk. The original thread has a bit more information. I was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but I got a call from the surgeon''s office tonight asking if I''d mind moving it up to tomorrow morning! So, I''m now having back surgery at 8 am on Tuesday.

I may spend tomorrow night in the hospital, and even when I''m home and near my computer there''s a good chance that most of my PS time will be spent lurking. I''ll be on lots of drugs, and I''m not sure how much sense anything I post will make. Still, looking at bling makes everyone feel better, right?

 

[moon river]

We''ll be thinking of you!! Hope the surgery is a success.

 

[Kaleigh]

Good luck Blenheim. You will be in my prayers. I had neck surgery for herniated disks so I have been there. PS will keep you company and the bling should cheer you up. Here''s to a speedy recovery!!!

 

[mrssalvo]

PS will always cheer you up

. We''ll be thinking of you tomorrow.

 

[monarch64]

Best of luck to you Blenheim! You''ll do great, I know! You have a wonderful attitude (or so I''ve gleaned from your posts) and I''m excited for you that you are getting the treatment you need to get on your way to a pain-free life! Good for you! I''ll be thinking of you.

 

[MissAva]

Good Luck!

 

[princessv]

Good luck!! I hope for a speedy recovery!

 

[Gemklctr]

Here''s hoping things are going well this morning. I too have had disc surgery on my neck, and the pain relief was amazing. I hope yours is as successful.

 

[SarFarSuperstar]

Get well soon! Keep thinking positively!

 

[hlmr]

Best wishes Blenheim for a successful surgery and a very speedy recovery!!!

 

[Lorelei]

Best wishes Blenheim and a speedy recovery! I will be keeping you in my thoughts.

 

[strmrdr]

prayers outgoing

 

[akw94]

Good luck to you! I hope this is a very productive and easy surgery for you.

 

[Caribou]

Good luck to you and your speedy recovery!

 

[anchor31]

I hope everything went well!! You are in my thoughts and I wish you a speedy recovery!

 

[Mara]

Good luck Blen!! You''ll be back on the track and running miles in no time!

 

[FireGoddess]

Hope everything is going well!!!!

 

[fortheloveofdiamonds]

Good Luck girl! I''m praying for and thinking of you!

 

[drk]

Well, I hope your surgery went well this morning!

I''ll be interested to hear what you have to say about the recovery, since I''ve given the anesthetic for a few of these recently as part of my residency training, and all the patients were sent home the same day. The staff I worked with told me they have very little pain postop, especially since the surgeons generally put local anesthetic in the incision.

It''s hard to believe they can do operations like this - hope your outcome is great!

Kate

 

[moon river]

I hope all is well.

 

[Blenheim]

Thank you for all of your prayers and good wishes. I spent Tuesday night in the hospital, and got back home around dinner time last night.

drk, they gave me the option of staying overnight, and even before surgery I decided to take it. It seems like hospitals are so reluctant to let patients stay overnight these days, so I felt that I should go ahead and stay. I''m really glad that I did. They kept me on a morphine drip for about 24 hours. The percacet, vicadin, and lorcet (not sure how they''re spelled) that I''ve tried since getting off of it really haven''t helped to relieve pain as much (they were playing around to see what would help the most). My back''s pretty painful, and the process of getting up even to do things like go to the bathroom is pretty big ordeal. I have to slowly roll over onto my side, put my legs off the bed, get into a sitting position, and have someone help lift me up. My mom''s really glad that she didn''t have to be responsible for helping me immediately, because she''d rather have people trained to do it helping me out. Making things worse, every single time that I tried to sit or stand I''d start to vomit, and the hospital couldn''t send me home until I got that under control. I''m not really sure what was going on -- I''ve been under general anesthesia twice before with no bad reactions, I''ve been on morphine once and been fine, and I''ve been taking lorcet on and off for pain for four months now without any problems (other than being pretty loopy). Oh, and on top of everything, my temperature was around 100 F for the first day after surgery. I think that the doctors and nurses were a little surprised that I''ve been in so much pain (and I''ve been told by my orthopedic surgeon in the past that I have an extremely high pain tolerance). I''m impressed that patients are able to leave the hospital the same day, although my reaction might have been more extreme than most.

My boyfriend''s parents sent flowers, and my track team sent me a big care basket with DVDs, celeb magazines, PJs, a teddy bear, and lots of candy.

I''m feeling better today, but by no means back to normal. My big goal today is to take my first post-op shower, as my hair''s pretty greasy and my back''s still covered in iodine.

Hope this all makes sense. I''m kind of drugged up at the moment.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Take care!! Hope you have a restful Easter long weekend.

cheers--Sharon

 

[monarch64]

Blenheim, I''m so glad to hear you''re ok! Your post made complete sense, btw.

I hope you get to take your shower today--that will make you feel ten times better! Take care.

 

[Lorelei]

Good to hear from you Blenheim and I wish you the speediest of recoveries! Hope you can get that shower!

 

[Caribou]

Hi Blen,

Glad to hear you are doing well...

It''ll get better everyday and in no time, you''ll be running all over the place. Hope you are being entertained, staying at home can get pretty boring. Hope your shower goes well *sniff sniff* you stink!!!

Kidding.

We are all here for you if you get bored!!!

 

[Kaleigh]

Hi Blenheim,
Nice to hear you are doing well. Take it easy. It does get better. You''ll be back to normal in no time.

 

[akw94]

Glad you''re back and the surgery is complete! Sorry that you''re in so much pain. How long should it take to recover? Hopefully your recovery is quick!

 

[Blenheim]

Amy, all that I was told regarding recovery was to expect it to take three months. Unfortunately, I was too drugged up to ask whether that meant three months of pain and not lifting anything heavier than 10 lbs, or three months until I could think about running again, or what. I need to schedule my first post-op meeting with the doctor for next week or the week after, and I''ll be able to ask more questions then.

I''m already starting to feel stronger though! Showering helped me feel a lot better, and I was able to walk really slowly to Starbucks (two blocks round trip) in the late afternoon with my mom''s help. I need to keep up on the drugs, but my progress so far is encouraging.

 

[strmrdr]

glad to hear its going well.
prayers continue.

 

[AndyRosse]

Oh I''m so glad you are already feeling better!!!!